Day 033 - 10 Oct 94 - Page 50
1 accepted) that there is (and remains) a significant
2 possibility that diet is a cause of cancer. There is no
3 dispute about that; hence dietary recommendations are
4 extremely valuable, more than justifiable, one would have
5 thought required.
6
7 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That is the way I had understood it. We
8 will have argument in due time. None of this is designed
9 to stop you bringing out the evidence which you have
10 already brought out from Dr. Barnard. It is just the
11 extent to which asking him to approve matters which may be
12 largely not in issue really progresses the trial.
13
14 The next sentence: "One of the most basic conditions of
15 ill-health is obesity and overweight". "Obesity" is a
16 term of art in medical circles. It does not just mean
17 weighing a bit more than you ought to weigh; that is why,
18 presumably, they have "obesity" and "overweight" in there
19 as well.
20
21 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, yes. Dr. Barnard used the term "frank
22 obesity" which I also took to be a term of art.
23
24 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That is really quite useful. That is when
25 you get above the appropriate number, whatever it is, 25
26 or 30 or whatever?
27 A. Correct.
28
29 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Just take a moment because I am not trying
30 to stop you making a point in Dr. Barnard's evidence; I am
31 just looking at how much it helps for him to look at this
32 particular article. There may be bits there. I had not
33 read this. I note over the page there is a very strong
34 case to be made for controlling the proportion of fat in
35 the diet.
36
37 MR. MORRIS: Can I just refer to what I think the crux of this
38 document is? On that second page on the right-hand side,
39 he says, that paragraph: "It may be that these
40 recommendations cannot be made with quite the same degree
41 of confidence that applies to recommendations on vitamins,
42 minerals and pathogenic bacteria. I recognise that there
43 are some scientists who would prefer to keep their results
44 to themselves for another 20 to 30 years in the hope they
45 can be rather more definite in their conclusions". Then
46 it says: "This is quite unrealistic because anyone is
47 free to read the scientific literature and decide for
48 themselves what it means. Very often they get it wrong
49 because they lack the expertise and the breadth of
50 knowledge which the researchers possess". Over the page
51 it says: "In my view, it is a great mistake for
52 scientists to assume that it is necessary to have a
53 complete understanding of the relationships between diet
54 and health (or illness) before recommendations can be made
55 to the public, with a high degree of confidence". What is
56 your view on that, Dr. Barnard, that last bit especially?
57 A. On the question of the completeness of our knowledge
58 base?
59
60 Q. About the time to make the recommendations?
