Day 030 - 03 Oct 94 - Page 34


     
     1        passage is not that a diet of that kind is the cause of
     2        any of these diseases, but a cause.  Again, no-one is
     3        seriously suggesting, among all the diseases mentioned or
     4        referred to today, that diet is the cause or the
     5        overwhelming cause, perhaps with the exception of
     6        constipation and lack of fibre and tooth decay and sugar.
     7
     8        In all other cases these diseases are -- again the rather
     9        ugly phrase is multifactorial; that is to say, they have a
    10        number of causes.  To give an example:  With lung cancer,
    11        it is generally believed that smoking is the only cause of
    12        lung cancer and the only thing to do to reduce your risk
    13        of lung cancer is not to smoke.  That is not true.  There
    14        are other causes, but smoking is universally agreed to be
    15        far and away the most important cause.
    16
    17   Q.   Just to move on from your statement about McDonald's
    18        specifically.  Do the bodies that make recommendations,
    19        for example, the World Health Organisation, US government,
    20        feel that major suppliers have the responsibility?
    21        A.  Well, they usually do not put it like that.  The
    22        answer to your question is that, again referring to the
    23        reports which I have summarised in my book, I would first
    24        generally know with some exceptions, the American Heart
    25        Association is always concerned to make recommendations
    26        not only to individuals but also to industry since the
    27        60s.  Generally speaking, the answer to your question now
    28        is, yes, in that most major reports -- one of the reasons
    29        these reports are so vast, as you can see the American
    30        ones in particular, is, first of all, they go into the
    31        science in great detail.
    32
    33        Secondly, they do now have sections which are to do with
    34        the application of their recommendations.  You mentioned
    35        WHO -- WHO does as well too.  So that I would say,
    36        generally speaking, it would be true that major reports
    37        now commissioned by the government or authoritative
    38        scientific bodies would have sections about how these
    39        recommendations apply or could be applied to or by
    40        industry among other relevant sectors, yes.
    41
    42   Q.   It has been said before that McDonald's are supporting the
    43        conclusions and recommendations of the Health of the
    44        Nation report, which is backed by the UK government.  Does
    45        that have any implications for -----
    46        A.  Well, for instance, Dr. Wheelock (who is well known to
    47        me) was hired by McDonald's as their nutritional adviser
    48        some time ago.  One of his jobs, as he has told me, was to
    49        see if there were means whereby McDonald's could either
    50        reduce the total fat in their products or change the 
    51        nature of the fat in their products, following a process 
    52        which has already happened in the States. 
    53
    54        So, yes, McDonald's, to the best of my knowledge, are not
    55        only concerned to state that their products are valuable,
    56        I think they use the word "nutritious", but I would
    57        hesitate to use that word myself, but also there is
    58        evidence that they are positively seeking ways and means
    59        to improve what is termed the nutritional profile of their
    60        products, which they have already sought to do to an

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