Day 032 - 06 Oct 94 - Page 53
1 about reformulation of products and cooking methods.
2 I think if it were to talk about the needs of the public,
3 it might well argue for greater transparency than this.
4
5 Q. We went over the more recent leaflets in terms of what was
6 stated there by McDonald's about their food. If we look
7 at the text of this leaflet, do you think it would be fair
8 to say similar sorts of things, looking particularly at
9 the first paragraph of "What we put into our food"?
10 A. Well, again they are using the argument that because
11 they use basic ingredients that you might use at home that
12 appear to be wholesome, therefore, the food they sell is
13 similarly wholesome.
14
15 Q. Looking at the paragraph just above "Check for yourself",
16 do you think that is a -----
17 A. Nutritional value, it is a rather ill-defined phrase
18 and I think is used more as a publicity and public
19 relations attempt than anything more solid than that. I
20 do not think nutritional value is something people in
21 dietetics would talk about. They might talk about
22 nutrient density and we have talked about that already.
23
24 Q. Finally, to draw your attention to the back page of this,
25 "Golden Rules for Healthy Eating", under the section
26 "Where does McDonald's fit in?" at the very the last four
27 lines, do you think that what is stated there is
28 reasonable?
29
30 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Read it out aloud.
31
32 MS. STEEL: "But McDonald's menu contains ingredients from all
33 the food groups, all good to eat as well as being good
34 news if you want to stay healthy"?
35 A. Yes. Clearly, it is then a matter of how these foods
36 and the proportions are actually served up, and that in
37 part depends on the way in which they think meal
38 combinations should be or could be eaten. I think if you
39 refer back to the plate you looked at a little earlier and
40 contrast it in terms of proportions of fruits, vegetables,
41 nuts and cereals with the sorts of foods you are getting
42 in McDonald's meal combination, you will find that there
43 is a discrepancy.
44
45 Q. If we compared it specifically to the "a typical meal"
46 combinations that we looked at earlier?
47 A. For example, yes.
48
49 MR. MORRIS: Just going back to labelling or to ingredients
50 information, how do you feel the best way of getting
51 ingredients information over to the public would be?
52 A. I would imagine that the most direct method would be
53 to list ingredients on the actual cartons and packages in
54 which the food is sold as we find in supermarkets and most
55 other forms of food sales, apart from restaurant catering.
56
57 Q. Do you feel that the fast food industry is capable of
58 doing that?
59 A. I am sure it is capable of doing that. Most of the
60 food it sells is wrapped or packaged in some form, often
