Day 294 - 05 Nov 96 - Page 06
1 we are talking about in terms of numbers.
2
3 Anyway, then it goes on to say, "In addition to growth
4 promoting hormone drugs", which we have heard are used in
5 America and banned in Europe because of health concerns,
6 "and pesticide residues in their feed" - we have heard
7 evidence about pesticide residues. Sorry, the hormones use
8 in Europe was only banned... I think it was 1989, or
9 something, so that would still be relevant to this case,
10 for Europe as well as for America.
11
12 "Build up in the animals tissues can..." We have heard
13 evidence about pesticide residues in animal tissues,
14 I think Dr. North referred to that. I emphasise the word
15 'can', "further damage the health of people on a meat
16 based diet." So there it is defining poison not just as a
17 food poisoning incident in the traditional sense, but also
18 the general damage to health of people on a meat based
19 diet, not only through the general nutrition, the unhealthy
20 food section, but also through growth promoters and
21 pesticides, antibiotics or whatever.
22
23 We have heard about antibiotics, how there is increasing
24 concern, if not alarm, at the growing resistance to
25 treatment that people have now to antibiotics, because of
26 antibiotics used in animal husbandry, and the consequent
27 immunity problems to treatment. So the reference to a meat
28 based diet shows that the word 'poison' is not only
29 something that can be seen to be an acute risk but is also
30 a long term risk.
31
32 Of course, for children the long term risk is important
33 because if they start off eating poor quality food and
34 being taught that food is entertainment, poor quality food
35 can be dressed up as something beneficial, in fact even
36 promoted as healthy by McDonald's, but the experience
37 supersedes the concerns that children should be learning as
38 they are growing up to be able to discriminate and
39 understand something that is so important as the food they
40 are eating.
41
42 The context of that last paragraph under 'toy food' is
43 about nutrition - "not a lot of children are interested in
44 nutrition, even if they were all these gimmicks hide the
45 reality", and I think that that is a very important point
46 in terms of the context of the statement that the food is
47 at best mediocre, at worse poisonous.
48
49 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Is there a meaning which is defamatory of
50 McDonald's there at all on your argument of matters? The
51 meaning which was pleaded, which it is said you and
52 Ms. Steel aimed to justify, was that meat is responsible
53 for the majority of cases of food poisoning and chicken and
54 minced meat are particularly bad, which I would have
55 thought, on the face of it, is not defamatory of McDonald's
56 at all. Since we are only concerned with defamatory
57 statements and meanings, then if it is not defamatory that
58 is the end of this section; if its meaning is not
59 defamatory, whatever its meaning is. Have you formulated a
60 meaning, is there any meaning there in your view which is
