Key Facts

• Four customers filed the McRib lawsuit in December 2025 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
• The plaintiffs allege the McRib’s name, shape, and marketing led customers to believe it contained pork rib meat, and that its patty uses less expensive pork products.
• McDonald’s ingredient list describes the patty as containing pork, water, salt, dextrose, and rosemary extract; the company describes it as seasoned boneless pork.
• On October 30, Judge April Perry rejected McDonald’s request to dismiss the entire case, saying the plaintiffs’ interpretation of “McRib” was not unreasonable at this stage.
• The judge allowed consumer-deception, fraud, and unjust-enrichment claims to proceed, while dismissing some other claims; the plaintiffs must still prove their allegations.
• McDonald’s denied that the McRib contains heart, tripe, or stomach and called the lawsuit’s claims meritless.
• In a separate Florida case, a jury awarded $800,000 to a girl burned by a hot Chicken McNugget; jurors found the franchisee negligent and found McDonald’s USA failed to provide adequate instructions or warnings.
• Stella Liebeck suffered third-degree burns after spilling McDonald’s coffee in Albuquerque in 1992 and needed hospitalization and skin grafts.