Day 252 - 20 May 96 - Page 52


     
     1
     2        You have mentioned one target, the suggestion that we might
     3        get down to 15 percent fat as something to be aimed at.  I
     4        certainly would not agree with that.  I think it is
     5        extremely unlikely.  I cannot see the advantages of doing
     6        so, and I doubt if many scientists working in this field
     7        would accept that figure of 15 percent, even 30 percent, I
     8        think, is quite optimistic.
     9
    10   Q.   Yes.  You said "optimistic" but you accepted that in China,
    11        for example, that levels are much lower than even the
    12        targeted recommendations in, say, Britain, and accepting
    13        there a billion people live there, then there is no reason
    14        in the world why people should not have achieved healthy
    15        targets of nutrients.
    16
    17   MR. JUSTICE BELL: I do not think he has accepted that such part
    18        of the billion people in China as live in rural China which
    19        may have very low fat are necessarily healthy.  Maybe he
    20        will if you ask him but ----
    21
    22   MR. MORRIS:  Well, we have evidence coming on that.
    23
    24   MR. JUSTICE BELL: I know but you are putting to it this witness.
    25        You have raised it twice now, you see.
    26
    27   MR. MORRIS:  (To the witness): Are you aware of the incidents of
    28        heart disease and cancer in Chinese rural populations?
    29        A.  Yes, I understand it is very variable going from one
    30        community to another in China.  A point is certainly made
    31        of this in the document on cancer, but I am certainly aware
    32        that the Chinese diet, as a whole Chinese food is
    33        relatively low in fat and the Chinese method of cooking
    34        requires less fat than is used in westernised cooking, and
    35        if everybody was happy eating Chinese food, I personally
    36        would be, there are no problems with that and fat intake
    37        would decline.
    38
    39   MR. JUSTICE BELL: So there is no down side there?
    40        A.  I am not aware of any down side but I do not think one
    41        can say that as a result of nature of this cuisine, Chinese
    42        people live a lot longer than people do in Western
    43        society.  They may have a lower instance of heart disease
    44        but they may have a much higher instance of other things.
    45        I do not know what the mortality figures for the Chinese
    46        are.
    47
    48   Q.   The Committee that produced this report or met out of which
    49        this report was written, have you got that on page 6?  Do
    50        you have the list of committee members and representatives 
    51        of organisations and the secretariat? 
    52        A.   Yes. 
    53
    54   Q.   I will not read out the names.  There may be 40 people
    55        identified there from various organisation and various
    56        Professors.  Would you accept that is an authoritative body
    57        of people to be concerned with the production of a report?
    58        A.   They were concerned with the report, yes.
    59
    60   Q.   Can I just ask if the Judge can look at page 108, if that

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