Day 037 - 14 Oct 94 - Page 20


     
     1
     2   Q.   Just hold on a second.  Is that the basis for saying that
     3        statement above is -----
     4        A.  Yes.
     5
     6   Q.  - is fair comment?
     7        A.  Yes.  I mean, the statement above in the claim I do
     8        not think is particularly well expressed, because there is
     9        no connection really between the first half of the
    10        sentence, or perhaps there may be, "deliberately
    11        misleading the public as to the nutritional value of the
    12        food they sell when they know full well that the
    13        contents", and so on.  I mean, it seems to me there are
    14        two items being discussed there, but -----
    15
    16   Q.   I mean, we are concentrating on the first, as far as you
    17        are concerned, which is your area of expertise?
    18        A.  Yes, exactly.
    19
    20   Q.   So if we move on to the next point.
    21
    22   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Then you seek to illustrate that.
    23
    24   MR. MORRIS:  Yes.  I am getting confused because it is the
    25        Plaintiffs' Statement of Claim and it is repeated.  What
    26        is your understanding of the implications for McDonald's
    27        food for heart disease, the general accepted view?  You
    28        quoted the Department of Health on that.
    29        A.  Yes.
    30
    31   Q.   What is your general understanding of that as a lay
    32        person?
    33        A.  Well, the background is this, that we have a huge
    34        incidence of heart disease in this country which, through
    35        acclimatisation, I think, many of us now accept is a fact
    36        of life or, perhaps, rather a fact of death.  There are
    37        some statistics that I could refer to from the British
    38        Heart Foundation showing that, I believe, it is one in
    39        every four males will suffer from heart disease.  If you
    40        would like me to be specific about that, I can have those
    41        figures.
    42
    43   Q.   No, we do not want you to be specific.
    44        A.  This is the background, therefore, that we have at the
    45        moment a plague of heart disease in this country.  If
    46        McDonald's are going to set themselves up as nutritional
    47        consultants, which they do, they have an overwhelming
    48        responsibility to do two things, I would say; first of
    49        all, to tell people the truth and not masquerade it as
    50        part of their marketing policy; secondly, to do something 
    51        about it.  I stress that is only the case if they do feel 
    52        a need to consider themselves to be advisers on 
    53        nutrition.  If they do not, that is fine, but they clearly
    54        do.  They do demonstrate this as part of their marketing
    55        strategy.
    56
    57        Why it is part of their marketing strategy I think it is
    58        quite easy to see, because it is an attempt to protect
    59        this amazingly delicate thing they have created called the
    60        McDonald's image.  Once the image is tarnished, once the

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