Day 032 - 06 Oct 94 - Page 35


     
     1   Q.   When you say the image, do you mean the image -----
     2
     3   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Might I just suggest that in a situation
     4        like that, rather than leading the witness to an answer
     5        which you might like or think he is batting for, just ask
     6        what image does he have in mind?
     7
     8   MR. MORRIS:  Yes.  What image are McDonald's promoting?
     9        A.  The image, I believe, they are attempting to promote
    10        (and which our evidence from the Peckham study would say
    11        that they may be failing to promote) is that provide
    12         "nutritious" perhaps "balanced meals made from nutritious
    13        ingredients".
    14
    15   Q.   But does that also imply something for that kind of diet
    16        as a whole?  We have seen those surveys, that people are
    17        eating a diet high in fastfoods, in some cases hamburgers
    18        every day.  Does McDonald's have any implication in that?
    19        A.  Well, of course, it does as a major player in that
    20        particular market, food market.  But I would argue that
    21        any major retailer attempting to expand its market here
    22        and offering foods that appears to substitute for meals
    23        eaten at home or at school, canteens and so on, should
    24        feel they have a responsibility towards the quality of the
    25        food in terms of its nutritional balance.  I could quote
    26         -- I do not know if you have the document in your records
    27        from the British Nutrition Foundation, again a Briefing
    28        Paper of theirs, which argues along these lines?
    29
    30   Q.   Maybe now is a suitable time to do that.  This is document
    31        No. 3 of your references.  Would you like to take us to
    32        the relevant pages?
    33        A.  Yes, 13 and then backwards to 12, I think, would be
    34        the way I -- the parts I would draw your attention to.
    35        Page 13 regarding fastfood.  May I explain, this is a
    36        document prepared as a Briefing Paper by the organisation
    37        we have discussed this morning, the British Nutrition
    38        Foundation, which to a large extent -----
    39
    40   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  What does a Briefing Paper mean?
    41        A.  I would assume it means it is a circular summarising
    42        the views of that body, and raising issues which it
    43        considers important to be considered by the food industry
    44        and by others that it circulates its papers to.  It is, as
    45        I said this morning, primarily funded by the food
    46        industry.
    47
    48   Q.   In fact, it says:  "It is intended to provide a summary of
    49        current information on the effects of catering methods on
    50        the nutrient content of food as consumed".  Yes, pages 13 
    51        and 12. 
    52        A.  13, I draw -- draw your attention to the first 
    53        paragraph, perhaps the first and maybe subsequent lines of
    54        the second paragraph.  Should I read it into the record?
    55
    56   Q.   Yes.
    57        A. "Fastfood:  This description refers more to a marketing
    58        method than a system of catering, but in general fits into
    59        the convenience methods bracket".  Here I would come back
    60        to page 12 in a moment perhaps.  "Fastfood outlets rely

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