Day 053 - 22 Nov 94 - Page 23


     
     1        their food, high in fat, et cetera, to make their diets
     2        ----
     3
     4   MS. STEEL:  I accept that that is one part of what we are
     5        saying, but that is not all that we are saying.  We are
     6        talking about their contribution to the diet, in general,
     7        not solely in terms of whether people only eat there or eat
     8        there very frequently.  That is just one aspect of our
     9        case; it is not the entire ----
    10
    11   MR. MORRIS:  If they eat one meal at McDonald's once in their
    12        lifetime, it is still making a negative contribution to
    13        their diet.  It is not a healthy contribution to their
    14        diet; it is negative contribution to their diet.
    15
    16   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  That is another point.
    17
    18   MS. STEEL:  I mean, it is in terms, as well, of promoting that
    19        type of food, as in hamburgers, as a useful and nutritious
    20        part of the diet; it is not solely in terms of how often
    21        their customers eat there.  That is one part of it,
    22        I agree.
    23
    24   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I will not repeat it, but I have tried to
    25        give a possible modified meaning, and what it occurs to me
    26        you are saying there -- well, you do say, "Neither we nor
    27        our witnesses have confused diet with food, but as the
    28        Plaintiffs' own document showed, for a significant number
    29        of their customers, McDonald's food plays a large part in
    30        their overall diet."
    31
    32        Then if you go on:  "There are a great many people who do
    33        eat at McDonald's far more frequently than once a week.
    34        These people are running a risk that their health will
    35        suffer in the long term."
    36
    37   MS. STEEL:  Yes, I agree that that is part of our case.  I am
    38        not trying to withdraw that.  All I am saying is that is
    39        not the whole of what we are saying.
    40
    41   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  No, I am not suggesting, for the purposes of
    42        what I am putting to you now, it is the whole of your case,
    43        but -----
    44
    45   MS. STEEL:  Or that it is necessarily what we should have to
    46        prove, either.
    47
    48   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  It is one of the contentions you have put
    49        forward, supported by evidence, and sought to support by
    50        cross-examination, I would suggest.  That is why I asked 
    51        you whether you did not realise that a causal link might 
    52        matter or that there was a possibility that you might have 
    53        to show a causal link because, surely, it was because you
    54        appreciated that, that you went into this at all.
    55
    56   MS. STEEL:  I can honestly say that we did not ever, at any
    57        stage until this -----
    58
    59   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  If you actually said now that it was not your
    60        case that McDonald's food plays a part in causing

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