Day 030 - 03 Oct 94 - Page 37


     
     1        such is pathogenic.  That is to say, the average food
     2        supply and the average diet eaten by people in
     3        industrialised countries like the UK increases the risk of
     4        a large number of diseases, which have already been read
     5        out.  Among those the major killer diseases -- that is to
     6        say, the major diseases that are liable to be identified
     7        as the eventual cause of death of individuals --
     8        cardiovascular diseases in general and then, specifically
     9        within that, coronary heart disease and among cancers,
    10        colon cancer and breast cancer and also prostate cancer.
    11
    12   Q.   So if a supplier wants to have a good influence in
    13        general, would it be true to say that it should be not
    14        trying to achieve the average diet in this country, but
    15        trying to improve the quality?
    16        A.  It would depend what the purpose of industry is.  The
    17        principal responsibility of industry is to its
    18        shareholders, of course, and if your question is, if a
    19        firm in the food industry wished to develop policies which
    20        were in the interests of public health as well as policies
    21        that were in the interests of its shareholders, and the
    22        policies in the interest of public health were in response
    23        to what is either generally recognised in the country in
    24        question or, even more to the point, recommended by
    25        government, then, yes, it would seek to moves its products
    26        in the general direction of having less saturated fat,
    27        less fat, less salt, less sugar and more fibre.
    28
    29   Q.   Less than the average diet, is that what you are saying?
    30        Not less than what they have?
    31        A.  Not necessarily less than their products were before,
    32        and the less of the ones I have mentioned and the more of
    33         -- the less saturated fat, salt, sugar, fat generally the
    34        better and the more fibre the better.  Well, up to a point
    35        the more fibre the better.  That is rather a dry way of
    36        putting it.  In terms of food, one would be talking about
    37        more fruit and vegetables.  It is striking, for example,
    38        that retail supermarkets now make much more of promoting
    39        and presenting the variety of fruit and vegetables.
    40
    41   Q.   The question we are trying to address is, if a supplier
    42        typically supplying foods which are in excess of the
    43        typical diet, average diet, are its foods making a
    44        negative contribution to the diet of the country or to
    45        sections of the population?
    46        A.  Of course, yes.
    47
    48   Q.   I am going to move on to the references.
    49
    50   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  You are going to ask Mr. Cannon to refer to 
    51        parts of his book, are you, now? 
    52 
    53   MR. MORRIS:  That could come after lunch, I think.  We just
    54        want to concentrate on some of his references, including
    55        the book, to back up some of the statements he has made.
    56
    57   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  We will come back to that.
    58
    59        I propose to have my lunch and then read the rest of the
    60        references which you refer to in your letter, because I

Prev Next Index