Day 032 - 06 Oct 94 - Page 58


     
     1        to make manufacturers take some responsibility for those
     2        trends, but not for absolute figures.
     3
     4   Q.   That is a comment which applies and, no doubt, would be
     5        accepted by me as applying validly to what one might call
     6        the nutrition and health of the nation at large, is it
     7        not?
     8        A.  And, in particular, those groups that we have been
     9        focusing on earlier today.
    10
    11   Q.   You might even point a finger at fast food, I do not
    12        know.  What it comes to is this, that before you,
    13        Dr. Lobstein, from your position of expertise, are able to
    14        level a criticism at McDonald's for providing the nation
    15        with food which is dangerous to its health, you need to
    16        have data, do you not, about the frequency with which
    17        people in this country and elsewhere in the world eat
    18        McDonald's food?
    19        A.  I am not sure that follows, because I would argue that
    20        if someone was producing something that was outrageously
    21        harmful to health, one would not have to show it was being
    22        eaten frequently, and would have to show that the
    23        manufacturer should take responsibility.
    24
    25   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  In the context of this case.
    26        A.  In the context of this case, one has examples already
    27        from overseas, for example, America where these foods have
    28        been promoted heavily and where the overall consumption is
    29        now much higher than it is here, so one sees a trend
    30        possibly developing, potentially developing, against which
    31        one might want to argue and encourage a greater
    32        responsibility before it becomes a fact.
    33
    34   MR. RAMPTON:  Dr. Lobstein, can we please stop talking about
    35        these foods?  This case is about McDonald's food amongst
    36        other things.  Do you have any reliable data to suggest
    37        that people are eating McDonald's foods in excessive
    38        quantities, that is to say, too frequently?
    39        A.  I would argue the Peckham study, for example, showed
    40        cases where people were eating foods, including those of
    41        McDonald's and McDonald's constituted a large proportion,
    42        too frequently.
    43
    44   Q.   Leaving aside the Peckham sample, perhaps I can leave it
    45        with this question:  You would agree, would you not, with
    46        these two criticisms which might be made of it, with
    47        anybody with a knowledge of statistics and market
    48        research, first, that the sample was tiny, 385 people I
    49        think it was?
    50        A.  Most MORI polls are around 1,000 so it is not that 
    51        tiny. 
    52 
    53   Q.   I am coming back to the size of the sample later in the
    54        context of research into McDonald's own customer base.
    55        Second, that there was an inbuilt bias into the survey
    56        because the questions were asked of people leaving the
    57        fast food outlets?
    58        A.  I acknowledge that we were looking particularly to see
    59        if cases were present.
    60

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