Day 252 - 20 May 96 - Page 19


     
     1        a hat.  He, like a lot of people, has found the recent
     2        research very reassuring and therefore he cannot resist
     3        writing about it.
     4        A.   Yes, it is very amenable to investigation and, as I
     5        say, we have done this ourselves in the department, no
     6        problem with volunteers, and we have demonstrated that
     7        lipid fractions, which are thought of as risk factors in
     8        cardiovascular disease, are depressed by the consumption of
     9        a bottle of wine a day, and this was actually done with
    10        white wine.  So, there is very clearly an effect of alcohol
    11        which appears to be beneficial.
    12
    13   MR. RAMPTON:   Thank you, Professor Naismith.  Would you remain
    14        there, please?
    15
    16   MS. STEEL:   Could we have a break, quarter of an hour or
    17        something?
    18
    19   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   Yes, certainly.  I will come back at ten to
    20        twelve unless you ask for more.
    21
    22                         (Short adjournment)
    23
    24                     Cross-examined by the Defendants
    25
    26   MS. STEEL:   Just a few questions about your curriculum vitae.
    27        Have you got that there in front of you?
    28        A.   No, I do not have it, but I am familiar with it.
    29
    30   MR. MORRIS:  It is part of your statement.
    31
    32   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   I do not think he needs to have it in front
    33        of him unless he gets stuck because, not surprisingly,
    34        since it is his life, he says he is familiar with it.
    35
    36   MS. STEEL:  In what capacity were you on the COMA committee?
    37        A.   I was present as a Professor of Nutrition.  COMA
    38        committees tend to cover as wide a range of expertise as
    39        possible so that whatever issue is being considered by the
    40        committee will be adequately covered, because nobody can be
    41        expected to have expertise across the board in either
    42        medical or biological sciences.  So I was in there as a
    43        Professor of Nutrition.  That is in the main COMA
    44        committee.
    45
    46   Q.   Right, but I think we heard something about different
    47        people getting sent from accept -- well, for example, were
    48        you there as a representative of the kind of food industry
    49        or--
    50        A.  No, I was there as a representative of the scientific 
    51        community as a Professor of Nutrition at Kings College. 
    52 
    53   Q.   Right.  OK?
    54        A.  That is, in the main COMA committee.
    55
    56   Q.   You mentioned novel foods and food processes.  Can you
    57        explain what that was?
    58        A.  Well, the COMA committee spawned a whole lot of
    59        subcommittees.  When they recognize that there is a
    60        particular subject that is needing to be looked at they

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