Day 030 - 03 Oct 94 - Page 68
1 incidence of cardiovascular disease, would they not?
2 A. Yes.
3
4 Q. Given those two preliminary considerations what, in your
5 view, can one say about the existence of a causal
6 relationship between a diet in animal fat, particularly,
7 therefore, saturated fat, and cancer of the colon, first
8 of all?
9 A. First of all, colon cancer?
10
11 Q. Yes.
12 A. Well, I would say two things following the drift of
13 your questions. The evidence would be generally regarded,
14 including by those that have come to a conclusion, as not
15 so strong as the evidence on smoking and lung cancer or
16 fat and saturated fat and heart disease by some degree.
17 The discussions then would be: By what degree? The
18 additional point (and I think this may be why some of
19 these, some of this evidence may surprise some people in
20 court) is that the evidence is less, the evidence that
21 there is less well known because, and I think obviously
22 this is a salient point in this country, government in
23 this country has not got to the point of accepting a
24 report specifically and solely on diet and cancer which
25 comes to the conclusions which, if those scientists use
26 the same evidence as has been used by scientists in other
27 countries, will conclude there is a causal relationship.
28
29 That is why I have used the term "consensus". I think in
30 the ordinary sense of the word "consensus" clearly implies
31 -- "consensus" is not such a strong term as, say,
32 "universally agreed". A consensory view would allow for
33 some disagreement which, indeed, there is in the case of
34 diet and cancer generally and of fat or saturated fat or
35 animal fat and colon cancer.
36
37 On colon cancer specifically, I cannot remember any expert
38 report on the subject that has regarded the evidence as
39 insufficient to come to a conclusion. I believe I am
40 right in saying that all reports of the kind of status
41 I have been referring to on diet and colon cancer, would
42 say that on the evidence it is reasonable to say that
43 there is a causal connection between fat and colon
44 cancer.
45
46 If they mention animal fat or meat, for example, it would
47 depend on the nature of the report. Some are tending to
48 talk about nutrient, others talk about foods as well.
49
50 Q. Do you distinguish in your own mind, having read much of
51 the summary conclusions of the various committees
52 throughout the world but not much, as I understand it, in
53 the underlying research work, between the possible role of
54 fat as a cause of colon cancer and the possible role of
55 fibre, vegetable fibre, as a protective agent against
56 colon cancer?
57 A. Well, there are distinct arguments for each. Can I
58 say also that, of course, when we talk about fat being a
59 cause of colon cancer, that is really shorthand for
60 talking about fat eaten in excess, as it typically is in
