Day 059 - 01 Dec 94 - Page 11
1 discussed this issue. I must say that 85 per cent of the
2 eggs raised in this country are from battery hens. I also
3 have to say that there are arguments for and against free
4 range and batteries.
5
6 Q. Can you pause there? Can we split them up into what one
7 might call commercial interests and animal welfare
8 interests? Can you take the commercial interest first:
9 Are batteries eggs cheaper than free range eggs?
10 A. Yes, they are 50 per cent cheaper.
11
12 Q. Lest it be suggested that you sacrifice principle to narrow
13 self-interest, please tell us, if you will, what is your
14 perception in relation to the welfare of the two kinds of
15 housing for the chickens?
16 A. Well, undoubtedly, hens kept in batteries are better
17 cared for, they are less open to predators, they certainly
18 are less open to rodents on free range and they are less
19 open to diseases. Our concern is food safety and diseases
20 and Salmonella, in particular, which is rampant in the free
21 range egg is not rampant in the battery egg. We have to
22 think of the food safety and the safety of our customers.
23
24 Q. I was going to ask you that, if driven to a choice between
25 animal welfare and the health and safety of your customers,
26 it may be a choice you are not having to make, but if you
27 were driven to that choice, on which side would you make
28 your decision?
29 A. Food safety for the customers.
30
31 Q. Speaking of customers and what they eat, Mr. Oakley, are
32 you conscious that McDonald's distribute -- you can put
33 that file away now -- leaflets -- I use the word
34 "distribute" for the moment in an entirely neutral sense
35 -- for the use of the outside world which contain
36 nutritional information?
37 A. Yes, I am.
38
39 Q. Is that one of the activities which falls within the
40 department for which you are responsible?
41 A. Yes, it is.
42
43 Q. Can you fish out, please, from the shelves behind you a fat
44 pink volume No. VI -- this time I have it right -- called
45 Nutrition?
46 A. OK.
47
48 Q. First of all, can I ask you to look at -- one of the
49 misfortunes about these documents, Mr. Oakley, is that they
50 are not in strict date order, but never mind that, turn to
51 tab 3, if you will, please?
52 A. Yes.
53
54 Q. This is a document called "Good Food, Nutrition and
55 McDonald's". It dates from October 1984. I am going to
56 ask you some questions about this document and others like
57 it in a moment, but can I ask you some preliminary
58 questions: So far you are aware -- you have been with the
59 company since 1978 -- when did McDonald's in this country
60 first start putting out information of this kind?
