If you're getting nostalgic about McDonald's cups this week, it's time to check your cabinets. Some of your childhood favorites might be toxic.
Most consumers know McDonald's food isn't good for them, due to its excessive calories — and maybe other factors — but there's also a history of problems with its non-edible merchandise. Health and safety regulators haven't always been "lovin' it."
On Tuesday, McDonald's released a new Happy Meal featuring six novelty collectible cups, after reports circulated the multi-billion dollar company's global sales slumped for the first time in three years.
This latest promotion might see customers flocking back to McDonald's in droves as some do for a McRib sandwich or a plastic Halloween Boo Bucket. The chain's collectible drinkware is equally popular, despite concerns raised for decades about its earlier collections.
Here are a few times when McDonald's merchandise ran afoul of lawmakers and safety advocates.
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McDonald's voluntarily recalls 'Shrek Forever After 3D' glasses over fears of toxic contamination
McDonald's newest collector cups include a variety of popular characters — designs, explained McDonald's spokesperson Morgan Flatley in a news release, meant to give fans "a memory they can hold in their hands."
One such cup gives a nod to the "Shrek" films. It's an odd choice given that federal regulators likely haven't forgotten the massive recall involving McDonald's "Shrek Forever After" 3D drinking glasses.
In June 2010, officials discovered the glassware's designs contained toxic amounts of cadmium.
Image above courtesy of CPSC.
When added to commercial drinkware, writes Consumer Reports, cadmium creates more vibrant colors — reds, oranges and yellows — in painted glass. Studies have linked it to cancer, kidney and bone disease if the element is ingested in excess over long periods of time.
The balancing act between federal regulators and manufacturers boils down to how much cadmium is present in an object and whether or not it poses a safety risk to the person handling it.
Regulators tested the Shrek-themed drinking glasses after receiving a tip in California and determined that a typical 6-year-old could be exposed to dangerous levels of cadmium after touching one of the glasses just eight times a day, according to a CBS report, which documented the lengths scientists with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission went to test the glassware.
About 12 million Shrek drinking glasses sold exclusively by McDonald's were voluntarily recalled, according to the CPSC. McDonald's urged its customers to "immediately stop using the glasses out of an abundance of caution," in which the fast food chain went so far as to offer a $3 refund on a product it charged roughly $2 to purchase.
While it remains illegal to sell, resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product, according to the CPSC, a cursory glance by IndyStar revealed used "Shrek Forever After" glassware for purchase at online shopping sites such as eBay and Amazon.com.
Other McDonald's glassware products with potentially toxic substances go back even further.
McDonald's 'Great Muppet Caper' glassware raised concerns in Massachusetts in 1981
When Jim Henson's "The Great Muppet Caper" was theatrically released in 1981, McDonald's was swift to release its own collectible Muppet drinking glasses in promotion along with the film. State officials in Massachusetts, however, warned the glassware might contain dangerous levels of lead-based paint.
Lawmakers appear to have taken the matter seriously. The state legislature's Health Care Committee in May 1981 suggested banning McDonald's national promotional campaign from appearing in Massachusetts altogether, according to an article archived by United Press International.
"Enough evidence was presented to show there was a definite health and safety concern," said then-co-chairman, Rep. Theodore Aleixo, D-Taunton, whose views were met with staunch resistance from other state lawmakers, including glass manufacturers insisting its lead-paint levels had passed federal and state oversight.
Arguments over the lead content in McDonald's glassware were nothing new by then in Massachusetts.
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Public health commissioner in 1977 asked parents to put McDonald's glasses 'out of the reach of children'
Promotional drinking glasses distributed by McDonald's contained dangerous amounts of lead‐based paint and should not be in the hands of children, a Massachusetts state official warned in a 1977 article appearing in The New York Times.
Then-public health commissioner Jonathan Fielding said tests performed both by the Massachusetts Health Department and by the EPA found lead content up to 18 times the legal limit. He urged parents to stop using the glassware, according to the media company, and to "put them out of reach of children."
Both McDonald's and its glass manufacturers sued, according to a subsequent article by The New York Times, demanding a court require the retesting of the disputed glasses. Meanwhile, the fast food company stopped promoting and distributing its cartoon glass cups, albeit temporarily.
Fielding, who was concerned children could scrape or chip the paint off with their teeth, warned of the long-term cumulative effects McDonald's glassware might have in addition to other sources of possible lead contamination, such as breathing in leaded exhaust fumes or swallowing lead paint chips.
He called it "an unnecessary kind of exposure."
The FDA in 1977 issued no recall of McDonald's cartoon-themed drinking glasses because there was "no indication of an acute health hazard," the Associated Press reported. An FDA spokesperson nevertheless said it would be "prudent" for families not to use McDonald's glasses until more tests could be done.
Since 1978, the federal government has banned "lead content of over 0.06 percent in paints and coatings to which children have access and that no feasible consumer product safety standard under the CPSA would adequately protect the public from this risk."
Lead paint is just the beginning:Poisoning danger lurks in pantry, toys
A 'Lead Safe Mama' and a McDonald's Garfield cup trigger memes
Decades later, an Oregon resident and self-described lead-poisoning prevention advocate, Tamara Rubin, began doing her own tests using a professional X-ray fluorescence (XRF) lead-testing gun. Her conclusions about Garfield-themed glass mugs sold by McDonald's triggered nervous memes around the internet.
Rubin's advocacy work has been featured among other citizen scientists by Consumer Reports. In July 2022, she examined a 1978 glass mug featuring Garfield, part of a series of glassware sold exclusively by McDonald's. Rubin shared the results on her blog, Lead Safe Mama, saying the mug contained more lead at 103,600 parts per million than the current legal limit, which is 90 parts per million, according to the CPSC.
IndyStar could not verify or find additional tests performed on similar such mugs by outside agencies to determine their overall safety.
Warning signs your pottery or dishware contain toxic amounts of lead
There is no safe level of exposure to lead, according to the FDA, which has several steps consumers can take to determine if their pottery or dishware might be contaminated with toxic heavy metals. Consumers, they advise, should pay attention to the following warning signs, which include checking for dishware that is:
- Handmade with a crude appearance or irregular shape.
- Antique.
- Damaged or excessively worn.
- Purchased from flea markets or street vendors, or if you are unable to determine whether the pottery is from a reliable manufacturer.
- Brightly decorated in orange, red, or yellow color, as lead is often used with these pigments to increase their intensity.
Consumer Reports recommends consumers limit drinking from painted glassware and to avoid putting painted glassware in the dishwasher even when it's labeled dishwasher safe. The heat as well as wear and tear, they write, can cause the enamel to corrode or flake. They recommend washing these items by hand.
Are the 2024 McDonald's Collector Cups glass? Are they painted?
The 2024 collector's edition cups sold at U.S. locations are made of "tritan plastic," according to McDonald's, but that's not the case everywhere.
While the U.S. won't have them, Canadian stores will, but with another noticeable difference — none of the McDonald's drinking glasses appear to be painted.
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John Tuftscovers trending news for IndyStar and Midwest Connect. Send him a news tip atJTufts@Gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter atJTuftsReports.
