Day 297 - 08 Nov 96 - Page 24


     
     1        McDonald's is part of the process of doing.
     2
     3        Professor Crawford also referred to a recommendation by the
     4        British Nutrition Foundation, which, as I said before, is
     5        funded by the British food industry, to reduce total fat to
     6        decrease the risk of developing cancer.  Day 31, page 33.
     7        Which we would regard as a significant admission bearing in
     8        mind that it comes from the food industry.
     9
    10        In the Scottish paper that we referred to earlier, there
    11        was reference to the World Health Organisation's report and
    12        the Scottish view was to support the adoption of a prudent
    13        diet low in fat, particularly saturated fat, and high in
    14        fibre, which they considered should reduce the cancer
    15        burden, although it was suggested that no tangible evidence
    16        would be expected for about 20 years because of the length
    17        of time cancer takes to develop.  That is day 31, page 35.
    18
    19        Then on day 31, page 36 there were, I expect you remember,
    20        questions about whether or not it was referring to the
    21        causation of cancer, and although Professor Crawford said
    22        that the evidence was stronger for promotion rather than
    23        causation, that was because he was using the causation in
    24        the sense of initiation, but obviously in the sense that
    25        the court is looking at it, he certainly viewed diet as a
    26        causative factor in cancer.
    27
    28        Professor Crawford agreed with the World Health
    29        Organisation report in 1990 which stated that the evidence
    30        is clear that the risk of certain types of cancer is
    31        directly associated with the level of total of fat in the
    32        diet, and that dietary factors influence the development of
    33        a range of chronic diseases.  That was day 31, page 48.
    34
    35   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   48?
    36
    37   MS. STEEL:   48.  Professor Crawford agreed with the dietary
    38        statement in the London Greenpeace fact sheet, the
    39        nutrition section, saying that it was a fair comment on the
    40        basis of our present knowledge and generally accepted by
    41        the medical profession.  That was day 31, page 49.
    42
    43        Moving on to Dr. Lobstein, he referred to the survey of
    44        school children's lunch habits, which revealed that a high
    45        proportion of older children were eating fast food so that
    46        the nutritional content of their meals was lower, and
    47        approximately a quarter to a third of children had fat
    48        intakes contributing to over 40 percent of their energy
    49        intakes and these dietary patterns will potentially put
    50        them at risk of heart disease, obesity, and other diseases
    51        in later life.  That was day 32, pages 14 to 16.
    52
    53        Dr. Barnard, the president of the Physicians Committee for
    54        Responsible Medicine, stated unequivocally that a diet high
    55        in fat, cholesterol, salt and sugar and low in fibre and
    56        certain vitamins and minerals is linked to a higher risk of
    57        heart disease, cancer and other chronic diseases, as well
    58        as to a worse prognosis when these diseases arise.  By
    59        reducing fat intake and increasing vitamins and fibre
    60        intake, the risk of these diseases drops and he said what

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