Day 032 - 06 Oct 94 - Page 48


     
     1   MR. MORRIS:  The top right hand corner inside.  "To help all
     2        our customers eat healthily, we are constantly making our
     3        menu even more nutritious".
     4
     5   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  No.  Read the whole paragraph.
     6
     7   MR. MORRIS:  "Our first aim is to reduce the amount of fat in
     8        some menu items, whilst not affecting the quality or the
     9        taste".  I do not want to read it all; I do not think it
    10        is relevant.  The point I am making, the question I am
    11        asking, is what is the implication of that phrase to a
    12        customer reading this leaflet?
    13
    14   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes, but you are supposed to be helping me
    15        as well.  What you should do, especially as Mr. Rampton
    16        asks (and he should do the same if you ask him) is read
    17        the whole of what both parties want before me, so I can
    18        read the whole of it.  Then you are perfectly at liberty
    19        to go to the particular phrase you want to focus on, but
    20        I have the general picture before we go to the particular.
    21
    22   MR. MORRIS:  Right, OK.  I will read out that section:  "To
    23        help all our customers to eat healthily, we are constantly
    24        making our menu even more nutritious.  Our first aim is to
    25        reduce the amount of fat in some menu items, whilst not
    26        affecting the quality or the taste.
    27
    28        So far we have replaced the lard in our buns with
    29        vegetable oil, and we now use water-based instead of
    30        oil-based dressings.  We have also reduced the amount of
    31        fat in our cheese slices, and are looking at ways to
    32        reduce the salt and sugar in our menu".
    33
    34        To go back to the first sentence:  "To help all our
    35        customers eat healthily", my emphasis, "we are constantly
    36        making our menu even more nutritious".  What is your
    37        conclusion of the implication of that statement in terms
    38        of the present situation?
    39        A.  In terms of the present situation it would imply that
    40        they have some mileage to go, and that they are seeing
    41        some ways in which they can do that.  I would also say
    42        that I think the first phrasing is unfortunate as it
    43        implies that customers are already eating fairly healthily
    44        and that this is only a little bit more beyond that.  I
    45        suspect that is somewhat -- an ambiguity they wanted to
    46        put in there.
    47
    48   Q.   I can put words into your mouth -- it does not make it as
    49        strong -- would you say that implies that their food is
    50        nutritious, if they are going to make it even more 
    51        nutritious? 
    52        A.  I could see that you could argue that.  I tend to read 
    53        this the other way round, which is that they are
    54        acknowledging that their food is not particularly
    55        nutritious and that they have some way to go yet.
    56
    57   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I must say, we have all to get our own
    58        meanings.  My response has been different to yours on both
    59        scores so far, because there they are, "to help our
    60        customers eat healthily", assumes that they are people who

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