Day 032 - 06 Oct 94 - Page 35
1 Q. When you say the image, do you mean the image -----
2
3 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Might I just suggest that in a situation
4 like that, rather than leading the witness to an answer
5 which you might like or think he is batting for, just ask
6 what image does he have in mind?
7
8 MR. MORRIS: Yes. What image are McDonald's promoting?
9 A. The image, I believe, they are attempting to promote
10 (and which our evidence from the Peckham study would say
11 that they may be failing to promote) is that provide
12 "nutritious" perhaps "balanced meals made from nutritious
13 ingredients".
14
15 Q. But does that also imply something for that kind of diet
16 as a whole? We have seen those surveys, that people are
17 eating a diet high in fastfoods, in some cases hamburgers
18 every day. Does McDonald's have any implication in that?
19 A. Well, of course, it does as a major player in that
20 particular market, food market. But I would argue that
21 any major retailer attempting to expand its market here
22 and offering foods that appears to substitute for meals
23 eaten at home or at school, canteens and so on, should
24 feel they have a responsibility towards the quality of the
25 food in terms of its nutritional balance. I could quote
26 -- I do not know if you have the document in your records
27 from the British Nutrition Foundation, again a Briefing
28 Paper of theirs, which argues along these lines?
29
30 Q. Maybe now is a suitable time to do that. This is document
31 No. 3 of your references. Would you like to take us to
32 the relevant pages?
33 A. Yes, 13 and then backwards to 12, I think, would be
34 the way I -- the parts I would draw your attention to.
35 Page 13 regarding fastfood. May I explain, this is a
36 document prepared as a Briefing Paper by the organisation
37 we have discussed this morning, the British Nutrition
38 Foundation, which to a large extent -----
39
40 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What does a Briefing Paper mean?
41 A. I would assume it means it is a circular summarising
42 the views of that body, and raising issues which it
43 considers important to be considered by the food industry
44 and by others that it circulates its papers to. It is, as
45 I said this morning, primarily funded by the food
46 industry.
47
48 Q. In fact, it says: "It is intended to provide a summary of
49 current information on the effects of catering methods on
50 the nutrient content of food as consumed". Yes, pages 13
51 and 12.
52 A. 13, I draw -- draw your attention to the first
53 paragraph, perhaps the first and maybe subsequent lines of
54 the second paragraph. Should I read it into the record?
55
56 Q. Yes.
57 A. "Fastfood: This description refers more to a marketing
58 method than a system of catering, but in general fits into
59 the convenience methods bracket". Here I would come back
60 to page 12 in a moment perhaps. "Fastfood outlets rely
