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.

Disclosure of the payment was made in a statement posted on the company's website.

Apology

McDonald's also said that it "sincerely apologises to Hindus, vegetarians and others" for improperly describing its fries and hash browns sold in the US as vegetarian.

"We regret we did not provide these customers with complete information, and we sincerely apologize for any hardship that these miscommunications have caused," it said.

The McDonald's payment and apology are part of a wider settlement of five class-action lawsuits alleging that the company misled consumers by wrongly describing its French fries as vegetarian.