- McDonald's -

McLibel Appeal results!

Posted by: Gideon Hallett ( UK ) on March 31, 1999 at 14:17:13:

Now, I don't want to steal McSpotlight's thunder, but a source has just informed me of the Appeal Court's rulings...

The two major points are that:

(McDonald's employees worldwide) "...do badly in terms of pay and conditions".

In addition they ruled that :

"...if one eats enough McDonald's food, one's diet may well become high in fat..., with the very real risk of heart disease."

They followed this by saying that the finding:

"...must have a serious effect on their trading reputation since it goes to the very business in which they are engaged. In our judgment, it must have a greater impact on the respondents' [McD's] reputation than any other of the charges that the trial judge had found to be true."

In addition, they recognised the validity of the link between fast food and ill-health still further:

"...there is a respectable body of medical opinion which links a junk food diet with a risk of cancer and heart disease" and that "this link was accepted both in literature published by McDonald's themselves and by one or more of McDonald's own experts and in medical publications of
high repute".

In fact, as they concluded:

"that should have been an end of this part of the case" - except that the cancer issue was blocked on a point of procedure.

The damages awarded against Helen Steel and Dave Morris have been reduced by a third.

...you can run, but you can't McHide...

Gideon.



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