Day 252 - 20 May 96 - Page 38
1 Q. It does. For example, on page -- 70 there -- is a thing
2 -- I mean, I have only looked through this very briefly,
3 but under "meat and meat products", I do not know which
4 example it is talking about actually, but it talks about a
5 switch towards lean meat and then it says:
6
7 "For those individuals who eat fatty meat trimming the
8 invisible fat could reduce total fat intake by about 3
9 grammes a day just under 2 grammes a day and the main
10 change suggested for this group is an average reduction by
11 around 50 percent in the amount of meat products in
12 something consumed."
13
14 It also talks about reducing the salt as well. I do know
15 that I have seen in it other Health Educational Authority
16 pamphlets, for example. Would you accept that?
17 A. Well, with some reservation. I mean the suggestion
18 here is for a reduction in meat consumption. That
19 obviously depends on how much meat you actually eat.
20
21 Looking at the overall picture of meat consumption in
22 different European countries, I was quite surprised to see
23 what enormous amounts of meat some countries do on average
24 consume, much higher than the United Kingdom. But, as I
25 say, this is an individual thing. The recommendation that
26 is being made is really in relation to fat associated with
27 meat and this has been very much a Health Education policy
28 of encouraging people to eat less meat, not because of the
29 meat but because of the saturated fat associated with it.
30
31 I personally have misgivings about encouraging people to
32 eat less meat, particularly children, because meat is by
33 far the most richest and most readily available form of
34 iron and iron deficiency anemia is the most common nutrient
35 deficiency in children, so to encourage children to stop
36 eating meat is, to me, something that is really rather
37 worrying.
38
39 MR. RAMPTON: I am sorry, I could not catch the end of that
40 answer because the defendants were talking through it. It
41 has come up as funny stuff on my screen.
42
43 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It has come up perfectly clearly to me. One
44 thing which is missing is "anemia". Anyway, there we are.
45 The key in the penultimate line is "children".
46
47 MS. STEEL: Would you agree that the recommendations on reducing
48 fat, the fat content of the diet, would entail increased
49 consumption of fruit and vegetables and less consumption of
50 meat and dairy products?
51
52 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Is what you are putting in 3.7.2 that it is
53 suggested there that less meat should be eaten?
54
55 MS. STEEL: For people who eat fatty meat.
56
57 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, but are you looking at the parentheses
58 "(and more vegetables, pulses or potatoes)"; is that what
59 you had in mind?
60
