Day 012 - 18 Jul 94 - Page 67
1
Q. Would it be fair to say that as the largest state they
2 might sometimes lead the way in this kind of thing?
A. I do not see anything wrong with that statement.
3
Q. Is it not right that when you began providing the
4 information that, although you may not have been actually
compelled by law to provide that, to provide those
5 listings, a major reason for providing the listings was to
avoid laws being passed which would have compelled you to
6 provide that information?
A. No, I do not think that is the case at all.
7
Q. You do not think so?
8 A. I do not think that is correct.
9 Q. Because if such laws were passed, then it would have been
more costly for McDonald's to comply with those laws,
10 rather than if they had just done it on a voluntary basis
without the laws being passed?
11 A. No. I think, I honestly believe in my heart, that we
are a good, responsible corporation and that we reacted in
12 providing this information because we felt it would be
useful to the consumer and useful for us to have the
13 consumer know more about the product, and I cannot think
of any instance where we were worried about what the laws
14 might be in the future.
15 Q. You were not? .
A. No. We, I believe, really were the leading edge in
16 terms of providing this information.
17 Q. You were not concerned that if laws were brought in it
could put you in a more difficult position because, if the
18 stores ever ran out of ingredients, I put to it you could
find yourself in breach of the law?
19 A. It strikes me that is just a question of making sure
you have enough ingredient booklets; it is just a question
20 of mechanics, administrative things, to make sure you have
booklets. I do not see that as a problem for us.
21
Q. Can we have a look again at tab 10?
22 A. I am there.
23 Q. To go down to the fifth paragraph: "These materials, as
well as additional copies of the ingredient brochure,
24 should be ordered by all stores (especially in those
states currently considering labelling legislation; or in
25 areas getting a lot of media coverage on this issue).
Such voluntary action on our part should help blunt the
26 growing interest of state and federal law makers for
ingredient labelling legislation. (Also ... we would much
27 rather provide this information voluntarily, than be
legislated into taking this - or any other more
28 severe/costly action - at a later date".
29 It is clear from that, is it not, that this was a major
concern of McDonald's at the time?
30 A. Well, it was certainly something that was in the mind
of Tom Dentice.
