MCDONALD’S TRANSFAT LAWSUIT SETTLEMENT --- OBJECTION
Aug 10 2005
2nd submission
To
Clerk of the Court, Superior Court of the State of California, County of Marin,
Katherine D. Fettke v. McDonald’s Corporation. Case number CV 034828. BanTransFats.com v. McDonald’s Corporation . Case number CV 044109.
I, the undersigned hereby solemnly affirm that I am a member of the class based on the fact that I purchased or ate Chicken McNuggets®, McChicken®, Filet-O-Fish®, or Crispy Chicken sandwiches, French fries, or hash browns at a McDonald’s restaurant in the U.S. after September 3, 2002 .
I object to the settlement based on my beliefs that I have stated below
VINOD K SETH MD FCCP,
CLINICAL PROF OF MEDICINE,
Univ of North Dakota SCHOOL OF MEDICINE,
1250 W Highland Acres Rd
BISMARCK ND 58501 701 223 4234/ 701 426 4788
Facs 701 222 0712 and 701 255 2255
I again request the opportunity to testify in court personally on this issue on Aug 24th.
Please find enclosed my testimony that I am working on and would like to present.
STATEMENT of Vinod K Seth
Trans fats are a manmade cellular poison. They serve no purpose in the human body. Trans fats (TFA) represent one of the most serious public health hazards of the modern age. Population based healthcare epidemiology has proven that those who eat transfat-laden foods are unhealthier.
New health problems continue to surface as more research is being done on TFA’s.
Ayurveda says --We are what we eat and drink. No wonder LIFESPAN IN AMERICA IS DROPPING!
At issue is continued use by McDonald’s of TFA’s after assuring us all in the words of Mike Roberts, president, McDonald's USA Sept 2002 that they were taking “a major step toward the elimination of trans fat from our (domestic) cooking oil."
McDonald’s was right in 2002 to decide to eliminate TFA’S from their foods. Healthful alternatives to TFA’s do exist. McDonald’s knows that. BUT TFA’s are cheaper. UNFORTUNATELY TFA’s cost the consumer. Generations to come will continue to pay with more health problems worldwide because this wise decision was quietly rescinded a few months later.
McDonald’s generated much publicity and fanfare for this Sept 2002 announcement. I quote from the USA Today news story---
“McDonald's, the global symbol of fast — and fatty — food, will announce today plans to cut the artery-clogging processed fat from its french fries by nearly half…if McDonald's succeeds, rivals Burger King and Wendy's would almost certainly be forced to try to follow.”
A Few months later, McDonald’s corporation changed its mind. The coverage in USA Today was all of thirty words in a non-headlined article on the left of the newspaper.
I cannot even Google it now.
Here is the original in its entirety from McDonald’s corporate website (highlight mine)
McDonald's Press Release 02/28/2003
McDonald's TFA Reduction Timeframe Extended
McDonald's today said that it plans to extend the timeframe by which it will introduce a change in cooking oil to reduce trans fatty acids (TFA’s) and saturated fats in its fried food menu. The original intent was to complete implementation by the end of February 2003. "While speedy implementation is an admirable goal, we are most focused on the satisfaction of our customers and the quality of our products," said Ralph Alvarez, McDonald's US Chief Operations Officer.
On the same day another press release from the McDonald’s website was ---
McDonald's Press Release 02/28/2003
McDonald's Brazil Issues Its First Social Report
Report Delivered First to the Chain's 36,000 Employees
The public will now be able to become familiar, in more detail, with McDonald's corporate social responsibility concept, together with the initiatives developed McDonald's Brazil. ……………………….(This was 1 page long AND the full 54-page version was also included as a 507 Kb pdf version.)
What social responsibility concept, I respectfully ask the court, was McDonald’s promoting TO ITS 36000 BRAZILIAN EMPLOYEES in this 54-page report on the same day it gave up “speedy implementation ..an admirable goal” to cut TFA’s. Some would say McDonald’s chose to deliberately mislead the people for profit.
And McDonald’s has profited. People have suffered damage to their health.
LIFESPAN IN AMERICA IS DROPPING. Is it the billions of pounds of TFA’s in our food? I believe that to be true.
Ayurveda says --We are what we eat and drink. I believe that to be true also.
WHY MCDONALD”S CHANGED ITS PLANS
Because they knew they could get away with it.
And they have, current settlement notwithstanding.
“McDonald's………....is the leading global foodservice retailer with more than 30,000 local restaurants serving nearly 50 million people in more than 119 countries each day.” corporate website McDonald’s.
The current settlement requires McDonald’s to spend $ 1.5 million to inform consumers that it did not make the change it promised. This is inadequate. It represents less than a penny per US consumer potentially mislead in those 150 days between the Sept 2002 worldwide publicity campaign and the Feb 2003 “silent” event. If we take into account worldwide consumers in those 150 days the amount per consumer would be 0.0002 cents.
Issue control by McDonald’s appears to be based on a combination of –
A) Political lobbying--“Cheeseburger Bills” in various state legislatures to shield corporate food from liability-many passed and similar Bills in Congress also.
B) Cosmetic changes e.g. Apple slices with the Happy Meal. And a Pedometer with the Happy Meal
THE CURRENT SETTLEMENT FAILS MCDONALDS CUSTOMERS
The current settlement and advertising campaign envisaged in the settlement would be inadequate for the vast majority of McDonald’s customers.
1) The American Heart Association (AHA) has never taken a leadership position on TFA’s and Coronary Heart Disease. TFA’s also cause other problems besides those heart related e.g. proven slowing of fetal and infant development, arthritis and inflammatory diseases, aging related macular degeneration, pre-eclampsia, gallstones, increased severity of Diabetes mellitus complications among others. The importance and education of consumers about these non-heart related issues would be minimized if the settlement were given to the AHA.
The AHA cannot reach the population most uninformed about McDonald’s and TFA’s.
2) TFA levels in McDonald’s food. Claims of TFA reductions in the Legal notice required of McDonald’s in the settlement that is included in the current case court documents are vague about the actual and absolute reduction in TFA content.. This is unhelpful for an informed decision about daily trans fat intake. This information is critical. Tommy Thompson, the Secretary of HHS, has recently said at a news conference on the FDA food Guidelines that “ the FDA may recommend that daily intake of trans fat be less than 2 grams, perhaps less than 1 gram”.
Vague statements by McDonald’s about TFA reductions continue this pattern of misinformation and do not give consumers the information needed to make a healthy informed choice.
3) More lower income people eat at McDonald’s type restaurants. More children and young men and women eat there. 7% of all people in USA eat McDonald’s food. 50 million people worldwide eat it daily. Awareness of TFA related health problems is better in higher income groups. This has been clearly shown in industry marketing surveys.
Education of lower income consumers and young people about trans fats thus has to be a high priority.
THIS CURRENT SETTLEMENT TOTALLY FAILS IN THIS REGARD.
The AHA cannot reach the population most uninformed about McDonald’s and TFA’s – especially the lower income and the young.
A SIMPLE SOLUTION :
SIMPLE POINT OF SALE INFORMATION
Currently McDonald’s nutrition information is hidden in plain view in a complex brochure in the restaurant and on the website. I found both sources impossible to get any meaningful information from.
Maybe that’s because I am a doctor from India.
I do believe most of McDonald’s customers would also find it a daunting task.
Fast food restaurants need to provide easily understood information, FAST.
People want everything fast specially the younger and lower income customers who are the majority of McDonald’s and other fast food eaters.
I would respectfully ask that we simply PUT SIMPLE INFORMATION
ON THE MENU AND
ON EACH TABLE AND
AT THE PAYMENT AREA
AS WELL AS ON THE ENTRANCE DOOR
It would not be undue hardship on McDonalds and likely could be done for a smaller $$ amount than the current settlement envisages.
POINT OF SALE INFORMATION WOULD CONSIST OF
A)“Trans Fat Used Here” sign easily visible above the menu and food sale area, and on the entrance door to the restaurant.
B) A scientific “Trans Fat Fact Sheet” listing well known health problems due to TFA’s and the TFA content per serving of the 10 most sold food items should be placed next to the condiment/silverware table clearly legible from at least 5 feet away in each restaurant.
C) A SMALLER SIZE same content framed scientific “Trans Fat Fact Sheet” listing well known health problems due to TFA’s and the TFA content per serving of the ONLY 10 most sold food items should be placed ON EACH EATING TABLE.
D) A complete list of the type currently found listing all ingredients could continue to be available as at present.
A, B and C can be removed once McDonald’s makes the change promised in Sept 2002.
An urban school based and neighborhood organizing based campaign is needed if this point of sale approach is denied or substantially modified.
SUMMARY
The current settlement could possibly send the message to the purveyors of TFA’s that they could continue to profit from the use of this cheap but unhealthy product.
Restaurants and other food service establishments account for about 38% of the fats in our food supply.
Focusing first and foremost on profitability means that decisions are explicitly based on consideration of a corporation's own costs and revenues, while costs and benefits to society are largely ignored.
McDonald’s highly publicized decision to remove TFA’s created a buzz in the restaurant industry to take out TFA also. As USA Today put it in its news story about McDonald’s TFA reduction Sept 2002 “….if McDonald's succeeds, rivals Burger King and Wendy's would almost certainly be forced to try to follow.”
This buzz was short-lived, as McDonald’s changed its plans.
The simple measures above could correct the TFA misinformation widespread especially among lower income and younger people who are the majority of McDonald’s customers.
This simple solution is respectfully offered so that people can understand fast food is cheap because it is unhealthy. It would not be undue hardship on McDonald’s.
As a Doctor committed to people’s health I firmly believe, any hours I spend on a TFA issues would impact many more of my fellow beings than all the hours I have spent in over 30 years of caring for the critically ill in Intensive Care Units in St Louis and Bismarck.
My grandmother first impressed on me about this issue. As I sat in her kitchen in Haridwar as a 16 year old while she made me a desi ghee parantha she said “ Son, anything that doesn’t melt in the 104 degree F heat of the Jaipur summer cannot be good for you.”
She was right..
McDonald’s reminded me.
Thanks.
Respectfully submitted
VINOD K SETH MD FCCP,
CLINICAL PROF OF MEDICINE,
Univ of North Dakota SCHOOL OF MEDICINE,
1250 W Highland Acres Rd
BISMARCK ND 58501 701 223 4234/ 701 426 4788
Aug 10 2005
2nd submission
To
Clerk of the Court, Superior Court of the State of California, County of Marin,
Katherine D. Fettke v. McDonald’s Corporation. Case number CV 034828. BanTransFats.com v. McDonald’s Corporation . Case number CV 044109.
I, the undersigned hereby solemnly affirm that I am a member of the class based on the fact that I purchased or ate Chicken McNuggets®, McChicken®, Filet-O-Fish®, or Crispy Chicken sandwiches, French fries, or hash browns at a McDonald’s restaurant in the U.S. after September 3, 2002 .
I object to the settlement based on my beliefs that I have stated below
VINOD K SETH MD FCCP,
CLINICAL PROF OF MEDICINE,
Univ of North Dakota SCHOOL OF MEDICINE,
1250 W Highland Acres Rd
BISMARCK ND 58501 701 223 4234/ 701 426 4788
Facs 701 222 0712 and 701 255 2255
I again request the opportunity to testify in court personally on this issue on Aug 24th.
Please find enclosed my testimony that I am working on and would like to present.
STATEMENT of Vinod K Seth
Trans fats are a manmade cellular poison. They serve no purpose in the human body. Trans fats (TFA) represent one of the most serious public health hazards of the modern age. Population based healthcare epidemiology has proven that those who eat transfat-laden foods are unhealthier.
New health problems continue to surface as more research is being done on TFA’s.
Ayurveda says --We are what we eat and drink. No wonder LIFESPAN IN AMERICA IS DROPPING!
At issue is continued use by McDonald’s of TFA’s after assuring us all in the words of Mike Roberts, president, McDonald's USA Sept 2002 that they were taking “a major step toward the elimination of trans fat from our (domestic) cooking oil."
McDonald’s was right in 2002 to decide to eliminate TFA’S from their foods. Healthful alternatives to TFA’s do exist. McDonald’s knows that. BUT TFA’s are cheaper. UNFORTUNATELY TFA’s cost the consumer. Generations to come will continue to pay with more health problems worldwide because this wise decision was quietly rescinded a few months later.
McDonald’s generated much publicity and fanfare for this Sept 2002 announcement. I quote from the USA Today news story---
“McDonald's, the global symbol of fast — and fatty — food, will announce today plans to cut the artery-clogging processed fat from its french fries by nearly half…if McDonald's succeeds, rivals Burger King and Wendy's would almost certainly be forced to try to follow.”
A Few months later, McDonald’s corporation changed its mind. The coverage in USA Today was all of thirty words in a non-headlined article on the left of the newspaper.
I cannot even Google it now.
Here is the original in its entirety from McDonald’s corporate website (highlight mine)
McDonald's Press Release 02/28/2003
McDonald's TFA Reduction Timeframe Extended
McDonald's today said that it plans to extend the timeframe by which it will introduce a change in cooking oil to reduce trans fatty acids (TFA’s) and saturated fats in its fried food menu. The original intent was to complete implementation by the end of February 2003. "While speedy implementation is an admirable goal, we are most focused on the satisfaction of our customers and the quality of our products," said Ralph Alvarez, McDonald's US Chief Operations Officer.
On the same day another press release from the McDonald’s website was ---
McDonald's Press Release 02/28/2003
McDonald's Brazil Issues Its First Social Report
Report Delivered First to the Chain's 36,000 Employees
The public will now be able to become familiar, in more detail, with McDonald's corporate social responsibility concept, together with the initiatives developed McDonald's Brazil. ……………………….(This was 1 page long AND the full 54-page version was also included as a 507 Kb pdf version.)
What social responsibility concept, I respectfully ask the court, was McDonald’s promoting TO ITS 36000 BRAZILIAN EMPLOYEES in this 54-page report on the same day it gave up “speedy implementation ..an admirable goal” to cut TFA’s. Some would say McDonald’s chose to deliberately mislead the people for profit.
And McDonald’s has profited. People have suffered damage to their health.
LIFESPAN IN AMERICA IS DROPPING. Is it the billions of pounds of TFA’s in our food? I believe that to be true.
Ayurveda says --We are what we eat and drink. I believe that to be true also.
WHY MCDONALD”S CHANGED ITS PLANS
Because they knew they could get away with it.
And they have, current settlement notwithstanding.
“McDonald's………....is the leading global foodservice retailer with more than 30,000 local restaurants serving nearly 50 million people in more than 119 countries each day.” corporate website McDonald’s.
The current settlement requires McDonald’s to spend $ 1.5 million to inform consumers that it did not make the change it promised. This is inadequate. It represents less than a penny per US consumer potentially mislead in those 150 days between the Sept 2002 worldwide publicity campaign and the Feb 2003 “silent” event. If we take into account worldwide consumers in those 150 days the amount per consumer would be 0.0002 cents.
Issue control by McDonald’s appears to be based on a combination of –
A) Political lobbying--“Cheeseburger Bills” in various state legislatures to shield corporate food from liability-many passed and similar Bills in Congress also.
B) Cosmetic changes e.g. Apple slices with the Happy Meal. And a Pedometer with the Happy Meal
THE CURRENT SETTLEMENT FAILS MCDONALDS CUSTOMERS
The current settlement and advertising campaign envisaged in the settlement would be inadequate for the vast majority of McDonald’s customers.
1) The American Heart Association (AHA) has never taken a leadership position on TFA’s and Coronary Heart Disease. TFA’s also cause other problems besides those heart related e.g. proven slowing of fetal and infant development, arthritis and inflammatory diseases, aging related macular degeneration, pre-eclampsia, gallstones, increased severity of Diabetes mellitus complications among others. The importance and education of consumers about these non-heart related issues would be minimized if the settlement were given to the AHA.
The AHA cannot reach the population most uninformed about McDonald’s and TFA’s.
2) TFA levels in McDonald’s food. Claims of TFA reductions in the Legal notice required of McDonald’s in the settlement that is included in the current case court documents are vague about the actual and absolute reduction in TFA content.. This is unhelpful for an informed decision about daily trans fat intake. This information is critical. Tommy Thompson, the Secretary of HHS, has recently said at a news conference on the FDA food Guidelines that “ the FDA may recommend that daily intake of trans fat be less than 2 grams, perhaps less than 1 gram”.
Vague statements by McDonald’s about TFA reductions continue this pattern of misinformation and do not give consumers the information needed to make a healthy informed choice.
3) More lower income people eat at McDonald’s type restaurants. More children and young men and women eat there. 7% of all people in USA eat McDonald’s food. 50 million people worldwide eat it daily. Awareness of TFA related health problems is better in higher income groups. This has been clearly shown in industry marketing surveys.
Education of lower income consumers and young people about trans fats thus has to be a high priority.
THIS CURRENT SETTLEMENT TOTALLY FAILS IN THIS REGARD.
The AHA cannot reach the population most uninformed about McDonald’s and TFA’s – especially the lower income and the young.
A SIMPLE SOLUTION :
SIMPLE POINT OF SALE INFORMATION
Currently McDonald’s nutrition information is hidden in plain view in a complex brochure in the restaurant and on the website. I found both sources impossible to get any meaningful information from.
Maybe that’s because I am a doctor from India.
I do believe most of McDonald’s customers would also find it a daunting task.
Fast food restaurants need to provide easily understood information, FAST.
People want everything fast specially the younger and lower income customers who are the majority of McDonald’s and other fast food eaters.
I would respectfully ask that we simply PUT SIMPLE INFORMATION
ON THE MENU AND
ON EACH TABLE AND
AT THE PAYMENT AREA
AS WELL AS ON THE ENTRANCE DOOR
It would not be undue hardship on McDonalds and likely could be done for a smaller $$ amount than the current settlement envisages.
POINT OF SALE INFORMATION WOULD CONSIST OF
A)“Trans Fat Used Here” sign easily visible above the menu and food sale area, and on the entrance door to the restaurant.
B) A scientific “Trans Fat Fact Sheet” listing well known health problems due to TFA’s and the TFA content per serving of the 10 most sold food items should be placed next to the condiment/silverware table clearly legible from at least 5 feet away in each restaurant.
C) A SMALLER SIZE same content framed scientific “Trans Fat Fact Sheet” listing well known health problems due to TFA’s and the TFA content per serving of the ONLY 10 most sold food items should be placed ON EACH EATING TABLE.
D) A complete list of the type currently found listing all ingredients could continue to be available as at present.
A, B and C can be removed once McDonald’s makes the change promised in Sept 2002.
An urban school based and neighborhood organizing based campaign is needed if this point of sale approach is denied or substantially modified.
SUMMARY
The current settlement could possibly send the message to the purveyors of TFA’s that they could continue to profit from the use of this cheap but unhealthy product.
Restaurants and other food service establishments account for about 38% of the fats in our food supply.
Focusing first and foremost on profitability means that decisions are explicitly based on consideration of a corporation's own costs and revenues, while costs and benefits to society are largely ignored.
McDonald’s highly publicized decision to remove TFA’s created a buzz in the restaurant industry to take out TFA also. As USA Today put it in its news story about McDonald’s TFA reduction Sept 2002 “….if McDonald's succeeds, rivals Burger King and Wendy's would almost certainly be forced to try to follow.”
This buzz was short-lived, as McDonald’s changed its plans.
The simple measures above could correct the TFA misinformation widespread especially among lower income and younger people who are the majority of McDonald’s customers.
This simple solution is respectfully offered so that people can understand fast food is cheap because it is unhealthy. It would not be undue hardship on McDonald’s.
As a Doctor committed to people’s health I firmly believe, any hours I spend on a TFA issues would impact many more of my fellow beings than all the hours I have spent in over 30 years of caring for the critically ill in Intensive Care Units in St Louis and Bismarck.
My grandmother first impressed on me about this issue. As I sat in her kitchen in Haridwar as a 16 year old while she made me a desi ghee parantha she said “ Son, anything that doesn’t melt in the 104 degree F heat of the Jaipur summer cannot be good for you.”
She was right..
McDonald’s reminded me.
Thanks.
Respectfully submitted
VINOD K SETH MD FCCP,
CLINICAL PROF OF MEDICINE,
Univ of North Dakota SCHOOL OF MEDICINE,
1250 W Highland Acres Rd
BISMARCK ND 58501 701 223 4234/ 701 426 4788
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