Day 032 - 06 Oct 94 - Page 36


     
     1        upon a choice of convenience foodstuffs which are in a
     2        form ready for rapid regeneration into an attractive
     3        product".
     4
     5        Now, this written in 1985, January 1985, states that:  "At
     6        present, in the UK, consumption of such foods does not
     7        represent a substantial proportion of the average
     8        nutritional intake of most people.  It seems likely,
     9        however, that some consumers may rely heavily upon such
    10        meals and that future trends will be towards increased
    11        consumption of these forms of foodstuffs.
    12
    13        The restricted range of menu items, and the choice of
    14        foodstuffs which are amenable to the cooking methods used
    15        may mean that meals from such outlets are somewhat high in
    16        fat".  It goes on to refer to data produced on the next
    17        page to substantiate that.
    18
    19        It goes on to describe also other issues to do with
    20        fastfood that it wants to take up as particularly
    21        problematic. "Fat", for example, "has more than twice the
    22        energy value of protein and carbohydrate and regular
    23        consumption of high fat foods is likely to lead to weight
    24        gain", and so forth.
    25
    26        But, in particular, I would like to come back on this
    27        point about image and responsibility.  Having referred
    28        fastfood as being in general fitting the convenience
    29        method bracket,  if I can then refer you to page 12, the
    30        paragraph under Convenience Methods, the third sentence
    31        onwards starting:  "One impact of these technological
    32        developments is to shift partially the burden of
    33        responsibility for the nutritional content of the foods
    34        away from the caterer to the manufacturer", that is
    35        because the manufacturer is no longer making its own meals
    36        but relying on convenient meals supplied by the
    37        manufacturer in that particular case.  But, and I think
    38        this applies to the fastfoods as well:  "If prepackaged
    39        and cooked products are to be extensively used in the
    40        provision of food to those who will rely heavily on these
    41        meals for their nutrition, the producer of these packs
    42        must accept a responsibility to ensure a nutritionally
    43        desirable balance in the meals."
    44
    45        I would argue that due to the limited menus and the
    46        repeated or potentially repeated use of the fastfood
    47        outlay day after day that a similar responsibility would
    48        apply.
    49
    50   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  With a caterer as large and influential as 
    51        McDonald's, they can obviously be completely in charge of 
    52        what their suppliers produce for them? 
    53        A.  Absolutely.
    54
    55   MR. MORRIS:  Just going to page 13 again, the paragraph which
    56        you have stopped halfway down, there are a number of
    57        points there they are making.  How would you summarise the
    58        points they are making ---
    59        A.  Primarily that there -----
    60

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