Nutrition	McDonald's
Environment	Advertising
Employment	Food Poisoning
Libel Laws and Defamation	Animal Welfare

Nutrition:

• The China Project
  by T Colin Campbell and the China Project Research Team
  Outlayed as the most comprehensive project on diet and disease ever undertaken, the China Project has the potential to establish a new paradigm for thinking about nutrition and health in both the north and south.

  Amongst the main nutritional conclusions from this expansive study is the finding that the greater the consumption of a variety of good quality plant-based foods, the lower the risk of those diseases which are commonly found in western countries (for example cancers, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes).

  The ramifications for regions where tnc's such as McDonald's are expanding into and those where they already have a strong prescence, is immense and extremely damning of their diet and nutritional 'value'.

  Synopsis and further extracts from the study (by kind permission of Colin Campbell.
  

• Food and Health: The Experts Agree
  by Geoffrey Cannon
  What this book does is to survey the results of a hundred scientific reports and reveal just how much agreement there is among the experts about the realtions between diet and health. The scientific evidence is that relatively small changes in eating habits could produce significant reductions in UK disease rates. This is a vitally important message for consumers. Consumers' Association is glad to be able to help disseminate this information by publishing this book and, in so doing, make a conribution towards improving the health of the British consumer.

  Extracts and publishers details.
  

• Grazing In Peckham
  by Fiona Winters
  The survey aims to identify the people using fast food outlets in a low income area where the incidence of diet-related diseases was relatively high.

  The findings reveal that those using the oulets surveyed consume much more than the national averages suggests: 31% of fast food eaters said they ate fast food every day.

  The implication from this is that these outlets are serving a need for those surveyed. The potential is there to help improve the populations health, rather than jeopardizing it by providing unhealthy meals in an area where health is at a premium.

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• The Surgeon General's Report - Health and Nutrition
  by the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service, United States Government
  The evidence strongly suggests that a dietary pattern that contains excessive intake of foods high in calories, fat (especially saturated fat), cholesterol, and sodium, but that is low in complex carbohydrates and fibre, is one that contributes significantly to the high rates of major chronic diseases among Americans. It also suggests that reversing such dietary patterns should lead to a reduced incidence of these chronic diseases.

  The report provides a comprehensive review of the most important scientific evidence in support of current Federal nutrition policy as stated in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. These Guidelines, issued jointly by the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services provide guidelines and recommendations which are outlined here.

  Extracts and publishers details

  
  

• World Health Report - Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases
  by the WHO Study Group - Technical Report Series 797
  Using a very broad base, the WHO report provides a detailed study of, and provides recommendations for, the emerging chronic diseases of the developing world, due largely to a change in diet, and solutions to reducing the impact of these diseases already existent in developed countries.

  The report describes recent changes in the dietary and health patterns of countries, define the relationship between the "affluent" diet that typically accompanied economic development and the subsequent emergence of chronic diseases, and explore the need for national food and nutrition policies to prevent or minimize costly health problems in both developing and developed countries.

  Extracts and publishers details

  
  

• Who's Under The Golden Arches - A Survey Of Fast Food Eaters (Leeds)
  by Fiona Winters
  Another survey by Fiona Winters, this time conducting research into a town centre location and with a 'lunchtime' population. The frequency of visit, socio-economic background of the population and their eating habits again produces a report which shows the priority of making fast food a matter of importance for both those concerned with the nutritional status of the population as a whole and for the general population itself.

  Extracts and authors short resume

Environment:

• Chlorine, pollution and the environment
  by the WEN Trust
  The Women's Environmental Network Trust is a Registered Charity educating, informing and empowering women who care about the environment.

  The environmental problems and impacts on health of chlorines and related substances
  

• Chlorine, Pollution and the Parents of Tomorrow
  by Ann Link
  One million tonnes of elemental chlorine is produced each year in Britain. Its uses by industry vary enormously from the manufacture of PVC plastic to the production of solvents and organochlorine pesticides such as 2,4-D and Lindane.

  Synopsis and publisher's details.
  

• Foodmiles - Measuring Food By The Mile
  by Tim Lobstein
  How much of your dinner tonight will have been grown locally? And how much of it will have travelled several hundred miles - even several thousand miles - to reach your table?
  A short but concise piece, this report makes you more aware of the processes involved and the costs of the very food we eat.

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• Beyond Beef
  produced by the Beyond Beef Campaign
  Is beef still an essential part of our diet? Or is growing awareness of the hidden environmental and health costs of beef consumption leading more and more Americans beyond beef? This briefing 'kit' provides facts about rianforest destruction, resource depletion, global warming, world hunger, human disease, animal suffering and other reasons why more Americans are eating less beef.

  Text and graphics
  

Advertising:

• A SPOONFUL OF SUGAR - Television food advertising aimed at children - An international comparative survey
  produced by the Consumers International
  Children have become an increasingly important market for advertisers. This report examines the practice and regulation of television advertising aimed at children, with special emphasis on food advertising, in thirteen countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom and the USA.

  Extracts and publishers details

• Responsible Food Advertising
  by the National Food Alliance
  The NFA considers that present patterns of food advertising encourage children to consume an unhelathy diet. This report summarises their proposals for the review of advertising codes of practice.

  Full text.

McDonald's:

• Working for Big Mac
  by Transnationals Information Centre
  This report takes you behind the counter in search of McDonald's recipe for success. The spotlight is on McDonald's employment practices and what they mean for workers, trade unions and local councils against the backdrop of the growing service sector in Britain today.

  The Transnationals Information Centre was sued by McDonald's but were unable to fight due to lack of resources. The centre closed and the pamphlet was pulped, but the full text and graphics are now available here.

Employment:

• Priced Into Poverty
  by the Low Pay Network

  Analysis of pay rates in former wages council industries.

  Before the 1993 Trade Union Reform and Employment Rights Act, the Wages Councils set legal minimum rates of pay for adult workers in the hotel, catering, retail, hairdressing and clothing manufacturing industries. This report provides an update of how these industries have developed their pay rates subsequent to the introduction of the 1993 Reform Act.

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Food Poisoning

• Haemorrhagic Colitis - Associated With A Rare Escherichia Coli Serotype
  A collective short report

  This is a research paper which gives the research abstract, method and results taken from two separate outbreaks (Oregon and Michigan, three months apart) of an E. coli strain, an unusual gastrointestinal illness. The illness is characterised by severe abdominal pain and in its advanced state by 'grossly bloody diarrhoea'. In these instances the report concludes that the undercooking of contaminated meat resulted in the transportation of the E.coli strain to some customers.

  Both stores in question were McDonald outlets.

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Libel Laws and Defamation

• Reforming Defamation Law and Procedure
  Consultation on Draft Bill; produced by the Lord Chancellors Office

  The report has the stated aim of bringing defamation law up to date and to improve and simplify the procedures for litigants who are unfortunate enough to become involved in an action for libel or slander.

  The report has a wide variety of implications for future defamation proceedings; and with regard to the McLibel trial itself the report clearly shows the inadequacies of the present system. The draft bill clearly suggests that the libel and defamation laws here in Britain are antiquated and need improving.

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• McLibel: A Case Study in English Defamation Law
  by Marlene Arnold Nicholson
  (PDF Format)

  London has been described for a number of years as the "libel capital of the World". Ms. Arnold Nicholson studies the effects of the use of English libel courts on stifling free expression and examines the impact of the European Convention on Human rights on defamation law in the UK and in continental Europe. Full text

• Legal Intimidation - McLibel Chapters 5 & 6
  by Fiona Donson

  In Chapter 5 Ms. Donson details McDonald's love affair with libel law by examining a number of lawsuits brought by the company, including BBC2's Nature programme, Morrissey, the Today newspaper, Channel 4 and even a Scottish schoolchildren's play. In Chapter 6 she examines the McLibel trial in detail.

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Animal Welfare

• 'McLibel' from the Animal Law Journal
  by David J. Wolfson

  Mr. Wolfson discusses the background and holding of the English "McLibel" case in relation to cruel common farming practices, its unique legal context, and the impact of the holding on animal law in general and state anti-cruelty laws in the United States. In addition, he explores the contradiction that McLibel exposes: the fact that a common farming practice can be found cruel in the view of a reasonable person, yet legal pursuant to an anti-cruelty statute.

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• Fawn Factsheet: Broiler Breeders
  by Farm Animal Welfare Network

  FAWN argues that the broiler chickens which make up the breeding stock suffer both mentally and physically. Bred to be 'greedy', the parent birds must be kept for extended periods on severely restricted rations if they are to survive and reproduce successfully. Through genetic selection the modern poultry industry has bred a bird with inherent health and welfare problems.

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