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McLibel Support Campaign
5 Caledonian Road
London N1 9DX UK
Tel/Fax +44-171-713 1269
A Year of Great McQuotes from the Witness Box
McDonald's witnesses have often said ridiculous things in the
witness box in a vain attempt to conceal the truth or justify the
way McDonald's operates and the effect those operations have in
this country and around the world. Here is just a small
selection:
NUTRITION AND ILL-HEALTH
The Defendants asked Dr Sydney Arnott (McDonald's expert on
cancer) his opinion of the following statement: "A diet high in
fat, sugar, animal products and salt and low in fibre, vitamins
and minerals is linked with cancer of the breast and bowel and
heart disease". He replied: "If it is being directed to the
public then I would say it is a very reasonable thing to say."
The court was then informed that the statement was an extract from
the London Greenpeace Factsheet. This section had been
characterised by McDonald's lawyer at pre-trial hearings as the
central and most "defamatory" allegation, which if proven would be
the "kiss of death" for a fast-food company like McDonald's. On
the strength of the supposed scientific complexities surrounding
this issue the Defendants had been denied their right to a jury.
David Green, Senior Vice-President of Marketing (USA), stated
'McDonald's food is nutritious' and 'healthy'. When asked what
the company meant by 'nutritious' he said: 'provides nutrients and
can be a part of a healthy balanced diet'. He admitted this could
also apply to a packet of sweets [candy]. When asked if Coca Cola
is 'nutritious' he replied that it is 'providing water, and I
think that is part of a balanced diet'. He agreed that by his
definition Coke is nutritious.
When asked to define 'junk food', Professor Wheelock (McDonald's
consultant on nutrition) said it was 'whatever a person doesn't
like' (in his case semolina). With disbelief mounting in the
courtroom, Richard Rampton (McDonald's QC) intervened to say that
McDonald's was not objecting to the description of their food as
'junk food'!
Peter Cox, (a Defence marketing expert) quoted from 'Behind the
Arches', a book authorised by McDonald's in 1987, as evidence that
McDonald's were engaged in 'a strategy of subversion' by trying to
alter the dietary preferences of whole nations, 'very often for
the worse'. The book states that, in Japan, McDonald's faced "a
fundamental challenge of establishing beef as a common food".
Their President, Den Fujita, said "the reason Japanese people are
so short and have yellow skins is because they have eaten nothing
but fish and rice for two thousand years"; "if we eat McDonald's
hamburgers and potatoes for a thousand years we will become
taller, our skin become white and our hair blonde".
McDonald's began a major advertising campaign in the USA in 1987
which aimed "to neutralise the junk food misconceptions about
McDonald's good food". An internal company memo, reporting on a
high level meeting in March 1986 with public relations advisors
prior to the advertising campaign, was read out in court. It
states "McDonald's should attempt to deflect the basic negative
thrust of our critics.....How do we do this? By talking
'moderation and balance'. We can't really address or defend
nutrition. We don't sell nutrition and people don't come to
McDonald's for nutrition".
The Effects of Advertising
Incredibly, Paul Preston (McDonald's UK President) claimed that
the character Ronald McDonald is intended not to "sell food" to
children, but to promote the "McDonald's experience". But an
extract from the corporation's official and confidential
'Operations Manual' was read out: "Ronald loves McDonald's and
McDonald's food. And so do children, because they love Ronald.
Remember, children exert a phenomenal influence when it comes to
restaurant selection. This means you should do everything you can
to appeal to children's love for Ronald and McDonald's."
McDonald's annual advertising and promotions budget is $1.4
billion. It was revealed in court that Geoffrey Guiliano, a
Ronald McDonald actor in the 1980's, had quit and publicly
apologised, stating "I brainwashed youngsters into doing wrong. I
want to say sorry to children everywhere for selling out to
concerns who make millions by murdering animals".
The Effects of Packaging on the Environment
McDonald's distributed 'McFact' cards nationwide for several years
publicising a scheme to recycle polystyrene waste from stores in
Nottingham, where customers were asked to put polystyrene
packaging into a separate bin, "for recycling into such things as
plant pots and coat hangers". Ed Oakley (Chief Purchasing Officer
for McDonald's UK) admitted that the company had not recycled any
of the waste and in fact the polystyrene was "dumped".
Paul Preston, McDonald's UK President, said that if one million
customers each bought a soft drink, he would not expect more than
150 cups to end up as litter. Photographs were then put to him,
showing 27 pieces of McDonald's litter in one stretch of pavement
alone (the company has over 600 stores in the UK and serves over a
million customers each day).
In some countries the company has abandoned or limited the use of
polystyrene packaging, in part because it is not biodegradable and
takes up a lot of space in landfill sites. Ed Oakley (McDonald's
UK) stated that there is "no landfill problem in the UK".
Questioned as to whether he believes that "as long as there is
room in the dumps, there is no problem with dumping lots of
McDonald's waste in the ground?" Mr Oakley said "and everybody
else's waste, yes, that is true". He said "I can see [the dumping
of waste] to be a benefit, otherwise you will end up with lots of
vast, empty gravel pits all over the country." Asked if he was
"asserting it is an environmental benefit to dump waste in
landfill sites" he stated "It could be"...."yes, it is certainly
not a problem".
Destruction of Rainforests
Internal company documents, mistakenly disclosed to the
Defendants, were read to the court in which McDonald's admitted
the purchase in the UK in 1983/4 of beef imported from Brazil, a
rainforest country. A letter from the McDonald's Corporation to a
member of the public in the UK in 1982 stated "we can assure you
that the only Brazilian beef used by McDonald's is that purchased
by the six stores located in Brazil itself". Ed Oakley (Chief
Purchasing Officer for McDonald's UK) denied that the purchase of
Brazilian beef for use in the UK was in breach of McDonald's
policy of not using beef which originated outside the European
Union, saying "No, it was not. We still bought the hamburgers
locally. We did not buy the ingredients locally".
David Walker (the Chairman of McKey Foods, the sole supplier of
McDonald's UK hamburgers) admitted that he had personally
organised the direct import of the consignments of Brazilian beef
for McDonald's UK stores in 1983/4. A letter from Mr Walker at
the time was quoted in court. It revealed that the imports were a
matter of great controversy. The letter stated that Prince
Philip, the President of the World Wildlife Fund, had recently met
George Cohon, President of McDonald's Canada, and had said: " 'So
you are the people who are tearing down the Brazilian rainforests
and breeding cattle' to which the reply was: 'I think you are
mistaken', whereupon HRH said 'Rubbish' and stormed away".
Following this, the letter stated that Fred Turner, the Chairman
of the McDonald's Corporation, "issued a worldwide edict that no
McDonald's plant was to use Brazilian beef". The same letter
revealed that McDonald's UK had given Walker permission to use the
Brazilian beef imports.
McDonald's claim that they do not use beef from cattle reared on
recently deforested land. However, in his statement (which has
been read out during the Trial, Ray Cesca (Director of Global
Purchasing of the McDonald's Corporation) admits that when they
opened stores in Costa Rica in 1970, they were using beef from
cattle raised on ex-rainforest land, deforested in the 1950's and
1960's. In other words, some of it had been cleared less than 10
years earlier. McDonald's own definition of 'recently deforested'
is unclear and seems to fluctuate between 10 and 25 years or "from
the time that we arrive...in a country" (Gomez Gonzales,
International Meat Purchasing Manager of the McDonald's
Corporation).
McDonald's claim that they only use US-produced beef in the USA.
However, during the Trial an extract from the TV documentary
'Jungleburger' was shown, in which McDonald's beef suppliers in
Costa Rica stated that they also supplied beef for use by
McDonald's in the USA.
Employees and Trade Unions
Robert Beavers (Senior Vice-President of the US Corporation)
agreed that in the early 70's, when trade unions were trying to
organise in McDonald's in the US, the company set up a "flying
squad" of experienced managers who were despatched to a store the
same day that word came in of an attempt by workers to unionise
it. Unions made no headway.
Sid Nicholson, McDonald's UK Vice President, admitted that
McDonald's set their starting rates for crew employees for most of
the country "consistently either exactly the same as the minimum
rates of pay set by the Wages Council or just a few pence over
them". He agreed that for crew aged 21 or over the company
"couldn't actually pay any lower wages without falling foul of the
law". However, he said "I do not accept that McDonald's crew are
low paid".
Mr Nicholson said the company was not anti-union and all staff had
a right to join one. Under questioning he admitted that any
McDonald's workers interested in union membership "would not be
allowed to collect subscriptions...put up notices...pass out any
leaflets...to organise a meeting for staff to discuss conditions
at the store on the premises...or to inform the union about
conditions inside the stores" (which would be deemed 'Gross
Misconduct' and as such a 'summary sackable offence'). In fact,
Mr Nicholson agreed, "they would not be allowed to carry out any
overt union activity on McDonald's premises".
Jill Barnes, McDonald's UK Hygiene and Safety Officer, was
challenged over a previously confidential internal report into the
death by electrocution of Mark Hopkins in a Manchester store on
October 12th 1992. It had catalogued a number of company failures
and problems, and had made the damning conclusion: "Safety is not
seen as being important at store level". In addition, a Health &
Safety Executive report of 1992 concluded: "the application of
McDonald's hustle policy [ie. getting staff to work at speed] in
many restaurants was, in effect, putting the service of the
customer before the safety of employees".
Animal Welfare
Dr Neville Gregory (McDonald's expert witness) said McDonald's egg
suppliers keep chickens in battery cages, 5 chickens to a cage
with less than the size of an A4 sheet of paper per bird and with
no freedom of movement and no access to fresh air or sunshine. Ed
Oakley of McDonald's said the company had thought about switching
to free range eggs, but, not only are battery eggs "50% cheaper",
but, he claimed "hens kept in batteries are better cared for". He
said he thinks battery cages are "pretty comfortable"!
Ed Oakley (Chief Purchasing Officer for McDonald's UK) claimed
that the company "had a very real feeling that animals should be
kept and slaughtered in the most humane way possible" and so had
published an animal welfare statement two years ago. When
questioned about this so-called policy Mr Oakley admitted that the
"animal welfare policy is, in fact, just a policy to comply with
the laws of the various countries in which McDonald's operate",
and added "we do not go beyond what the law stipulates".
Food Safety
A UK 'McFact' card states: "every consignment of beef arriving at
the [McKeys] meat plant is subject to a total of 36 quality
control checks, carried out by a team of qualified technologists.
If a consignment should fail on any one check, it will be rejected
by McDonald's." All the raw beef consignments are
microbiologically tested, and categorised as 'satisfactory',
'passable', and 'unsatisfactory'. David Walker (Chairman of
McKeys, the sole supplier of the company's UK hamburgers) stated
that 'unsatisfactory' relates to beef which has a total colony of
more than 10 million bacteria per gram. He then admitted that
such consignments are, in fact, not rejected and are used for
McDonald's burgers.
McDonald's have refused to call their own expert witness on food
poisoning, Colin Clarke, who prepared a detailed report following
a visit he made to three company stores. The court heard that,
regarding the cooking of hamburgers (which he had tested), Mr
Clark in his statement "recommends that 73 deg C be the internal
minimum temperature of the final product, and that their
temperatures were not reaching that in all cases. The minimum
was, in fact, 70 deg C."
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