Day 296 - 07 Nov 96 - Page 25
1 MS. STEEL: 31 percent of people questioned. I think they were
2 leaving the store, from what I can remember, at lunchtime.
3 As they were coming out of the store, they were questioned
4 about how often they ate fast food.
5
6 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes.
7
8 MS. STEEL: And that 9 percent of the total sample ate burgers
9 every day. I don't know if a figure was given for fries.
10 Obviously, Dr. Lobstein concluded that there were sections
11 of the population who were eating a very unbalanced diet.
12 And he also referred to other surveys, including the
13 surveys on school children and he was particularly
14 concerned as a result of that by the expansion of
15 McDonald's promotions into schools and hospitals.
16
17 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I will rise now and we will come back at two
18 o'clock.
19
20 (Luncheon Adjournment)
21
22 MR. MORRIS: I wanted to make a few points that came up this
23 morning, and then Ms. Steel is going to continue.
24
25 In terms of relevant meanings that are contested in this
26 case, then, there is the press release that is the subject
27 of the counterclaim where McDonald's have said that the
28 leaflet states that McDonald's produces food which is
29 unhealthy, and they have basically said that that is a
30 lie. So McDonald's has to prove that their food is not
31 unhealthy, we would say, and that we knew that -- should it
32 be found out, of course, that we even ever distributed the
33 London Greenpeace fact sheet.
34
35 Then they tried to defend their nutritional responsibility
36 on the same page by basically saying that they are
37 developing new products, though how that is relevant I
38 don't know. That does relate to the second thing I was
39 going to bring up, which is the subject of the confusion
40 McDonald's have over what healthy means and what unhealthy
41 means. They have a completely diametrically opposed
42 logical confusion, or illogical conclusion, where on one
43 hand they are saying that no foods are healthier than other
44 foods -- they are all just foods and what matters is diet
45 -- but I think all their company witnesses on this issue
46 -- not the experts so much, but yes... including, for
47 example, Professor Wheelock -- have all stated how
48 McDonald's is taking note of people's health concerns when
49 introducing new products, and we have heard about salad and
50 orange juice and low fat skimmed milk and bits and pieces -
51 McLean burger.
52
53 As we have heard Ed Rensi say on that video, that it is a
54 kind of sop to nutritionists to keep the McLean low fat
55 burger, because what they are saying is that those products
56 are healthier than the typical products associated with
57 McDonald's food, which of course are the products that we
58 are concerned about so far as we are concerned. We are
59 concerned about the products that are specified in the fact
60 sheet, the burgers, fries, Colas and milkshakes
