March 8, 2012

McDonald's sources 10% British chicken meat for 2012 Olympic Games

Prompting claims that the organisers had failed in delivering on their support of local farmers, McDonald's food will source only 10% of chicken meat within Britain for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The London 2012 Organising Committee chairman, Lord Coe, confirmed statistics raised by the London Assembly that most of the Olympic chicken meat would come from Brazil and outside of the UK.

"Yes it is true," he admitted when asked if only 10% of chicken meals sold at Games venues by McDonald's would be British-sourced.

Lord Coe said McDonald's had increased its sourcing of the chickens from the whole of Western Europe to 55% and he defended the company, a long-time global sponsor of the Olympic Movement and also a member of Locog's food advisory group, for its substantial contribution.

"McDonald's is spending GBP300 million (US$472 million) procuring food from British farming," he said, adding that 17,500 British farms provided 55% of the Olympic food.

"It is all UK beef, all UK pork, the eggs are free range and all of the milk is organic and all of the fish, what there is of it, is MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) certified."

With 12 different catering contractors at the Games, Lord Coe said the public had plenty of choice about what to eat at Games time.

McDonald's has said its Olympic Park restaurant - which will be 10 times the size of an average restaurant and capable of seating 1,500 people - will be the busiest and biggest in the world.