McDonalds 2000 Annual Report Download - page 27

Over the years, McDonald’s has
been a leader in setting
and strictly enforcing
high-quality and safety
standards—often exceed-
ing those established by
industry and governments.
Quite simply, quality and
safety are the most impor-
tant items on our menu, so
our customers can have
confidence in McDonald’s.
We are aligned with
world-class suppliers that
share our high standards,
and our restaurant staffs
are equipped to deliver on
them every day.
Food quality and
safety
McDonald’s Quality Assurance
Board provides strategic global
leadership for all aspects of
food quality and safety. Further,
our quality assurance and sup-
ply chain specialists around the
world, work with McDonald’s
suppliers to ensure compliance
with our stan-
dards. We oper-
ate quality assur-
ance labs around
the world, where
ongoing product
reviews and
enhancements
take place. In
addition, we
work closely with our suppliers
to encourage innovation, assure
best practices and drive contin-
uous improvement.
Further reinforcing our com-
mitment to quality, we have
been recognizing exceptional
excellence among our suppliers
since 1990 with the Sweeney
Quality Award. This award was
named in honor of a supplier
who exemplified a commitment
to our high standards. Clearly,
our criteria for recognizing
excellence has been validated
by the fact that our Sweeney
Quality Award winner in 1998—
Sunny Fresh Foods, a supplier
of egg products to the
McDonald’s System—won the
prestigious Malcolm Baldrige
National Quality Award the fol-
lowing year.
High standards also are
essential to the operations of
our restaurants. Proper food
storage, handling and cooking
practices are an integral part of
our training materials, and a
food safety check list is used
daily in our
restaurants to
validate that food
safety standards
and procedures
are in place. In
addition, our
restaurants are
inspected for safety compliance.
Safe fun for children
Parents can be confident that
our Happy Meal toys and
PlayPlaces are safe. For years,
we have been using state-of-
the-art technology to scientifi-
cally analyze the safety of toys
and other promotional items for
the McDonald’s System. We
also have been working with the
world’s leading manufacturers
and installers of fun and safe
playground equipment and
renowned safety consultants so
that playtime at McDonald’s
meets our strict specifications.
Sharing our expertise
The safety of customers is
paramount—whether they are
at our restaurants or elsewhere.
So, we are pleased to share
our knowledge and expertise.
In fact, we have been in the
somewhat unique position of
being asked to share our food
safety criteria and processes
with governments around the
world. Notably, a McDonald’s
executive serves on the
National Advisory Committee
on Microbiological Criteria for
Foods, a U.S. organization that
advises a number of govern-
mental agencies, including the
Food & Drug Administration and
the Department of Agriculture,
on food safety standards.
Earlier this year, McDonald’s
and RAM Consulting, a world
leader in safety analysis, testing
and consulting, shared state-of-
the-art equipment and technol-
ogy with the U.S. Consumer
Product Safety Commission,
to help its staff better evaluate
toy safety and prevent injuries
to children. This technology
includes a life-like doll that is
designed to test for potential
suffocation hazards. We believe
this tool, which within the
Company is sometimes affec-
tionately referred to as McBaby,
will help save children’s lives.
In addition, we provided
funding to the National
Playground Safety Institute,
America’s leader in playground
safety training, to underwrite
the development of a new
safety training program.
Commitment to quality & safety
Quality and safety 25