Day 296 - 07 Nov 96 - Page 43
1 MR. MORRIS: We think sugar is relevant.
2
3 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I have no doubt you do, but I have to decide
4 it on the evidence, you see, so I am giving you an
5 opportunity some time in the next couple of days to come up
6 with the references in evidence which support what you say.
7
8 MR. MORRIS: The other thing about sugar that is relevant is
9 that it is an important ingredient added to a product to
10 make it attractive and palatable, to compensate for the
11 otherwise mediocre nature of it, which is important,
12 important in this whole equation.
13
14 MS. STEEL: It is also important in encouraging people to eat
15 more of sweet products and in the case of, for example,
16 milkshakes-----
17
18 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Give me the references for all this in due
19 course, if you want.
20
21 MS. STEEL: Can I just ask, do you actually want a reference
22 for the assertion I have just made that sugar in food
23 encourages people to eat more of it?
24
25 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I will accept that some people develop a
26 sweet tooth, if you see what I mean.
27
28 MS. STEEL: Most people.
29
30 MR. JUSTICE BELL: If you have got particular evidence in
31 relation to McDonald's food, then I would like you to give
32 them to me. I may well turn them up myself, anyway. But
33 I just have the impression, without giving you chapter and
34 verse, that in some of the more recent articles which were
35 mentioned and a more recent COMA report -- I am not going
36 to look it up now -- it may well be COMA 46 ---
37
38 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, I think it is.
39
40 MR JUSTICE BELL: -- which relates to cardiovascular disease,
41 they were enthusiastic about sugar in the context of dental
42 caries, rather than cardiovascular disease. All this may
43 be wrong, but I am only raising it so that you can come
44 back at me about it, if you like.
45
46 MS. STEEL: Yes. Can I just ask -----
47
48 MR JUSTICE BELL: You see, it is easy to make ex cathedra
49 statements that if you eat a lot of sugar you get fat and
50 if you get fat you get obese -- I am reminding myself that
51 obesity is something more than being overweight -- and,
52 therefore, it damages your health in one way or the other,
53 but we have actually had evidence on this, and I have got
54 to take account of it. Leave it there and come back to it
55 if you have particular references in mind in due course.
56
57 MS. STEEL: Can I just ask about what you said about sugar in
58 relation to McDonald's food? I understand what you are
59 saying about the health -- you want us to give you
60 references regarding sugar and health. But did you say you
