Day 296 - 07 Nov 96 - Page 38
1 had merely said there are concerns about the possible
2 relationship between foods high in et cetera and low in et
3 cetera and certain degenerative diseases and we call upon
4 McDonald's to do this, that or the other, then it certainly
5 would not be libelous. But that is not what I have held
6 that the leaflet means.
7
8 MS. STEEL: Well, you have held that the leaflet means that - I
9 can't remember the fourth part - that McDonald's know about
10 the links between diet and ill health, but they do not make
11 it clear, they still sell the food and that they deceive
12 customers by claiming that their food is a useful and
13 nutritious part of any diet. Well, that is the reality of
14 the situation; McDonald's do know it, do know about the
15 links between diet and ill health, they do not make it
16 clear in the leaflets which are available in-store, they
17 are still selling high fat low fibre high sodium food and
18 they are deceiving customers by claiming that their food is
19 a useful and nutritious part of any diet, and why should it
20 be libelous to make those criticisms?
21
22 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes.
23
24 MS. STEEL: Professor Wheelock admitted that it was virtually
25 impossible to reach the COMA recommendations for sodium
26 intake with commonly available processed products which
27 included McDonald's food items, menu items, and he
28 basically accepted that there was no question but that some
29 of the meal combinations in McDonald's would come above the
30 recommendations, I think that was the individual meals in
31 themselves irrespective of the rest of the diet. That was
32 day 21, page 30.
33
34 I think that, taken with the Plaintiffs' own admission that
35 there is a considerable amount of evidence of a causal
36 relationship between a diet high in sodium and high blood
37 pressure, for example, is, you know, effectively an
38 acceptance of the fact that McDonald's food contributes to
39 damaging people's health.
40
41 Professor Keene agreed during cross-examination that it was
42 reasonable to say that excess dietary fat is more readily
43 stored than dietary carbohydrate. That was on day 29, page
44 19. Which basically means that I think there was some
45 argument about whether or not fat contributed in a worse
46 way to obesity than overall calorific intake.
47
48 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, I remember that.
49
50 MS. STEEL: Obviously the levels of fat in the food are an
51 important factor in and of themselves, not just by the
52 amount of calories that they contribute to the diet.
53
54 MR. JUSTICE BELL: There were two aspects, were there not; that
55 dietary fat converts to human fat more readily than
56 carbohydrates do, and there is also the argument that it
57 may be more palatable to take on -----
58
59 MS. STEEL: So you eat more of them.
60
