Hong Kong courts have fined McDonald’s HKD4,000 (US$513) after the fastfood giant pleaded guilty to selling ice cream that contained 630 times more bacteria than the level permitted by Hong Kong law.


According to a report in Agence France Presse, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department revealed that samples of ice cream taken from a McDonald’s outlet in the city’s Kowloon district contained 63,000 coliform organisms per gram, a result much higher than the permitted 100 organisms per gram.


McDonald’s had originally denied the charge, but changed its plea in court on Monday (27 March).