Day 301 - 15 Nov 96 - Page 02

     
     1                                       Friday, 15th November, 1996
     2
     3   MS. STEEL:   While Mr. Morris is sorting out his papers, there
     4        are just some tail end points I wanted to mention.
     5
     6   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes.  Just wait while I get yesterday's
     7        notebook.
     8
     9   MS. STEEL:   The first couple are actually nutrition.  They are
    10        fairly short.  It probably does not matter where they go
    11        in.
    12
    13   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   Yes.
    14
    15   MS. STEEL:   One was that on day 248, page 4, line 27, we asked
    16        Mr. Preston about the Times Supplement that was produced on
    17        the 20th anniversary of McDonald's coming to the UK, and
    18        there was a quote in there which said, "McDonald's team
    19        just arrived from America, realised that they had to change
    20        the nation's eating habits".  We asked Mr. Preston about
         that, and he said, "I think that is true".  So obviously,
    22        that goes to the point of how they are influencing people's
    23        diets, usually for the worst, or invariably for the worst.
    24
    25        Then on day 248, page 7, Mr. Preston said - this is from
    26        line 53 onwards - that he thinks that the number of people
    27        eating out is on the increase, and then he went on to say,
    28        "I want to encourage eating out and taking home to eat."
    29        So again, it is not just this taking from competitors, it
    30        does not make any difference to people's diets, the reality
    31        is that McDonald's are trying to encourage people to eat
    32        more and more of their food rather than sort of healthier
    33        meals that might be cooked at home.
    34
    35        Also referred to on that page and the page after, was the
    36        part in the annual 1995 Annual Report from the McDonald's
    37        Corporation, the page entitled "Strategies For Global
    38        Dominance".  The quote from there:  "Our growth opportunity
    39        remains significant.  On any given day 99 percent of the
    40        world's population does not eat at McDonald's...yet."  Then
         we asked him, "So is that what you ultimately hope for,
    42        that people would eat at McDonald's every day?"  He said,
    43        "I would like more people to eat at McDonald's,
    44        absolutely."
    45
    46        It is clear that the aim of the company is to get everybody
    47        eating at McDonald's all the time.  Obviously, you know,
    48        they have got to be realistic, but I think in the light of
    49        that being their aim, it is especially important that
    50        McDonald's annual 1.8 billion dollar advertising spend is
    51        countered and that people have the right to point out that
    52        McDonald's food is unhealthy and to point out the dangers
    53        of adopting such a diet that is high in fat and sodium and
    54        low in fibre, et cetera.  So I think that should be borne
    55        in mind.
    56
    57   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   Yes.
    58
    59   MS. STEEL:   Then going on to the advertising bit, I don't know
    60        whether you want to switch books now?