Day 052 - 21 Nov 94 - Page 24
1 possibilities about that, or one certainty is that Lord
2 Justice Neill is saying that the issue is whether the
3 Plaintiffs' food is dangerous; second, which is uncertain,
4 it may be the case, that that is how he saw what the
5 Defendants were saying in their defence. But clear it is
6 -- whether that be so or not, one cannot tell or whether
7 it is an interpretation of the leaflet -- that what
8 Lord Justice Neill has identified as the issue requiring
9 trial by judge alone because it is a difficult issue is
10 whether the Plaintiffs' food gives rise to a danger to
11 health in those that eat it.
12
13 My Lord, then finally by way of notice to the Defendants,
14 if any further notice were needed at this stage, my opening
15 of the case on 28th June, page 8 of the transcript. I did
16 what I did just now, which was to draw your Lordship's
17 attention to the context of the leaflet as a whole, the
18 relevant parts. Then at line 21, just below, I said: "My
19 Lord, if the implication of that passage is that the person
20 who eats a McDonald's meal is running a significant risk
21 or, indeed, any risk at all of giving himself cancer or
22 heart disease or, as the Defendants additionally allege
23 now, diabetes, then, my Lord, it is an entirely false
24 statement.
25
26 It is also a false statement that it is an accepted medical
27 fact that there is a causal association between cancer and
28 the consumption of a large amount of saturated fats or
29 sodium."
30
31 My Lord, that, in my respectful submission, looks both
32 backwards and forwards. It reflects the way the case has
33 been put and understood by the court to be put ever since
34 7th July 1993. It reflects the way -- I hope your Lordship
35 would agree, and I would hope to show your Lordship some of
36 the passages in a moment -- in which the issue has, in
37 fact, been litigated in this court over the past months.
38
39 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Did Mr. Morris say anything which might be
40 helpful one way or another in his opening? I did not bring
41 my notes.
42
43 MR. RAMPTON: I do not know that he did. We will look over the
44 adjournment because I shall not finish before then.
45 Mr. Atkinson is going to look now. My Lord, then having
46 posed those two questions -- they are two questions; one is
47 the main question, does McDonald's food give you cancer and
48 heart disease; the second and subsidiary question is
49 whether in any event there is a causal association between
50 diet and cancer in this context -- I came back to the topic
51 at page 35 of the transcript, just below line 28 at the
52 bottom of the page.
53
54 "My Lord, the next topic is nutrition. This is, as your
55 Lordship appreciate -- this is not meant as a sour pun; it
56 lies at the heart of the case -- the reason is that
57 McDonald's sell food; their business depend upon it and if
58 people thought that the food was going to kill them, they
59 would not then go into their restaurants.
60
