U.S. gospel singer sues McDonald's, claims glass in sandwich ruined her voice

MANILA, Philippines – A gospel singer from New York sued McDonald’s after she bit a chicken sandwich she bought from the fast food giant, the New York Post reported recently. The sandwhich allegedly contained a piece of glass bigger than a penny.

Jacqueline Simpson, 52, who filed the suit before the Brooklyn Supreme Court, told the Post that she had bought the glass-laden sandwich from a McDonald’s branch near the World Trade Center in May 2010.

After eating the sandwich, Simpson, who works as a clerk for the state Attorney General’s Office, said her voice became "hoarse" and "rattly,” according to The Post.

“I still sing alto, but I can’t sing soprano like I used to,” The Post quoted Simpson as saying.

“I have to make a lot of calls for work, and I have to tell people that I’m not a man.  “Before, that never happened,” added Simpson.

source: interaksyon.com

Jollibee net income up a third in 2Q

MANILA - Jollibee Foods Corp. on Tuesday told the local bourse that its profit went up by a third in the second quarter.

In a disclosure, JFC said earnings rose 33 percent to P921 million in the April to June period from P693 million in the same period last year.

This pushed the homegrown fast-food giant's net profit attributable to equity holders by 21.2 percent year-on-year to P1.59 billion in the first six months of the year from P1.31 billion in 2011.

System-wide retail sales, a measure of all sales to consumers both from company-owned and franchised stores, climbed 12.1 percent in the second quarter to P22.95 billion from last year’s P20.46 billion.

In the first half, system-wide retail sales expanded by 13.5 percent to P44.50 billion from P39.21 billion in 2011.

Ysmael Baysa, JFC chief financial officer, attributed the strong performance to healthy same-store sales growth in most regions driven by higher transaction count, cost improvements in the Philippines and China, lower financing costs and tax savings.

However, same-store sales growth and higher cost of labor, rent and utilities remain very important challenges in its businesses in China, Baysa added.

source: interaksyon.com