Day 036 - 13 Oct 94 - Page 11
1 I say now that I am hopeful -- I do not know what your
2 travel arrangements have now become -- that I will not
3 travel over into tomorrow.
4
5 Anyway, can you turn over the page to 92: 4.1.3. Intakes
6 of saturated fatty acids: "Saturated fatty acids and
7 cholesterol are not essential nutrients and their
8 importance relates directly to their effects in increasing
9 blood cholesterol concentrations and promoting the
10 development of coronary heart disease. As noted
11 previously (section 3), no lower limit to serum
12 cholesterol has been identified below which a beneficial
13 reduction in coronary heart disease cannot be expected so
14 national nutrition policies should seek to minimise intake
15 of saturated fatty acids".
16
17 Dr. Barnard, is that to suggest -- correct me if I am
18 wrong -- that the relationship between the risk of
19 coronary heart disease and the intake of saturated fatty
20 acids is linear, directly proportional?
21 A. No, I do not believe it is quite as specific as that,
22 but it does say that with the reduction in one, you would
23 -- one would expect a reduction in the other, but it does
24 not characterise the mathematical relationship between the
25 two as linear.
26
27 Q. "These fatty acids may also be specifically involved in
28 promoting cancers, particularly of the colon and breast,
29 although the evidence remains inconsistent. The main
30 justification for limiting saturated fatty acid intake
31 should therefore be the prevention of coronory heart
32 disease". As at 1990, do you regard that as an acceptable
33 statement of the state of medical knowledge?
34 A. It is a reasonable statement. One might quibble with
35 it in minor ways, but it is reasonable, particularly since
36 heart disease (at least in western countries) claims more
37 victims than does malignant disease.
38
39 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I think Mr. Rampton was putting the
40 penultimate sentence as well as the last sentence in the
41 paragraph and asking whether you agreed. Was that not
42 right, Mr. Rampton?
43
44 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, yes.
45
46 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It is both.
47
48 MR. RAMPTON: Both those two sentences.
49 A. Pardon me, I would agree.
50
51 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You would agree, would you?
52 A. Yes.
53
54 MR. RAMPTON: Thank you. That is Dr. Arnott's references. So
55 can you keep those out because now what I am going to ask
56 you to do, if I may, is to look at just a very few and
57 only one case or two of any length. Some of the papers
58 which Dr. Arnott has put before the court which, so far as
59 I am aware, are not referred to anywhere in your
60 references.
