McDonald's has agreed to pay a $10m settlement after Hindus living in the United States started legal action against the fast-food giant.

The lawsuits said the company had failed to disclose that it had used beef flavouring in its French fries.

McDonald's had previously assured Hindu, vegetarian and other groups that it cooked its fries in vegetable oil, but conceded that customers might have been confused about the flavouring.

In a statement the company said: 'McDonald's sincerely apologizes to Hindus, vegetarians and others for failing to provide the kind of information they needed to make informed dietary decisions at our US restaurants.

'We acknowledge that, upon our switch to vegetable oil in the early 1990's for the purpose of reducing cholesterol, mistakes were made in communicating to the public and customers about the ingredients in our French fries and hash browns. Those mistakes included instances in which French fries and hash browns sold at US restaurants were improperly identified as 'vegetarian'.

McDonalds says that as a direct result of these events, it has 'enhanced' its disclosures concerning the source of ingredients in its food products.

Disclosure of the payment was made in a statement posted on the company's website. Details: www.mcdonalds.com