Day 298 - 11 Nov 96 - Page 21


     
     1        that McDonald's particularly bore responsibility in
     2        introducing dietary changes into the countries which then
     3        would have the undesirable effect on people's health.
     4
     5        He made a similar point on page 8 of his second statement
     6        -- the second statement is the one that was read out the
     7        first time he gave evidence -- where he says that not only
     8        are McDonald's encouraging the use of a style of food which
     9        is closely associated with a risk of cancer and heart
    10        disease while professionals are trying to reduce the risks
    11        to western populations but they are actively promoting the
    12        same in cultures where at present these diseases are not a
    13        problem.
    14
    15        Just a final thing from the evidence of Professor Crawford
    16        was that in the Scottish report, the Scottish diet, the
    17        report of a working party to the chief medical officer for
    18        Scotland produced in December 1993, obviously, they make
    19        recommendations for a diet with increased fruit and
    20        vegetable intake and lowered fat and sodium intake, and so
    21        on.
    22
    23        But on page 81 of that report they say, "The adoption of
    24        the prudent diet described in chapter 5 should reduce the
    25        cancer burden, but it would be unrealistic to expect
    26        tangible evidence for perhaps twenty years."  And it says,
    27        "The impact of diet on colon cancer may occur within a
    28        twenty year period, so it seems reasonable for almost all
    29        age groups to adopt the proposed diet as part of a cancer
    30        prevention programme."  He agreed with all of this, that is
    31        a clear indication that it is not just about specific
    32        sectors of the population adopting this diet to prevent
    33        cancer; it is about everybody.
    34
    35        Then there are some figures given for the estimate of the
    36        proportion of cancers of the large bowel which could be
    37        avoided by altering the intake of those nutrients
    38        considered to influence risk, and for saturated fat there
    39        is a couple of figures given where they expect a reduction
    40        of between 12 and 24 percent.
    41
    42   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   Where are you getting that from?
    43
    44   MS. STEEL:   This is in the Scottish report.
    45
    46   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   Right.  But did Professor Crawford say
    47        anything about that?
    48
    49   MS. STEEL:   I am pretty sure he did.  But it is possible if he
    50        did not, somebody else did.  I definitely remember those
    51        figures being referred to in court.
    52
    53   MR. RAMPTON:   I think he referred -----
    54
    55   MS. STEEL:   If he did not refer to it, somebody else did.  In
    56        any event, he agreed with all of us.
    57
    58   MR. RAMPTON:   I am trying to help.  I think Professor Crawford
    59        referred to it on his first visit.
    60

Prev Next Index