Vt. announces maple settlement with McDonald's

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Vermont — the country's largest maple producer — has announced a settlement with McDonald's over complaints that the restaurant chain was improperly labeling a new product as maple flavored in the state.

Gov. Peter Shumlin said Thursday that the only maple ingredient in McDonald's Fruit and Maple Oatmeal was extracted from a bark of a bush that is a distant relative of the maple tree.

McDonald's has agreed starting Feb. 1 to give customers in its Vermont stores pure maple syrup or sugar to add to the fruit and maple product if they request it. This will not apply outside of Vermont.

McDonald's spokeswoman Nicole DiNoia says the company is pleased with the settlement and is happy to continue offering the oatmeal product in Vermont.