Day 246 - 09 May 96 - Page 54


     
     1        the article which is fresh and which Mr. Preston might
     2        answer by adding to the fuel of information in the case, so
     3        be it.  That is why I wanted you to put your point to him.
     4
     5   MS. STEEL:  The implication of the last paragraph Mr. Preston,
     6        is that McDonald's does not have an answer to the question
     7        about a link in the fat rate in McDonald's food to heart
     8        disease.  Was that basically the situation?
     9        A.  I think that is a big step to say it implies that.
    10        I think we do have an answer to it and it is so
    11        straightforward you do not have to put it down on paper.
    12        The same follows for the junk food comment.  It is so
    13        straightforward you do not have to commit it to paper.
    14
    15   Q.   Did you in fact introduce test products such as pizzas and
    16        salads in the hospital?
    17        A.  I do not think we did pizzas.  We may have done
    18        salads.  Salads were not a test per se.  It was an
    19        extension of an existing test going on throughout much of
    20        London and certain other parts of the country.  I am not
    21        sure about pizzas.  I do not think we had pizzas there
    22        but I am not 100 per cent sure. Certainly that would not
    23        have been the first store where they occurred, if they
    24        occurred at all.  They would have been much more widely
    25        spread prior to the Guys Hospital location opening.
    26
    27   Q.   Just while we have got this bundle open, if you could turn
    28        to tab 91.  This is the advert I was referring to this
    29        morning.  It is true McDonald's rely on chemicals and in
    30        the second column, the thrust of the advertisement is that
    31        the chemicals that you rely on are for cleaning and then in
    32        the second column the advert says:
    33
    34        "We are equally confident that you will not eat anything
    35        you would rather not eat.  Although chemicals play an
    36        important part in our kitchens they have a very small part
    37        in our food."
    38
    39        Do you remember this advertisement now?
    40        A.  I do.
    41
    42   Q.   If you turn to tab 92, this is a ruling from the
    43        Advertising Standard Authority on 14th November 1990 where
    44        a complaint by a member of the public was upheld and the
    45        ASA said that they considered the advertisement to be
    46        misleading in that it gave a strong indication that the
    47        only chemical used in food preparation by McDonald's was a
    48        stabiliser.  The authority requested that if similar
    49        advertisements appeared in the future, the claims be
    50        amended accordingly. 
    51 
    52        Do you remember that criticism from the Advertising 
    53        Standards Authority now?
    54        A.  I do not remember the criticism, but I remember the ad.
    55
    56   MR. MORRIS:  That might be a good time to have a 5-minute break.
    57
    58   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes.  Bear in mind what I have said.  You
    59        will want to progress your case but, in my view, you will
    60        only do it at this stage in what has been a very long trial

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