this post was submitted on 20 Sep 2023
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Today I Learned

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During the trial it was revealed that McDonald’s knew that heating their coffee to this temperature would be dangerous, but they did it anyways because it would save them money. When you serve coffee that is too hot to drink, it will take much longer for a person to drink their coffee, which means that McDonald’s will not have to give out as many free refills of coffee. This policy by the fast food chain is the reason the jury awarded $2.7 million dollars in punitive damages in the McDonald's hot coffee case. Punitive damages are meant to punish the defendant for their inappropriate business practice.

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[–] justawittyusername@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago (2 children)

That must have been not far off boiling!

[–] slumlordthanatos@lemmy.world 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

190 degrees Fahrenheit. They served it that hot to make it less obvious that they (usually) weren't selling fresh coffee.

[–] Poiar@sh.itjust.works 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

How much is that in degrees Celsius?

[–] th3dogcow@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)
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[–] Silverseren@kbin.social 8 points 1 year ago

Only a couple degrees off, yeah. The elderly woman who spilled it ended up getting third degree burns across her entire lower torso and had to have multiple skin grafts done.

[–] FaeDrifter@midwest.social 10 points 1 year ago (4 children)

During the trial it was revealed that McDonald’s knew that heating their coffee to this temperature would be dangerous, but they did it anyways because it would save them money.

People aren't understanding the coffee science here. Optimal brew temp is 195-205 degF.

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/584f6bbef5e23149e5522201/t/5d936fa1e29d4d5342049d74/1569943487417/Coffee+Standards-compressed.pdf

Now it should be regulated that the coffee is required to cool to a certain temperature, probably 160, before they're allowed to serve it. But coffee is supposed to be brewed at a dangerous temperature.

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[–] Maraval26@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

At home my breville delivers espresso’s at 93 degrees C. But it cools quickly in porcelain cups. Did they serve the coffee at boiling temperature?

[–] sebinspace@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

82-88 *C, according to the Wikipedia page for the Liebeck vs McDonald’s case. McDonalds also serve their hot coffee in paper cups. I’m not a materials expert, but I have to think paper wouldn’t dissipate that heat as quickly as ceramic.

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[–] EmperorHenry@discuss.tchncs.de 8 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I didn't know about the saving on refills, but I did know that it was an old lady who's grandson drove her to McDonald's

They were sitting in the car in the parking lot, NOT MOVING and the coffee spilled and gave the old lady 3rd degree burns that required hospital care for a long time.

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