Day 254 - 22 May 96 - Page 14


     
     1
     2   MR. JUSTICE BELL: Which is the particular paragraph?
     3
     4   MS. STEEL:   Under the "Vegetable and Fat Mono Unsaturated Fat"
     5        section it talks about Mediterranean diet and the
     6        widespread use of olive oil and that a study found a strong
     7        protective effect of olive oil against breast cancer.
     8
     9        It goes on to say at the bottom of that page, excluding the
    10        chart page, the bottom of the text:
    11
    12        "In summary, there is little evidence of a protective
    13        vegetable oil per se against cancer but there is good
    14        evidence of an inverse correlation between cancer risk and
    15        olive oil consumption."
    16
    17   MR. JUSTICE BELL: That is why I wanted you to put it in.
    18
    19   MS. STEEL:  Then in the conclusion.
    20
    21   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I am not sure that is the same as -- I have
    22        read and underlined the conclusion lower down.
    23
    24   MS. STEEL:   Yes.  In the conclusion:
    25
    26        "The evidence on vegetable fat suggests a neutral effect on
    27        cancer risk although there is evidence that olive oil has a
    28        protective effect against breast and colon cancers."
    29
    30   MR. JUSTICE BELL: Do you join issue with any of that?  They are
    31        not in the same terms as Ms. Steel put her question to
    32        you?
    33
    34   MS. STEEL:  I said "belief" actually, I did not say "approved".
    35
    36   MR. JUSTICE BELL: "It is believed that" which might have with it
    37        connotations that it is so, whereas one can read the actual
    38        words in the text, so I have to be really quite precise
    39        about the terminology which is used.  You do not disagree
    40        with any of the conclusions?
    41        A.  I do not, my Lord, but I would point out that in fact
    42        what he is quoting is one particular study carried out by
    43        Gerber and he then goes on to say:
    44
    45        "However, the evidence regarding vegetable oils as a whole
    46        should be treated with great caution since not enough is
    47        currently known about the vitamin and antioxidant effect
    48        not content of the oil is consumed."
    49
    50   MS. STEEL:  It is saying that there may actually be a beneficial 
    51        effect from them but they do not know at the moment? 
    52        A.  That is absolutely true. 
    53
    54   Q.   Right.
    55        A.  In fairness, I think that is what I have been trying to
    56        say in all of my evidence, that there is no consistency in
    57        any of this in that bits of evidence which suggest one
    58        thing and bits of evidence which suggest another thing, and
    59        the scientific community therefore needs then to go on and
    60        investigate these apparent correlations in more detail to

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