Day 032 - 06 Oct 94 - Page 56
1 Q. Is that entertainment side to do with other aspects, not
2 just parties?
3 A. Well, promotions of toys you have already referred to
4 and, indeed, some would argue that the foods themselves
5 are designed to be entertainment and that they are edible
6 entertainment rather than the provision of a nutritious
7 meal.
8
9 Q. You refer to "pester power". What is the concern there?
10 A. The concern there is that the struggle between health
11 and popularity that goes on between the child's desire to
12 eat a popular highly promoted food, perhaps with the free
13 inducement of a toy or something similar, the struggle
14 between that and the parent's desire to provide their
15 children with healthy, nutritious food, results in often
16 the child having their way; and this is the pestering
17 power of children to be able to induce their parents to
18 purchase or follow certain paths and purchase certain
19 foods.
20
21 MR. MORRIS: I have no further questions.
22
23 Cross-Examined by Mr. Rampton
24
25 Q. Dr. Lobstein, do you know somebody called Professor David
26 Conning?
27 A. Personally, no.
28
29 Q. Do you know of him?
30 A. I gather he was head of the British Nutrition
31 Foundation.
32
33 Q. You gather? This question of health and diet is your
34 speciality, is not? That is why you are here, is it not?
35 A. Judging from the questions I have been asked, yes.
36
37 Q. No. May I ask you, what is your expertise that warrants
38 your presence in the context of this case?
39 A. As I tried to explain at the beginning, I have been
40 researching and writing in these areas for some years.
41 I have produced and various papers, and am now a member of
42 the Government's Nutrition Task Force fast food Panel.
43
44 Q. Yes. You have had by experience, if not by scientific
45 training which is a different thing, by learning
46 experience, acquired something of an expertise in matters
47 of diet, health, nutrition, that sort of area,
48 particularly perhaps in relation to children; is that
49 right?
50 A. Yes.
51
52 Q. May I ask you again: Who is Professor David Conning?
53 A. As I understood it, he was at some time head of the
54 British Nutrition Foundation.
55
56 Q. What is he a professor of?
57 A. I do not know.
58
59 Q. You do not know?
60 A. No.
