RE: cooking instructions for Kraft Dinner

[edunn -at- transport -dot- bombardier -dot- com]

>>5. Keep your sense of humor. After all, who could have predicted that
>>MacDonald's would have to label coffee as "hot" because customers burned
>>their mouths? Or is that lesson: never underestimate the softheadedness of a
>>percentage of consumers? ;-)

This is only a fraction of the truth. McD's had to label their coffee hot after
a successful multi-million dollar lawsuit by an injured customer.
The customer had bought a coffee at a drive though, placed the coffee between
their legs and then it spilled.

While initially this seems to be a case of litigation getting ridiculous and the
stupidity of a consumer being rewarded in court, we must be honest and report
the full details. McD's brews coffee with water at an unreasonable (read
extreme) temperature in order to stretch the coffee grounds as far as possible.
They had also already been warned many times in previous lawsuits about this
practice being dangerous to the public (I don't know how many suits or how they
were settled).

So while we may judge the customer as foolish attempting to balance a cup of
coffee, can we in all honesty say that it is acceptable the said spilled coffee
should cause serious burns? (I don't remember if 1st, 2nd, or 3rd degree) We are
not talking about burning your mouth, but causing serious injury. Indeed one of
the thrusts of the case against McD's was that the coffee, at the temperature
served, was unfit for human consumption (I may be inclined to argue it's unfit
for consumption at any temperature, but I digress).

Eric L. Dunn



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