Day 252 - 20 May 96 - Page 19
1 a hat. He, like a lot of people, has found the recent
2 research very reassuring and therefore he cannot resist
3 writing about it.
4 A. Yes, it is very amenable to investigation and, as I
5 say, we have done this ourselves in the department, no
6 problem with volunteers, and we have demonstrated that
7 lipid fractions, which are thought of as risk factors in
8 cardiovascular disease, are depressed by the consumption of
9 a bottle of wine a day, and this was actually done with
10 white wine. So, there is very clearly an effect of alcohol
11 which appears to be beneficial.
12
13 MR. RAMPTON: Thank you, Professor Naismith. Would you remain
14 there, please?
15
16 MS. STEEL: Could we have a break, quarter of an hour or
17 something?
18
19 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, certainly. I will come back at ten to
20 twelve unless you ask for more.
21
22 (Short adjournment)
23
24 Cross-examined by the Defendants
25
26 MS. STEEL: Just a few questions about your curriculum vitae.
27 Have you got that there in front of you?
28 A. No, I do not have it, but I am familiar with it.
29
30 MR. MORRIS: It is part of your statement.
31
32 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I do not think he needs to have it in front
33 of him unless he gets stuck because, not surprisingly,
34 since it is his life, he says he is familiar with it.
35
36 MS. STEEL: In what capacity were you on the COMA committee?
37 A. I was present as a Professor of Nutrition. COMA
38 committees tend to cover as wide a range of expertise as
39 possible so that whatever issue is being considered by the
40 committee will be adequately covered, because nobody can be
41 expected to have expertise across the board in either
42 medical or biological sciences. So I was in there as a
43 Professor of Nutrition. That is in the main COMA
44 committee.
45
46 Q. Right, but I think we heard something about different
47 people getting sent from accept -- well, for example, were
48 you there as a representative of the kind of food industry
49 or--
50 A. No, I was there as a representative of the scientific
51 community as a Professor of Nutrition at Kings College.
52
53 Q. Right. OK?
54 A. That is, in the main COMA committee.
55
56 Q. You mentioned novel foods and food processes. Can you
57 explain what that was?
58 A. Well, the COMA committee spawned a whole lot of
59 subcommittees. When they recognize that there is a
60 particular subject that is needing to be looked at they
