Day 186 - 10 Nov 95 - Page 27
1 other. That is really how people are going to read this
2 leaflet. They will read all the arches. My argument is
3 that basically on their own they mean absolutely nothing.
4 People will just -- I doubt they will even think about
5 them.
6
7 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, I understand.
8
9 MS. STEEL: They then go on to read the leaflet and basically
10 find out what is the leaflet all about.
11
12 In terms of very real risk, and that you will suffer, can
13 I just say that even if the leaflet had clearly stated
14 McDonald's food causes cancer, that people would not have
15 assumed that everybody who eats at McDonald's will get
16 cancer or that even a sizeable proportion of those who eat
17 at McDonald's will get cancer.
18
19 As we have seen already, adverts and cigarette packets
20 state that smoking kills, smoking causes fatal diseases,
21 smoking causes cancer, smoking causes heart disease, nobody
22 understands these to mean that if you smoke you will get
23 cancer and heart disease and die as a consequence, not even
24 that all regular smokers will get cancer, etcetera. They
25 know that what it means is that if you smoke, you increase
26 your chances of suffering from heart disease or cancer.
27
28 Everybody knows people who smoke, people who have smoked
29 for years and who have not got lung cancer and/or heart
30 disease or whatever, and they know that not everybody is
31 going to suffer those diseases, nor even the majority.
32 Likewise, most people know that McDonald's sells food to
33 millions of people. If they do not eat at McDonald's
34 themselves, they know others that do eat there and they
35 know that not everyone is dropping dead as a consequence.
36
37 They know generally that even people who consistently eat a
38 junk-food diet for the whole of their lives, not all of
39 them are going to get heart disease or cancer, or
40 necessarily the vast majority of them. But, particularly
41 in relation to McDonald's foods, they are just not going to
42 assume that even if it did say "McDonald's food causes
43 cancer", they would not assume that that means that the
44 majority of people who eat there are going to get cancer as
45 a result.
46
47 MR. JUSTICE BELL: If I make sure I understand the way you are
48 putting it, I understand what you told me you say the
49 meaning is. As I have said, I have made a note of that,
50 your equivalent of that and your equivalent of H, but if
51 you just look at the quote as it has been transcribed.
52
53 MS. STEEL: The quote?
54
55 MR. JUSTICE BELL: The quote from me on 25th September.
56
57 MS. STEEL: Right.
58
59 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Do you have a copy?
60
