Recently there have been a huge scandal over the topic of "beef products" and what is really in the "beef". The EU has found specimens of horsemeat in beef after conducting tests all over Europe. This scandal initially started after the discovery of horsemeat in Irish burgers. The EU is drastically launching DNA tests over beef products for the presence of unlabelled horsemeat and tests found 1% of horsemeat in samples undertaken in the study. These "horsemeat" containing beef products are finding their way into shelves in supermarket and schools are having their meat pies removed. This will affect McDonalds because a majority of their products contain beef, and now that this scandal has occurred consumers will be less likely to purchase beef produts, as they will be skeptical and doubtful about where their meat comes from and what it contains, more so from McDonalds as they already have a poor reputation regarding their meat quality. Though horsemeat has yet to be found in McDonalds burgers and Warren Anderson, Vice President of McDonalds UK supply chain remains confident in positive results. People are more aware of what goes into their food now and some are choosing to eat more healthy. According to the American Dietetic Association (ADA) the recent food trend is that Americans are eating more vegetables, chicken and whole grain foods. This scandal certainly poses as an issue for McDonalds and will affect the consumer behavior in a negative way.

Link to Articles:

http://www.euronews.com/2013/02/16/still-more-horse-meat-found-in-european-beef-products/

http://youngevity.com/news-events/ada-consumers-eating-more-healthy-foods-but-we-still-have-a-long-way-to-go/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/feb/28/mcdonalds-free-horsemeat-link-farmers