Day 269 - 25 Jun 96 - Page 12
1 that it is only 35% contribution, you divide that by two
2 obviously and you end up with 31,750, if you say that
3 saturated fat only explains a third of the risk of heart
4 disease, which I do not think is correct, but, I mean, it
5 is useful to do that exercise as a safeguard.
6
7 The other factor that you could argue, and this is by no
8 means meant to be, although one ends up with precise
9 figures, it is not meant to be by any means precise, it is
10 just a guide, because I understood your Lordship wanted
11 some kind of a feel for the potential impact, that if you
12 then say the contribution of the single McDonald's meal is
13 not one in seven but one in fourteen, that is again sort of
14 acting against the hypothesis to dilute it down. You then
15 have to divide those two figures again by two and you end
16 up with the final figures of what might be considered as
17 the sort of proportion of risk to heart disease in this
18 population of people.
19
20 Q. Yes. Are you assuming that the 1.9 million are eating once
21 a week throughout their lives?
22 A. I am making that assumption throughout the relevant
23 part of their lives, that is correct, and that is according
24 to the figures which were given to me as to the number of
25 people. It is obviously extremely difficulty to get a hard
26 and fast answer to the question that I think that you were
27 asking, and statistically any answer that you produce can
28 be challenged in a variety of different ways, but it is not
29 intended to give a hard and fast rule. It is only intended
30 to give a sort of numerical guide as to where one might be
31 going in a population of this size that were eating
32 regularly at McDonald's.
33
34 Q. And what is the relevant part of their lives which you have
35 taken?
36 A. I think the relevant part of their lives would be -- I
37 mean, it depends on, you know, you could actually say
38 almost from the mother eating McDonald's or you could argue
39 that it was, you know, from childhood right through to
40 their adult life and, quite clearly, their late exposure in
41 middle age.
42
43 Q. So it is from an early age, anyway?
44 A. Yes, from an early age.
45
46 Q. Through to middle age?
47 A. Yes, through to middle age.
48
49 Q. Eating once a week?
50 A. Eating regularly once a week, yes.
51
52 Q. Yes, thank you.
53
54 MS. STEEL: But would that mean for people who did not eat at
55 McDonald's for that length of time on that regular basis
56 that McDonald's food would have no kind of impact on their
57 diet or no effect on their health?
58 A. I do not know if I could really answer that. I mean,
59 if they are not eating at McDonald's, then clearly
60 McDonald's is not going to have an impact --
