Day 064 - 08 Dec 94 - Page 47


     
     1        McDonald's food is going to do you good?
     2        A.  Well, it says, "just the kind of basics you may use at
     3        home".
     4
     5   Q.   Yes, but those basics may well be good for you if you eat
     6        them at home, but if you add lots of fat to them, salt and
     7        sugar, you have products that are not so good for you?
     8        A.  I am not aware that we do add lots more fat, salt or
     9        sugar to products that we serve in the restaurants that may
    10        be eaten at home.  These same, similar products can be
    11        purchased in supermarkets and would be eaten at home.
    12
    13   Q.   Potatoes, for example, you only sell them as chips, do you
    14        not?
    15
    16   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I am sorry to interrupt you again because I
    17        do not want to give the impression I am against you on this
    18        point or have reached any conclusion adverse to you in
    19        relation to it, but you have got to think about what the
    20        point of putting this to Mr. Oakley is.  It is really
    21        comment which you will want to address to me in the
    22        future.  You have raised the points in the past so I am
    23        aware of them.  It does not matter what Mr. Oakley thinks
    24        of it.  It is what I think of it.  It was not his
    25        responsibility at the time.  So far as I am aware, he had
    26        no part in the drafting of it.  The mere facts that he says
    27        it does not look deceptive to him is in no way conclusive.
    28        I have to form my own view having listened to your
    29        arguments such as the one you are now putting to the
    30        witness.
    31
    32        I could see the point in it when you had a nutrition expert
    33        who might have some special expertise, not only as to the
    34        ingredients of food, but any standard or typical ways of
    35        setting them out so that they could be clearly understood
    36        by the public and would in no way mislead the public, but
    37        we have been through that.
    38
    39        What I am anxious you should not feel is that you are
    40        obliged to put things which have been put already and
    41        raised just because you have someone in the witness box
    42        wearing, as it were, a McDonald's badge.
    43
    44   MS. STEEL:  Mr. Rampton asked you specifically about the
    45        column:  "Where does McDonald's fit in?  Of course, we are
    46        not claiming that McDonald's provides every single nutrient
    47        you need for a healthy diet, but it can certainly play a
    48        very valuable part".  That could be misleading, could it
    49        not?
    50        A.  No, I think it does play a valuable part. 
    51 
    52   Q.   People would think from that that you are providing a 
    53        useful part of the diet as opposed to a part that you
    54        should really only eat as a treat or something like that?
    55        A.  No, it is part of a diet, and I would stand by what it
    56        says there.
    57
    58   Q.   Then near the bottom of that:  "Naturally, to maintain a
    59        balanced diet you should eat plenty of cereals, fresh
    60        vegetables and fruit"?

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