Day 053 - 22 Nov 94 - Page 09


     
     1        you?
     2
     3   MS. STEEL:  It is not just that if you eat enough McDonald's
     4        food -----
     5
     6   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I am not trying to steer you into that, that
     7        it means if you do accept that and if, at the end of the
     8        day, that is what I thought it did mean, or something
     9        similar, you would necessarily lose the case.  I mean, we
    10        have had a lot of evidence one way or another in relation
    11        to that.  It may be that on the heart disease side, for
    12        instance, you have called evidence to that effect and that
    13        McDonald's have not chosen to gainsay it.  I am not saying
    14        that will be my conclusion, but that could be a conclusion.
    15
    16   MS. STEEL:  Basically, I do not think it is exclusively
    17        referring to if it was just, you know, the scenario of "it
    18        has to be you are eating McDonald's food all the time"; it
    19        is about the contribution that McDonald's food makes to the
    20        diet of a person, overall.
    21
    22   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  That is really what I was trying to say.
    23        That is why I described it as an intermediate position.  It
    24        is intermediate in two senses:  that it would take account
    25        of the fact that the word "diet" is used, and, in relation
    26        to McDonald's, the word "meal" was used.  So it is
    27        modified; it is a modified meaning to this extent, that it
    28        is the contribution of McDonald's meals to a diet which may
    29        have that unsatisfactory result; and it is a modification
    30        in this sense, that it does not mean you will get it, but
    31        that you are taking a risk of suffering cancer or heart
    32        disease.
    33
    34   MS. STEEL:  To an extent, but it is also the fact that they are
    35        saying that things like mass-produced chips, colas and
    36        milkshakes are a useful part of a diet.  Therefore, it is
    37        not just theirs.
    38
    39   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I appreciate that.  I am not talking about
    40        what I will call the deceptive promotion element of any
    41        meaning or allegation or evidence on one side or the other;
    42        I am just on ----
    43
    44   MS. STEEL:  We would submit that the effect of them promoting
    45        this type of food as nutritious means that people, whether
    46        or not they specifically eat McDonald's food, think that
    47        that type of food is nutritious and, therefore, it is all
    48        right for them to eat it in large quantities or frequently;
    49        they do not need to worry about it.
    50 
    51   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I am not ignoring that, but I am focusing in 
    52        on what you started, really, to address me on and what 
    53        Mr. Rampton really restricted his submissions to yesterday
    54        in so far as the amendment of F was concerned, which was
    55        subparagraph 1.  It may well be that he did not concentrate
    56        on 2A and B because he thought they added nothing to what
    57        was already in the original pleading; the deception was
    58        always there.  What the change is, is it not -- do you have
    59        a copy of the draft amendment?
    60

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