Day 015 - 21 Jul 94 - Page 12
1 a corporate healthy eating policy. Various points in that
are included in the little fact book from McDonald's and
2 again that is already before the court, as I understand
it; certainly it was in the bundle that I submitted.
3
The most important part of that is the emphasis there is
4 on the reformulation of existing products in McDonald's in
order to move them in the direction indicated by the
5 dietary recommendations and by the target to reduce
saturated fat in particular. Again you probably will be
6 aware that already a number of changes have been made to
the composition of McDonald's products.
7
Q. Since you have been?
8 A. Some have been introduced before I was there, but
since I have been there, there have been several more
9 introduced. Perhaps if I can go on to explain that, in my
view, if this country is to be successful in achieving the
10 dietary targets, there are really two ways in which
individuals can do this. They can either make wholesale
11 changes in their diet by reducing the amount of certain
products which are high in fat and high in sodium, for
12 example, and they can increase the amount of other foods
in their diet.
13
Now, the reality is that while I may be content with the
14 need to change -- perhaps you are as well -- but the vast
majority of the population are really quite unwilling to
15 do that, so the major strategy for achieving a change with
them, I think, is to change the composition of the
16 products they are already eating. But if you do that,
then it is very important that these products remain tasty
17 and acceptable to them, because if the taste changes to
such an extent they do not like them then they will not
18 eat them.
19 This is exactly what McDonald's are doing at the present
time. Many of the changes, in fact, I would say virtually
20 all of the changes which have been introduced have been
done without any awareness on the part of the customers.
21
Q. McDonald's food still does not come within the dietary
22 recommendations, does it?
A. Yes, but there is no reason why that should be the
23 case.
24 Q. Yes, but the answer is yes?
A. The answer is yes, but can I go on and explain, at the
25 risk of boring everybody else, that there is absolutely no
reason why every food everybody eats should come within
26 the composition recommended by the dietary guidelines.
Those dietary recommendations apply to diet; they do not
27 apply to individual foods.
28 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I think it would be just as well if you said
what diet means to you, the word "diet"?
29 A. Right, well .....
30 Q. I can look it up in the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary,
but what does it mean to you?
