Day 297 - 08 Nov 96 - Page 34
1 Despite US dietary guidelines produced in 1991, McDonald's
2 advertising is vague and nonspecific. That was day 16,
3 page 25. That the advertising said nothing about sodium
4 and high blood pressure. That was day 16, page 26.
5
6 During cross-examination of Professor Wheelock, he stated
7 that his function was to give general advice on the current
8 nutritional thinking and on the implications that this
9 would have on the composition of McDonald's products. He
10 said that McDonald's had developed a corporate healthy
11 eating policy which accepted the targets contained in the
12 grey book. That was day 21, page 8.
13
14 He agreed that people giving recommendations should give
15 the full facts and consequences so that other people could
16 make an informed choice. Day 21, page 32. Obviously, we
17 would argue that that was one of the functions of the fact
18 sheet; that it is giving people information about the links
19 between diet and ill-health so they can choose whether or
20 not they want to take the risks.
21
22 Professor Wheelock believed that approximately 180,000
23 people died annually from heart disease. He described this
24 as a major public health problem, and he agreed that
25 everybody should be doing as much as they could to cut the
26 number of deaths from heart disease. That was day 21, page
27 34. Obviously, that is completely contrary to what
28 McDonald's are doing by promoting high fat, high sodium,
29 low fibre food products, encouraging people to eat more of
30 them, and also by promoting them as though they were
31 nutritious.
32
33 Professor Wheelock agreed that sugar and salt in food can
34 make it more pleasurable for people to eat, so that is
35 another thing McDonald's are doing to encourage people to
36 eat more of their food, keeping up the sugar and salt
37 content. That was on day 21, page 36.
38
39 He admitted that in order to remove risks between diet and
40 disease the range of food that McDonald's produce would be
41 restricted, and he also admitted that there might be some
42 compromise on safety aspects because of the costs. That
43 was day 21, page 38.
44
45 Despite the fact that he had earlier said that the 180,000
46 deaths from heart disease every year were a major public
47 health problem and that everybody should be doing as much
48 as they could to cut the number of deaths, he had not
49 advised McDonald's to print nutritional information on
50 their packaging, stating that it was available in their
51 booklets. That was on day 21, page 41.
52
53 Obviously, you will remember that we argued that not all
54 the customers are going to pick up the nutritional
55 information booklets, and that is even when they are
56 available, because there has been.... Well, as I gave in
57 evidence, that quite frequently if you go into a McDonald's
58 store there are not any actual nutritional information
59 leaflets available. But, in any event, it should be
60 printed on the packaging, because that is what every
