During the trial it was revealed that McDonald’s knew that heating their coffee to this temperature would be dangerous, but they did it anyways because it would save them money. When you serve coffee that is too hot to drink, it will take much longer for a person to drink their coffee, which means that McDonald’s will not have to give out as many free refills of coffee. This policy by the fast food chain is the reason the jury awarded $2.7 million dollars in punitive damages in the McDonald’s hot coffee case. Punitive damages are meant to punish the defendant for their inappropriate business practice.

    • phoenixz@lemmy.caEnglish
      16·
      1 year ago

      Yeah but that’s not the point of THEIR coffee, the point is that they make as much money as possible, the rest is whatever

    • dannoffs@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      What? Caffeine doesn’t break down until like 450°F. Keeping coffee hot is absolutely the best way to keep it “fresh”. Adding external heat does usually cause off flavors but has absolutely no effect on caffeine content.