Day 053 - 22 Nov 94 - Page 23
1 their food, high in fat, et cetera, to make their diets
2 ----
3
4 MS. STEEL: I accept that that is one part of what we are
5 saying, but that is not all that we are saying. We are
6 talking about their contribution to the diet, in general,
7 not solely in terms of whether people only eat there or eat
8 there very frequently. That is just one aspect of our
9 case; it is not the entire ----
10
11 MR. MORRIS: If they eat one meal at McDonald's once in their
12 lifetime, it is still making a negative contribution to
13 their diet. It is not a healthy contribution to their
14 diet; it is negative contribution to their diet.
15
16 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That is another point.
17
18 MS. STEEL: I mean, it is in terms, as well, of promoting that
19 type of food, as in hamburgers, as a useful and nutritious
20 part of the diet; it is not solely in terms of how often
21 their customers eat there. That is one part of it,
22 I agree.
23
24 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I will not repeat it, but I have tried to
25 give a possible modified meaning, and what it occurs to me
26 you are saying there -- well, you do say, "Neither we nor
27 our witnesses have confused diet with food, but as the
28 Plaintiffs' own document showed, for a significant number
29 of their customers, McDonald's food plays a large part in
30 their overall diet."
31
32 Then if you go on: "There are a great many people who do
33 eat at McDonald's far more frequently than once a week.
34 These people are running a risk that their health will
35 suffer in the long term."
36
37 MS. STEEL: Yes, I agree that that is part of our case. I am
38 not trying to withdraw that. All I am saying is that is
39 not the whole of what we are saying.
40
41 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No, I am not suggesting, for the purposes of
42 what I am putting to you now, it is the whole of your case,
43 but -----
44
45 MS. STEEL: Or that it is necessarily what we should have to
46 prove, either.
47
48 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It is one of the contentions you have put
49 forward, supported by evidence, and sought to support by
50 cross-examination, I would suggest. That is why I asked
51 you whether you did not realise that a causal link might
52 matter or that there was a possibility that you might have
53 to show a causal link because, surely, it was because you
54 appreciated that, that you went into this at all.
55
56 MS. STEEL: I can honestly say that we did not ever, at any
57 stage until this -----
58
59 MR. JUSTICE BELL: If you actually said now that it was not your
60 case that McDonald's food plays a part in causing
