McDonald's gets ruling on drinks

LONDON -- McDonald's customers should know that coffee and tea are served hot and can burn them if spilled, a British judge said Wednesday in a ruling against 36 people who claimed they were scalded by drinks bought at the fast food chain.

High Court Justice Richard Field said McDonald's has no obligation to warn customers about the risk of scalding.

Timothy Horlock, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, had argued that that McDonald's served drinks that were too hot, used inadequate cups and did not warn customers of the risks. At least 16 of the plaintiffs were under 5 years old when they were injured.

Field said that McDonald's customers would not accept coffee and other drinks if they were served at temperatures low enough to prevent scalding.

"I am quite satisfied that McDonald's was entitled to assume that the consumer would know that the drink was hot and there are numerous commonplace ways of speeding up cooling, such as stirring and blowing," the judge said.