Day 301 - 15 Nov 96 - Page 05

     
     1        firms means less choice, not more.  They are one of the
     2        worst examples of industries motivated only by profit, and
     3        geared to continual expansion."
     4
     5        And then it goes on to say:  "This materialist mentality is
     6        affecting all areas of our lives, with giant conglomerates
     7        dominating the marketplace, allowing little or no room for
     8        people to create genuine choices."  I think it is clear
     9        from these two parts of the leaflet that this is an attack
    10        not just on McDonald's but on other junk food companies and
    11        on the responsibility of the industry as a whole for
    12        creating a culture which relies on exploiting resources,
    13        people and animals for the sake of its profits, and it is
    14        an attack on these companies for the use of advertising in
    15        creating that culture.
    16
    17        They are all basically a load of hype and, you know,
    18        millions of pounds, millions of dollars, billions of
    19        dollars, are spent on creating an image which is far from
    20        the reality in order to get people to go in and use those
         kinds of places, which otherwise, as McDonald's own
    22        witnesses have accepted, people would not use without the
    23        advertising.
    24
    25        Anyway, that is it.  Thank you.
    26
    27   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   Yes.  Thank you.
    28
    29   MR. MORRIS:   Just before I go on to employment, while we are in
    30        the clearing up bits and pieces frame of mind, regarding
    31        food poisoning, it is just a couple of references I wanted
    32        to give.
    33
    34        Regarding Dr. North's evidence, on day 107, pages 63 to 64,
    35        I have not got the exact line actually, he said that his
    36        natural inclination was to defend the many industries that
    37        he has worked with.  We all know from his evidence that he
    38        worked very strongly with the egg industry.  So I think it
    39        should be noted in the drift of his evidence that he has
    40        strong ties with the egg industry, that he has had in the
         past or present.
    42
    43        That when he said on day 107, page 77 that salmonella was
    44        not a major risk, I think he indicated that the poisoning
    45        you get is very mild generally, from salmonella, it still
    46        means it is a food poisoning.  And he did not say that it
    47        is not a major risk of the transfer of antibiotic
    48        resistance, which is a serious problem now because of the
    49        treatment of -- well, especially flocks of birds and
    50        treatment resistant strains thereby developing in humans,
    51        which McDonald's witnesses have accepted as a problem, and
    52        Dr. Pattison in particular.
    53
    54        I will just find the phrase.  I mean, on that subject we
    55        can say that it relates directly to the box "what's your
    56        poison": "In an attempt to counteract infection in their
    57        animals, farmers routinely inject them with doses of
    58        antibiotics.  These, in addition to - XYZ - build up in the
    59        animals' tissues and can further damage the health of
    60        people on a meat-based diet", which is a direct reference