McDonald's mozzarella sticks are the focus of a class-action lawsuit now

On the off chance that they contain any cheese at all, the gooey white product inside McDonald's new mozzarella sticks also might not be "100 percent real cheese," as advertised. In a class-action lawsuit filed in California, dozens of customers accuse the fast-food chain of deceptively claiming the sticks have nothing but "pure," "real" mozzarella in them, when according to the suit they're actually filled with a substance "composed (in part) of starch."

Lead plaintiff Chris Howe alleges that 3.76 percent of the cheese is a starch filler. Such a move could also get the chain in trouble with the FDA, which prohibits the use of starch as an ingredient in things labeled "mozzarella cheese." McDonald's replies that the company isn't engaged in fraud, and that the cheese sticks are "made with 100 percent low moisture part skim mozzarella cheese."

Howe's lawsuit claims the starch is a cost-cutting maneuver, and that McDonald's alleged deception somehow adds up to $50 million in damages, which would indicate that Howe is a man who takes his fried-cheese products very seriously.

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[CBS LA, Law360]

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