Day 297 - 08 Nov 96 - Page 42
1 most influential health organisation in the world. That
2 was day 23, page 19. If we needed anybody to confirm that,
3 anyway. But it is, yes, it is significant coming from
4 McDonald's key witness on cancer.
5
6 Professor Keene in cross-examination referred to the World
7 Health Organisation as a highly respected organisation
8 whose reports are state of the art and state the science
9 opinion, and regarded with considerable respect. That was
10 day 21, page 32. Geoffrey Cannon, is a consultant for the
11 World Health Organisation European region and has given
12 presentations at the World Health Organisation conferences,
13 and his area of expertise was public health policy.
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15 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What you say about him, put no doubt over
16 simply, whatever he can believe, we can too, is it not?
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18 MS. STEEL: Well, yes. But he considered that the statement in
19 the London Greenpeace fact sheet was actually quite
20 carefully phrased and was, you know, generally acceptable.
21 But I think the whole point is that if a body such as the
22 World Health Organisation, and all the other countless
23 bodies as well, the UK Health Education Authority, United
24 States National Academy of Sciences, if they can say that
25 they consider that there is a causal link, or any link
26 bearing in mind that...
27
28 Well, a causal link, the whole point being if organisations
29 such as that can say there was a causal link between diet
30 and cancer, and heart disease, between the high fat low
31 fibre diet and cancer and heart disease, and make
32 recommendations to the public based on that point of view
33 with the intention of preventing deaths from those
34 degenerative diseases and reducing the incidence of those
35 diseases, why on earth should McDonald's be able to stop
36 anyone from making the criticisms which are made in the
37 London Greenpeace fact sheet, which are exactly the same?
38 If anything, they are less strong than what is stated in
39 the World Health Organisation report.
40
41 I have kind of reached a bit of a break.
42
43 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Right. What are you going to go on to
44 next? Is it that you want to get the references from the
45 other witnesses?
46
47 MS. STEEL: Yes. There is Campbell and Brophy and Crawford,
48 and I think some of the ones that I quoted to you on the
49 first day where I did not actually give you the... I will
50 try and type those up, the ones from the first day.
51
52 MR. JUSTICE BELL: We will adjourn until 10.30 on Monday.
53
54 (The Court Adjourned)
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