Day 037 - 14 Oct 94 - Page 23
1 MS. STEEL: I think it has 15 at the bottom of the page.
2 A. You know, two and half cheers, I would say, to
3 McDonald's for actually mentioning saturated fat here,
4 because in other publications allegedly to do with diet
5 and health they do not. Since saturated fat is seen by
6 all standards to be particularly connected with coronary
7 heart disease, I think it is inexcusable that it is not
8 mentioned in other publications. However, even here where
9 saturated fat is mentioned -----
10
11 MR. MORRIS: Can you point us to where that is?
12 A. At the bottom of the page, bottom table, the left-hand
13 column says "Fats"; the next column says "Saturated fatty
14 acids (saturates)". The implication here for anybody who
15 is relying upon this for their nutritional knowledge (and
16 heaven knows how many people have done) is that saturated
17 fatty acids (saturates) are needed -- that is certainly
18 what the table says; at the top of the column it says,
19 "are needed for energy". That is a good word to use.
20 Whoever wrote this, you know, I would probably have given
21 a job to 10 years ago or so for creative copyrighting.
22 Energy is a wonderful thing to have, of course, is it not?
23 That is what we all want. We all want more energy. It
24 says saturated fatty acids are going to give us energy.
25 Is that not wonderful?
26
27 It is only later on that you actually find out in this
28 little note, it says: "Saturates tend to raise the blood
29 cholesterol level". I would query the word "tend", in
30 fact, that saturates do raise the blood cholesterol level,
31 "while polyunsaturates lower it". That is an over
32 simplification. I think it is really unnecessary to even
33 mention it. I would not have mentioned any of this at all
34 in this document, but they have chosen to do so.
35
36 "Too high an intake of saturated fat may increase the
37 risk of heart disease". Again, this is such a firmly
38 demonstrated relationship in my understanding that another
39 weasel word has crept in here, which is "may".
40
41 So, I would make that point there.
42
43 Q. What you are saying is that they are aware of the links
44 between, or they were in 1989?
45 A. That is patently obvious.
46
47 Q. But it is in the small print?
48 A. Yes.
49
50 Q. Under the heading that you do need that substance in any
51 case?
52 A. I am very unhappy with this whole table actually
53 because, in my view, which I understand will not count for
54 very much as a well-informed layman, there is mistake here
55 in addition to the one I have just mentioned.
56
57 If you look at the next page, Micronutrients: Vitamins
58 (this is their page 6), vitamin A (retinol), halfway down
59 the page, in the left-hand column it says "vitamin A",
60 I really would question whether the person who researched
