Day 254 - 22 May 96 - Page 62
1
2 MR. JUSTICE BELL: But it does not say animal fat components is
3 in relation to any other components in diet or any other
4 potential causal factors, that is what troubles me. It is
5 such a short summary of Miller says. You may be right,
6 maybe Miller, if one read it, would say that animal fat is
7 ----
8
9 MR. MORRIS: It does say, "Most other groups have reached the
10 same concussion and there are few hypotheses for an
11 independent role for protein".
12
13 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That is my point, but what it does not say is
14 that therefore it is down to animal fat. That is what
15 troubles me on the authority reference there.
16
17 MR. MORRIS: My understanding is what it is saying is that if
18 there is any component that is relevant in this whole
19 debate of an animal product it is the fat content that is
20 relevant, it is not the protein content, i.e. the causative
21 factor of risk.
22
23 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Indeed.
24
25 MR. MORRIS: Is the fat not the protein content of animal
26 products?
27
28 MR. JUSTICE BELL: The protein paragraph is a subsection of the
29 conclusion which starts with the parts which Ms. Steel has
30 already put to Dr. Arnott. They are not adding anything,
31 as I understand it, to what he has already said about
32 animal fat, they are being sceptical about protein, the
33 protein element of meat.
34 A. I think each of these paragraphs is trying to go
35 through individual substances which may be considered to be
36 risk factors, and what they are saying is that there is no
37 evidence showing that protein consumption has any
38 independent association with cancer risk. Because
39 basically, at the end of the day, I get the impression that
40 what this article is trying to do is to produce
41 recommendations.
42
43 Q. Certainly directed at a body which is going to produce
44 recommendations?
45 A. Yes, indeed.
46
47 MS. STEEL: If we just move onto the section on fruits and
48 vegetable. Have there been a particularly large number of
49 studies on fruits and vegetables?
50 A. I think all of the studies which have looked at diet
51 have looked at various aspects of the diet, including fruit
52 and vegetables, and one of the things which is clear and
53 goes back to what I was saying this morning about
54 consistency of evidence, is that if you look at all the
55 study over the years going back to the 1980s and up to the
56 present time, there has been a consistency of evidence to
57 suggest that fruit and vegetables are protective.
58
59 Q. Right.
60
