Day 296 - 07 Nov 96 - Page 15
1 accompanies economic development is energy dense.
2 People-consuming these diets characteristically have a high
3 intake of fat, especially unsaturated fat, and free sugars
4 and a relatively low intake of complex carbohydrates and
5 starchy fibre containing foods.
6
7 Clearly, the reference to dietary factors now known to
8 influence the development of those diseases is a clear
9 indication that in their view the relationship is causal,
10 be it initiation or promotion of the diseases.
11 Obviously, Geoffrey Cannon agreed with the World Health
12 Organisation report. The use of the word 'known' is
13 effectively akin to the phrase in the London Greenpeace
14 fact sheet 'accepted medical fact'.
15
16 There was also the evidence of Professor Michael Crawford,
17 who, as you may recall, is an expert on dietary fats and
18 their relation to human health. He is also a consultant to
19 the World Health Organisation. When he gave evidence for
20 us he emphasised the association between a high fat diet
21 and increased risk of cancers of the breast, colon and
22 prostate. He said that that was particularly evident from
23 population studies of different countries that had varied
24 diets and disease rates from migration studies which showed
25 that immigrant populations soon adopted the diet and
26 disease rates of the country of settlement, and from the
27 large increase of heart disease and cancer in countries
28 such as Japan where the modern western diet is fast
29 replacing traditional healthier diets.
30
31 MR. MORRIS: If I could throw in one point, I think Japan is
32 the place with the largest number of McDonald's outside
33 America.
34
35 MS. STEEL: Obviously, we can check their annual report for
36 that.
37
38 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes.
39
40 MS. STEEL: His view was that not only are McDonald's
41 encouraging the use of the style of food which is closely
42 associated with the risk of cancer and heart disease,
43 whilst at the same time health professionals are trying to
44 reduce the risks to western populations, they are actually
45 actively promoting the same style of use of food in
46 cultures where at present these particular diseases are not
47 a problem. You will obviously remember that he had direct
48 experience of that. He had worked in the field and in a
49 number of developing countries.
50
51 Can I just add the point, whilst we are on Professor
52 Crawford, that he additionally said that the problem was
53 not just with the promotion of the type of diet; it was
54 also with the methods of agriculture that are now being
55 used, and the marketing of these types of food and their
56 heavy promotion, and therefore more people are eating more
57 meat, and so on, in the diet as a result of all this
58 marketing with the result that in order to provide cheap
59 meat the animals are crammed into smaller and smaller
60 areas, thus not getting sufficient exercise, and they are
