Day 269 - 25 Jun 96 - Page 48
1 the next two sentences:
2
3 "Colon cancer rates in Finland are amongst the lowest in
4 developed countries. There is an overruling ingredient in
5 all Scandinavian countries, including Finland. The Finnish
6 population however is unique in this respect because in
7 Finland the total dietary fat is similar to countries with
8 a high rate of colon cancer. Yet the incidence of large
9 bowel cancer is low."
10
11 And then there is a table over the page, two pages on,
12 table 1. I am not going to go into the detail of that but
13 from which you at a glance would be able to see --
14 A. Yes.
15
16 Q. -- that the dietary fat intake of the Finns was in fact
17 greater than that of --
18 A. Yes.
19
20 Q. If I can read the print properly. Do you agree?
21 A. I agree.
22
23 Q. The distinguishing feature between the two populations, and
24 this is the sort of epidemiological evidence which you have
25 --
26
27 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Well, the Finns was slightly less, was it
28 not?
29
30 MR. RAMPTON: Oh, was it? Maybe I miscounted.
31
32 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It might be thought to be pretty well
33 comparable.
34
35 MR. RAMPTON: Your Lordship is quite right. It was three grams
36 per day less. But do you agree that those are very
37 comparable figures?
38 A. They are comparable figures but the source of dietary
39 fats are different.
40
41 Q. That is perfectly right, but the greater proportion in the
42 Finns came from dairy products, did it not?
43 A. Yes, they were actually, at that time or prior to that
44 time the characteristic of the Finnish diet was that they
45 were the highest butterfat consumers in the world.
46
47 Q. Yes, and that carries a lot of saturated fat?
48 A. It does indeed.
49
50 Q. Do you agree then that the distinguishing feature, what is
51 remarkable, whatever the reason for it, but what is
52 remarkable about this is that with a similar intake of
53 saturated fat --
54 A. Yes.
55
56 Q. -- the Finns appear to have had significantly lower rates
57 of colon cancer?
58 A. Yes.
59
60 Q. And that appears to have been related - and I say
