McDonald's to Bring Sustainable Fish to Millions in Europe

LONDON, June 8, 2011 -

- McDonald's Introduces Marine Stewardship Council Products to
Restaurants Across 39 Countries

- All McDonald's Filet-O-Fish in Europe to be Certified as Sustainable

World Oceans Day, Wednesday 8 June 2011: In a landmark move
for sustainability, McDonald's has today announced that over 13 million
customers every day across Europe will be able to buy Marine Stewardship
Council (MSC) certified sustainable fish in McDonald's restaurants from
October this year.

The news comes as 7,000 McDonald's restaurants across 39 European
countries achieve certification to the MSC Chain of Custody traceability
standard, as part of the company's ongoing commitment to enhance its
sustainable sourcing practices.

Over 50% of the world's marine fish stocks are fully
exploited*. The MSC is an independent global organisation set up to tackle
the problem of overfishing by recognising and rewarding sustainable fisheries
through its certification and eco-labelling programme. McDonald's will be the
first company in its sector to introduce MSC certified white fish throughout
Europe. Last year, the company sold approximately 100 million Filet-o-Fish
portions across Europe.

The initiative will bring certified sustainable fish to
millions of people, making it more accessible to more European consumers than
ever before. McDonald's will be the first food service retailer in many of
its 39 European countries to sell any products carrying the MSC logo, which
will start appearing on packaging from October.

The certification is a result of a long term commitment made
by McDonald's to work with suppliers to improve sustainable fishing practices
through its global Sustainable Fisheries Policy.

Steve Easterbrook, President of McDonald's Europe said:

"McDonald's will be making MSC labelled fish available at an
affordable price to millions of our customers across Europe. We chose the MSC
certification as the most robust and recognisable independent accreditation
of our own sustainable fisheries standard. This is an important milestone in
our commitment to ensure future long-term supply."

Rupert Howes, CEO of the Marine Stewardship Council, said:

"McDonald's Europe's decision to source white fish products
exclusively from fisheries that have met the rigorous MSC standard for
sustainability is a tremendous testament to the ability of our industry
leaders to transform the seafood market and help drive changes on the water.
We're delighted all of McDonald's Filet-O-Fish in Europe will be MSC
certified and McDonald's is making sustainable fish so widely available. This
is a fantastic achievement and we hope that others will follow their lead."

This is the latest landmark in McDonald's pan-European
sustainability drive. In 2001, the company established its European
McDonald's Agricultural Assistance Programme (MAAP), to increase transparency
and drive improvements in quality and sustainability in its agricultural
supply chain.

In 2007, McDonald's helped promote consumer awareness of responsible
sourcing by rolling out sustainably certified coffee in all of its European
restaurants. The logos of organisations such as the Rainforest Alliance and
Utz Certified now appear on one million cups of coffee served in McDonald's
European restaurants every day.

In September 2009, McDonald's built on MAAP when it launched
the Flagship Farms Programme; a project developed to encourage sharing and
improvements in sustainable agriculture, through a direct dialogue amongst
progressive farmers across Europe.

McDonald's also announced a Sustainable Land Management
Commitment in March this year. Based on an analysis conducted in
collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the SLMC requires that,
over time, its suppliers only use agricultural raw materials for the
company's food and packaging that originate from sustainably-managed land.

* The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2010, UN FAO.

To find out more, visit:

www.msc.org/newsroom/news/partner-release-mcdonald2019s-to-bring-sustainable-fish-to-millions-in-europe

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this hyperlink into your Internet browser's URL address field. Remove the
space if one exists.)

James Simpson, Marine Stewardship Council, james.simpson at msc.org or phone
+44(0)207-246-8913.