[tasha0663]

> And the infamous McDonalds "coffee might be hot" lawsuit

Except it's not supposed to be hot enough to cause third-degree burns. The entire event is horribly mischaracterized.

From https://www.caoc.org/?pg=facts

> Mrs. Liebeck was not driving when her coffee spilled, nor was the car she was in moving. She was the passenger in a car that was stopped in the parking lot of the McDonald’s where she bought the coffee. She had the cup between her knees while removing the lid to add cream and sugar when the cup tipped over and spilled the entire contents on her lap.

> The coffee was not just “hot,” but dangerously hot. McDonald’s corporate policy was to serve it at a temperature that could cause serious burns in seconds. Mrs. Liebeck’s injuries were far from frivolous. She was wearing sweatpants that absorbed the coffee and kept it against her skin. She suffered third-degree burns (the most serious kind) and required skin grafts on her inner thighs and elsewhere.

[dpark]

McDonald’s coffee was and is served at about the same temperature as other locations. Starbucks coffee is nearly as hot. Recommendations from coffee trade groups is the same range.

Coffee served at the “right” temperature is dangerously hot. No one wants tepid coffee.

An equivalent lawsuit in the UK was dismissed, because it turned out that lowering the coffee temperature by the 5 or so degrees to make it match industry standards would have no meaningful effect on the burn risk. Similar lawsuits, including one against Bunn, have been dismissed in the US because this is standard coffee temperature. You can’t serve good coffee at 140 degrees as Liebeck's attorneys argued it should be. Just ban hot coffee at that point.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebeck_v._McDonald%27s_Rest...

[dhimes]

IIRC McDonalds had also been ordered by one or more judges to lower the temperature because a lot of people were getting hurt. They simply refused.

Then the judge got this case and the rest is history (if mischaracterized by a remarkable PR campaign by McDonalds).

[SapporoChris]

I kind of miss having hot coffee from McDonald's.

https://www.ehow.com/info_8682077_brewing-temperatures-mr-co... Brewing Regulations The standard brewing regulations of the Specialty Coffee Association of America (scaa.org) and the National Coffee Association (ncausa.org) require that coffeemakers brew coffee at a temperature between 197.6 degrees Fahrenheit and 204.8 degrees Fahrenheit. Most new coffeemakers will brew to these temperatures, but their performance wanes with extended and excessive use. Of the Mr. Coffee brand, the model JWX27, a 12-cup programmable coffeemaker, has routinely scored highest among tests done by coffee drinkers.

https://www.caoc.org/?pg=facts McDonald’s operations manual required the franchisee to hold its coffee at 180 to 190 degrees Fahrenheit.

My point. Coffee is brewed hot. McDonald's coffee wasn't abnormally hot, it was in fact much cooler than fresh brewed coffee.

Now do you want fresh coffee or not? We really don't need to coddle people with common sense precautions.

[thatguy0900]

As someone who gets McDonald's coffee quite a bit I'd rather not be worried about accidentally spilling it from kind of shitty cups and lids and burning myself to the literal bone. Not sure I'd call that coddling either.

[klyrs]

Fresh brewed coffee is piping hot. Sure. Coffee held at that same temperature for 3 hours is not fresh. It is merely hot.