McDonald's Must Face a Class Action Over the McRib After a Chicago Judge Declines to Dismiss It

A lawsuit claiming the McRib has no rib meat in it will continue, Fox Business reports.

The ruling. On Friday, U.S. District Judge April Perry in Chicago refused to dismiss the proposed class action in full. She let the consumer deception, fraud and unjust enrichment claims proceed and dismissed five other claims without prejudice, which means they could be refiled.

The claim. Four consumers sued in December. They say McDonald's designed the boneless pork patty to look like a rack of ribs even though it has no actual rib meat, and that the name, look and marketing lead buyers to think they are getting a pricier cut. The suit says the patty is made of lower-grade pork products, including shoulder, heart, tripe and stomach.

The judge's reasoning. Perry said it was too early to conclude that consumers could not reasonably expect rib meat, citing the plaintiffs' marketing allegations and two surveys filed with the court. One found 72% of respondents expected the McRib to contain rib meat, and another found 67% called rib meat important or very important to their purchase. She also rejected the argument that the sandwich's trademarked name protects the company, noting that other McDonald's names, such as McChicken and Egg McMuffin, describe ingredients.

McDonald's side. The company denies the allegations and says the sandwich is 100% pork from U.S. farmers and suppliers. It has told Fox Business it does not use heart, tripe or scalded stomach in the patty, and it argues its ingredient list names pork as the main ingredient. Fox says McDonald's did not immediately answer a request for comment on the ruling.

Note for readers: the ruling lets the case go forward. It does not find that McDonald's deceived anyone, and the survey numbers are the plaintiffs' evidence, not court findings. The McRib has been sold in periodic limited returns since 1981.