MCDONALD'S REACTS TO HRT BROADCAST FEATURE

ZAGREB, Jan 19 (Hina) - McDonald's in Croatia on Tuesday reacted to a feature aired by Croatian Radio-Television (HRT) on the negative effects of fast food which used McDonald's restaurants in Zagreb as background. The director of McDonald's in Croatia, Alan Perl, told a press conference the feature presented a distorted picture of the quality of McDonald's products which, he stressed, undergo strict control. The feature, prepared by reporter Branka Separovic, was aired on Sunday's prime time news. Perl said the feature surprised the McDonald's employees, but added no suit would be filed against HRT. We leave it up to everyone who watched the feature to make their own judgement about its accuracy, he added. The McDonald's management presented data about business success in Croatia, where 12 restaurants in six cities were opened in three years. McDonald's in Croatia has 590 employees, and last year it served about five million customers, McDonald's representatives in Zagreb told reporters and then showed how they prepare a hamburger. They pointed that McDonald's in Croatia mostly conducts business with local companies and suppliers, and that the meat served in McDonald's restaurants is inspected in cooperation with authorised institutes across Croatia. Also present at the press conference was HRT's reporter Separovic, who said that her feature presented data of the United States Health Ministry. The crux of the problem were the products imported to Croatia to prepare fast food. (hina) it jn/ha