Day 037 - 14 Oct 94 - Page 32
1 Q. I just want to show you a modern document to see -- just
2 on their modern document called "Nutrition: A question of
3 balance", January 1994. I do not know again where it is
4 in the bundle.
5 A. Could I see that, please?
6
7 Q. It may not be in the bundle.
8
9 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I do not think it ever was, was it?
10
11 MR. MORRIS: It may have been behind Tim Lobstein; I am not
12 sure.
13
14 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I think he may well have referred to it, but
15 it is the one I did not have a copy of.
16
17 MS. STEEL: I have two spare copies. The Plaintiffs have a
18 copy. (Handed).
19
20 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I will put my copy at the very front of pink
21 VI. Yes.
22
23 MR. MORRIS: This has been gone over by another witness, but
24 I just want to refer you to a couple of sections, well,
25 really it is the back page. "What is best for you?" above
26 the chart?
27 A. Yes, the phrase does crop up with monotonous
28 regularity.
29
30 Q. "Every time you eat at McDonald's you will be eating good,
31 nutritious food." Does that confirm your concerns from
32 1985?
33 A. Yes, I am very sad to say that the words have not
34 changed. I would -- McDonald's do seem to change
35 remarkably slowly in terms of innovating new products and
36 responding to public concern. What has happened in this
37 country, which the entire population must be aware of, in
38 recent years there has been a huge upsurge of interest in
39 healthy eating; more and more people have been concerned
40 about the quality of the food they are eating and the
41 impact of that food upon their health.
42
43 McDonald's response to this, it seems to me, has been to
44 appear to be concerned about healthy eating, to use the
45 phrase "healthy eating", but not really to change very
46 much; certainly not as far as their products are
47 concerned.
48
49 Q. They have made some changes, have they not?
50 A. Apparently they have here, yes; they do say, "We have
51 replaced the lard in our buns with vegetable oil". This
52 is something that could have been done decades ago. The
53 knowledge was there. I suspect that it is only public
54 pressure, particularly in countries such as the United
55 States, that has actually forced McDonald's, perhaps
56 rather grudgingly, to do these kinds of things.
57
58 Again, it illustrates the point I am making here:
59 McDonald's do not respond in a straightforward marketing
60 way towards consumer tastes and preferences and changing
