A claim online asserts that McDonald’s Canada has announced that they will be buying all of their meat from the United States.
An example of the claim is below.
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McDonald’s has announced they will be buying all of their meat in the US. I think it is time to stop going to McDonald’s if they are willing to take our Canadian money but refuse to support our beef industry. Lets stand up for our beef producers and tell McDonald’s we are not pleased and show it by not going to McDonald’s. Pass this on please.
Despite the claim, McDonalds Canada has made no such announcement. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the fast food franchise in Canada has announced some temporary changes with their meat suppliers.
On the MacDonalds Canada “sourcing” webpage, it claims that they obtain 100% of their beef through Canadian suppliers.
In fact, McDonald’s Canada sources 100% of its beef from beef suppliers in Canada & the Alaskan Pollock filets used in our Filet- O-Fish® can be directly traced back to sustainable fisheries in Canada.
However, during the COVID-19 pandemic that has affected the Canadian beef supply chain, McDonald’s added a disclaimer that read –
COVID-19 Temporary change: Due to supply issues related to COVID-19, we are temporarily serving a mix of Canadian and imported beef.
Of course, the original claim fails to mention a number of pertinent facts.
1. That the change is temporary and because of the disruption caused by COVID-19
2. That McDonald’s would still use Canadian beef, but also import beef to minimise the chance of shortages.
3. And finally, despite the claim that this is an indication that McDonald’s Canada was “refusing to support” Canadian beef industry, it was actually because of the possibility that national suppliers would not be able to provide McDonald’s with enough produce.
There have been some recent changes, but the claim above is a gross misinterpretation of those changes, and we rank it mostly false.