McDonald's Egypt continues the 'Open Door' program

The 'Open Door' program campaign began last year, allowing customers to visit the kitchens of McDonald's-Egypt, to view their meals being prepared from start to finish after wearing protective clothing to ensure health and safety standards.

Through these visits, customers can become familiar with the strict procedures for cleanliness and safety that McDonald's goes through to ensure meals that are healthy and tasty at the same time.

Mr. Mohamed Mansour, General Manager of McDonald's-Egypt, said:

"We believe that the open door policy will reassure customers by allowing any customer to personally identify the ingredients that go into their meals, especially if customers are with their families or children. No doubt the success achieved by the open door policy is due to the transparency used in dealing with customers, which has made them feel safe and as if they are at home."

Customers have expressed their great appreciation for the open door program, and recognized the efforts made by McDonald's in the implementation, and have stated that the tours they took have answered a lot of questions, especially with the confusion that prevails in the food market currently. They also emphasized that they could now answer the questions of others.

In the role that McDonald's-Egypt plays in the awareness of how to avoid the spread of the H1N1 virus, Mr. Alaa Fathy, Assistant General Manager of McDonald's-Egypt said, "There is no doubt that lack of sufficient awareness has led to panic and fear, and as an Egyptian organization we contributing to alleviating this issue by cooperation with government efforts in providing awareness on the reality of the virus. We have started by educating employees, who in turn educate their families. The Ministry of Health is addressing this issue with transparency to reassure citizens, and to minimize the impact of rumors that can affect the national economy."

He added, "We already have procedures that were put into place before the onset of H1N1, and are implemented through a strict system. For example, each restaurant ensures that employees wash their hands every 30 minutes with disinfectants, as well as washing the utensils and disinfecting them continuously. Recently, we have introduced new procedures such as periodic examinations of employees, as well as providing disinfectants to customers."

"In relation to the ingredients, McDonald's like all global companies has contracts with factories that manufacture the ingredients under strict specifications and constant supervision by us; the whole process is also supervised by the Ministry of Health," he said.

It should be noted that McDonald's-Egypt achieved widespread popularity through its strict measures in food preparation, and because they use more than 90% of ingredients from local suppliers who are committed to quality and safety standards.

Suppliers are reviewed on a regular basis through the HACCP program (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point Program), which is applied to all production lines in all supplier's factories, to ensure the quality of the supply chain and ensure food safety.