LANIGAN, Sask. - McDonald's Canada and the president of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association are trying to counter what they say is false information being spread by an Internet hoax.
The hoax email, which has been circulating for a long time and purports to be from an Alberta cattle-feeding group, calls for a boycott of the fast-food chain because it says McDonald's has plans to buy most of its beef from South America.
Not true, says association president Brad Wildeman - who owns a cattle feedlot in Lanigan, Sask.
He says McDonald's buys as much Canadian beef as it can, and the company says that translates into roughly 29 million kilograms each year.
Wildeman says it may not always be possible for Canadian beef producers to supply all the lean meat McDonald's needs, but he says any beef brought in from other countries would have to meet stringent food safety regulations.
McDonald's Canada says it has bought small quantities of beef from New Zealand, Australia and the United States in the past but adds that the vast majority of its beef comes from Canadian producers.
