McDonalds Case

The most important issue the government business relationship presents for McDonalds Corporation is regulations in terms of public health. Whether the FDA implements protocols for proper cattle feeding procedures, sodium limits, documentation/labeling guidelines, or local ordinances for toy giving guideline with meals, all can potentially have negative effects on McDonalds Corporation and shareholders.

Federal regulations were put into place in an effort to keep the US’s beef supply from catching mad cow disease. One law enacted barred proteins from animals prone to E. coli or similar diseases, to be used as elements in feed. These regulations were often ignored by the cattle industry until McDonalds began demanding proper documentation stating that cattle had been raised and fed in line with federal guidelines. Although the hamburger giant may have acted in the public’s interest by complying with regulations, the company experiences increased input prices. The Livestock Marketing Association stated, “This will involve considerable additional work and inconvenience to the markets and dealers as well as our customers” (Tulsa World, 2001)

In a defensive effort to appease to local legislative efforts, McDonalds announced that it would reduce children’s Happy Meal portions and cut the average calories of a Happy Meal by twenty percent. This reduction in calories may have been due to Santa Clara County, in California, enacting laws which prohibit giving away free toys to children if the meals the toys come with do not meet nutritional standards. The new version of the Happy Meal will have less than 600 calories. The director of legal research at Public Health & Law Policy, Samantha Graff, stated, “Without the looming prospect of regulation in cities and states around the country, McDonald’s would not have taken as seriously the concerns that the public health community and parents have been sharing with them about this issue” (Baertlein, 2011).

On November 29, 2007 during an interview with Allison Aubrey from NPR News Washington, Ms. Bonnie Liebman from the Center for Science in Public Interest stated that seventy percent of our sodium intake comes from processed foods or restaurant foods. Liebman also discusses the misconception of sodium intake being associated with the salt shaker. During the interview Aubrey mentions that the