Day 025 - 16 Sep 94 - Page 62
1 A. It was not in writing. It was as a matter of various
2 contacts. It might have occurred as part of the
3 Los Angeles meetings; I suspect rather it occurred
4 subsequently. But I cannot tell you any details of that
5 because my recollection on that aspect of it is very dim.
6 Primarily, my recollection is somewhat refreshed by
7 reading what I said to the AP reporter as quoted in the
8 article before the court.
9
10 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Had any of the other large chains like
11 Burger King -- there was another one mentioned -- was it
12 Jack-in-the-Box?
13 A. I have mentioned Jack-in-the-Box, yes, sir.
14
15 Q. Had any of those published booklets with ingredient and
16 nutritional information in any States, as it appears
17 McDonald's had, in fact, in a limited number of States
18 before you came on the scene?
19 A. Ones that were available in the restaurants or in
20 all?
21
22 Q. Had any of them made an arrangement comparable to the
23 arrangement which McDonald's had made in New York ---
24 A. Not to the -----
25
26 Q. -- New Jersey, Connecticut and District of Columbia, that
27 you are aware of?
28 A. I believe that some of the restaurant chains had
29 similar ingredient brochures available. I do not believe
30 that any of them made those available (although I may be
31 in error on that) at the individual restaurants, at the
32 drive-through or whatever. So I would say that what
33 McDonald's had agreed to with New York was relatively, if
34 not totally, unique in terms of getting ingredient and
35 nutrition information available at point of purchase for
36 their customers.
37
38 Q. That was a new move in the industry, was it?
39 A. My memory is that it was; that was frankly the reason
40 we decided to try to spread that across into the citizens
41 of our states, both for McDonald's and for the other
42 companies.
43
44 MR. RAMPTON: It was an initiative for which McDonald's deserve
45 some considerable credit, do you agree?
46 A. No, it was an initiative for which the New York
47 Attorney General deserves considerable credit. McDonald's
48 only agreed to do that, I believe, in order to avoid a law
49 suit. I congratulate -- if I were in the New York
50 Attorney General's shoes and were asked what to do, I too
51 would congratulate McDonald's for taking the initiative.
52 If you want to know what I think, no. There too
53 McDonald's did not show up at the Attorney General's
54 office saying: "Hey, Bob, we would like to put our
55 brochures and would like to give you half the credit for
56 it". They only came to that agreement after lengthy
57 negotiations that I cannot testify to but of which I am
58 aware.
59
60 Q. Mr. Gardner, are you telling us that, in your opinion, the
