The search for food prepared according to Islamic law at fast-food restaurant chains just got a little trickier.
On Monday, McDonald's announced that its locations in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, Mich., would stop serving halal food, which requires animals to be slaughtered according to Islamic practices and excludes prohibited items such as pork. The franchisees were the only two in the country to serve halal food.
The move comes several weeks after a $700,000 settlement between McDonald's and a customer who filed a lawsuit in 2011 that alleged the menu items weren't consistently halal.
"We take into account local and dietary preferences, however these items were offered as an exception to McDonald's national core food menu in these two restaurants only," McDonald's said in a statement. "The decision to discontinue offering these items was the result of our continued efforts to focus on our national core menu."
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In the settlement notice, one franchisee said it "has a carefully designed system for preparing and serving halal such that halal chicken products are labeled, stored, refrigerated and cooked in halal-only areas." The company also said it had educated employees about halal food preparation and "requires strict adherence to the process."
Earlier this year, a McDonald's attorney said that if a problem had arisen, "it was isolated and rare."