McDonald's and Coca Cola are waging junk food war on Russia, claims government

A Russian official has accused US fast food giants McDonalds and Coca Cola of waging "war" against citizens by aggressively marketing "unhealthy" products to them.

With tensions between Russia and the US at their highest point since the Cold War, the office of Russian Deputy Prime Minster Dmitry Medvedev has stepped up its attacks on two of the most potent symbols of American capitalism.

"The aggressive marketing they carry out - which has nothing to do with our culinary traditions - is comparable to a war against our people," said Medvedev aide Gennady Onishchenko, speaking to radio station Russkaya Sluzhba Novostei.

Onishchenko was previously Russia's chief sanitation doctor, and has imposed bans on food imports from a range of Moscow's political foes for alleged breaches of hygiene regulations, according to France 24.

Also on Thursday (5 March) senior Russian lawmaker Alexei Pushkov, head of the country's foreign relations committee, tweeted that McDonald's and Coca Cola ought to leave Russia in the wake of sanctions imposed by the US following the Ukraine crisis.

"Don't McDonald's and Coca-Cola want to support [President Barack] Obama's sanctions and rid us of their products?" tweeted Pushkov. "They would stick to principles and we would be healthier," he added.

After a range of economic sanctions were imposed last year, Russian lawmakers imposed a food import ban. Ten McDonalds restaurants throughout the country were temporarily closed on charges of contravening food hygiene regulations, in a move many saw as politically motivated.

Both Russia and McDonald's and Coca Cola have sizeable operations in Russia, and recorded slowed growth in the country last year.