Day 033 - 10 Oct 94 - Page 44
1 group, beans are also a part of that group as well as nuts
2 and eggs and not to mention poultry and fish. So, the
3 meat group is historically thought of as a high protein
4 group, but it is primarily animal products -- meats
5 mainly. We have no objection of encouraging children to
6 eat beans provided they are not prepared with large
7 amounts of fat, but the other items in that group do have
8 substantial health concerns associated with them.
9
10 So, that was the basis of our complaint and, as
11 I mentioned in my statement, what actually does help
12 athletic prowess and, particularly, endurance has been
13 examined in research going back quite a long way, and this
14 whole idea that consuming a high protein diet or meat
15 items, in particular, might help endurance has been
16 discarded since, at least since before the advent of this
17 century. We were concerned that McDonald's would do this
18 sort of promotion under the guise of National Nutrition
19 Month.
20
21 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What is the American Dietetic Association?
22 A. The American Dietetic Association is an association
23 that represents registered dieticians, that is, people who
24 are specialists in nutrition.
25
26 MR. MORRIS: So do you know why the American Dietetic
27 Association is mentioned?
28 A. The American Dietetic Association did play some
29 co-operative role in this project with McDonald's; the
30 nature of that, I do not know. The American Dietetic
31 Association has engaged in quite a number of what I am
32 going to describe as "co-operative projects" with large
33 corporations in America, and the details of their
34 arrangement on this one, I cannot describe.
35
36 Q. So, what is your conclusion as to the effect of this
37 promotion during National Nutrition Month by McDonald's to
38 children; what is the effect of it?
39 A. The effect of it would be that children would be asked
40 to associate toys, things that children enjoy -- rewards,
41 if you will -- with eating foods that over the long run
42 can be dangerous to their health.
43
44 Q. You are saying that not only are they bad for your health
45 but it is not even true the claims they are making, is
46 that what you are saying?
47 A. Yes. And there is simply no substantiation for the
48 claims made on this booklet. Those statements are false,
49 I think they are misleading and ultimately harmful to the
50 children.
51
52 Q. The result of your complaint, is that something we will
53 not know for some time?
54 A. We have not yet had an answer from either McDonald's
55 Corporation, to my knowledge, or from the Federal Trade
56 Commission.
57
58 Q. What is the dietary component that, in your opinion, is
59 linked to endurance?
60 A. Well, it has been known for quite some -----
