Day 012 - 18 Jul 94 - Page 42
1 The advertisements address a number of nutrition topics of
importance to McDonald's customers: A balanced diet;
2 sodium; McDonald's suppliers; milk; calcium; cholesterol;
and lean beef. They are designed to set the record
3 straight and make more accessible to consumers the facts
they need to make their own informed choices about their
4 food purchases".
5 I should have asked you this -- perhaps I already have,
and if I have I apologise. I think you told us that you
6 would have been consulted about the terms of these
letters?
7 A. Yes, I would have seen them before they were sent out.
8 Q. "Over many years McDonald's has taken the lead in the
restaurant industry in making nutrition and ingredient
9 information available to consumers. Nearly a year ago, as
part of its long-term effort in this area, the company
10 launched an unprecedented, voluntary pilot program, in
cooperation with the office of the New York Attorney
11 General, to put complete nutrition and ingredient
information in every one of its restaurants in that
12 state. In succeeding months it voluntarily extended the
program beyond New York, first to the District of Columbia
13 and parts of New Jersey and Connecticut, and eventually to
the entire nation. As part of this same program, the
14 company has distributed to each of its restaurants a
Nutrition Wheel to enable McDonald's customers to obtain
15 basic nutrition information for six meal combinations,
including their total calorie, cholesterol, sodium and fat
16 content". Did that happen, the nutrition wheel?
A. Yes, it did.
17
Q. "The current advertising campaign supplements these ongoing
18 efforts. The advertisements
19 tell consumers that nutrition and ingredient booklets are
available in McDonald's restaurants;
20
stress the importance of balance in the diet;
21
urge McDonald's customers to 'make sure your McDonald's
22 meal balances with other meals you eat';
23 note the importance of avoiding too much fat and
cholesterol;
24
provide information about the nutritional characteristics
25 of many of the foods served at McDonald's, including the
amount of sodium, cholesterol and fat they contain.
26
The content of the advertisements is similar in tone and
27 substance to the content of the nutrition and ingredient
disclosure booklets, to which your letter does not object.
28 On the contrary, your letter notes that the booklets let
consumers 'make their own decisions whether or not to eat
29 at McDonald's -- and what to eat when they get there'.
The New York Attorney General's letter calls the
30 distribution of the booklets a 'substantial achievement
for consumers.' The letter from the office of the
