Day 037 - 14 Oct 94 - Page 19


     
     1        here is a company conducting unethical marketing and
     2        attempting to disguise the fact.
     3
     4        Those are the only quotes I would like to refer to at the
     5        moment from that chapter.
     6
     7   Q.   Is that the end of that?
     8        A.  Yes.
     9
    10   Q.   Let us move on to specifics now.  On page 2 of your
    11        statement you agree with the statement that you say, which
    12        I believe is in the Plaintiffs' Statement of Claim, is
    13        fair comment; that McDonald's "are deliberately misleading
    14        the public as to the nutritional value of the food they
    15        sell".
    16
    17   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Where are you now?
    18
    19   MR. MORRIS:  Page 2, it is two-thirds of the way down the main
    20        quote on that page.
    21
    22   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Paragraph?
    23
    24   MR. MORRIS:  Paragraph 3 -- I can hardly read it.
    25        A.  Excuse me.  Would it help if you had a better copy?
    26
    27   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  No, I just wanted to find where you are on
    28        the page because Mr. Morris started reading and I needed
    29        to know where he was on page 2, but I have found it now.
    30
    31   MR. MORRIS:  "The plaintiffs' Statement of Claim asserts that
    32        the leaflet entitled 'What's wrong with McDonald's?'
    33        contends that the plaintiffs 'are deliberately misleading
    34        the public as to the nutritional value of the food they
    35        sell when they know full well that the contents of an
    36        average McDonald's meal are linked with cancers of the
    37        breasts and bowel, and heart disease'".  You have said,
    38        have you not, this is fair comment?
    39        A.  Yes, I have.
    40
    41   Q.   Just say "yes" or "no".
    42
    43   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  When you say "this is fair comment", is what
    44        you mean that that is true?
    45        A.  I appreciate there may be legal definitions for that.
    46
    47   Q.   Do not worry about the legal definitions.
    48        A.  If I can explain precisely what I did intend to say
    49        there.  What I meant was that this is, in my view, an
    50        absolutely legitimate statement that should be part of the 
    51        wide public debate on diet and health.  I can only repeat 
    52        really I do feel that statement is part of fair comment. 
    53
    54   MR. MORRIS:  But regarding what you said, "McDonald's have
    55        certainly produced misleading nutritional information for
    56        the public"?
    57        A.  Yes.
    58
    59   Q.   That, you say, is a fact, yes?
    60        A.  Yes, I am afraid it is.

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