Day 037 - 14 Oct 94 - Page 30
1
2 Q. It does not give any ingredients.
3
4 MR. JUSTICE BELL: This is my difficulty with weazel words,
5 because what you are really saying that the sentence is
6 wrong? A glance at the chart does not tell you what is in
7 a McDonald's menu item. It tells you some of what is in a
8 McDonald's menu item; that is what you are saying?
9 A. That is absolutely right, yes.
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11 MR. MORRIS: It does not give ingredients.
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13 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What is "weazel" about that? It is not even
14 strictly true, you are saying?
15 A. Well, you have perceived that, but most people will
16 not; most people will read that as meaning that here are
17 all the important things you need to know about, and -----
18
19 Q. I understand that.
20 A. These are not the important things you need to know
21 about, but that is the impression that these words
22 create. I shall try to be more precise in future, not use
23 that expression "weazel words" -- it is jargon after all.
24
25 MR. MORRIS: It is an imprecise term?
26 A. Yes.
27
28 Q. This nutrition guide, I do not think we need to go into it
29 any more. As far as we can see, it is identical in the
30 text to the one we have looked at before. But this is the
31 one, just for the court, for the record, I think this is
32 the one which is referred to in the London Greenpeace Fact
33 Sheet.
34 A. Yes. Can I just mention at the beginning, these are
35 phrases that do crop up time and time again in McDonald's
36 publicity. At the beginning of that page, "What we put
37 into our food", again this is another sin of omission.
38 "At McDonald's we believe food should do you good as well
39 as taste good". This phrase comes up again and again.
40 "That is why we've based our menu on nutritious foods
41 that are everyone's favourites: meat, bread, fish, eggs,
42 milk and potatoes. Just the sort of basics you make your
43 meals from at home". There are one or two rather
44 important exceptions there, like vegetables and fruit, but
45 because McDonald's are essentially not vendors of
46 vegetables and fruit they omit them. Again, it is
47 misleading.
48
49 Q. If we can put that away for the moment? I think we have
50 dealt with those points on the rest of that page and on
51 page 4 of your statement.
52 A. Yes.
53
54 Q. If we go to item B on page 5 of your statement, I believe
55 it is page 5.
56 A. Yes.
57
58 Q. Just hold on one second while I collect my thoughts. You
59 mention five different McDonald's leaflets there and none
60 of them mention cancer of the breast or bowel?
