Day 269 - 25 Jun 96 - Page 09
1 products. Thus the proportion using McDonald's within this
2 group at high risk to heart disease and cancer, will be
3 greater than the average.
4
5 To put a figure on the percentage contribution of
6 McDonald's and other similar take-away foods to heart
7 disease and cancer would require a detailed survey of food
8 intakes. According to the Taylor Nelson Eating Out
9 Monitor, 1,905,000 people eat at McDonald's once a week and
10 425,000 people several times a week or more often. So it
11 is possible to make a stab at the quantitative question
12 based on McDonald's own data.
13
14 Many factors are involved in the geographical and
15 socio-economic contrasts in heart disease and cancer with
16 diet being one. Walter Willett of Harvard, Boston, has
17 calculated that trans-isomers in the USA diet contribute to
18 30,000 deaths a year in the USA (Willett et al, 1993 Lancet
19 341: pages 581-585). Trans-isomers are biologically
20 equivalent to saturated fats and are derived from the fats
21 of ruminants (beef, sheep) and hydrogenated vegetable
22 oils. They are present in ruminant fats as a small
23 proportion of the total (4-7%). If, McDonald's, as I am
24 told, used hydrogenated soya bean oil in the USA, their
25 meals will be a major source of the trans isomers and
26 saturated fatty acids in the diets of regular users in the
27 USA."
28
29 We have been told in this case that in the UK all
30 McDonald's products are cooked in hardened pure vegetable
31 oils, so would that also apply to the UK?
32 A. Yes. A lot depends on how far they harden it, but our
33 own data shows that there are significant quantities of
34 trans-isomers in a McDonald's meal.
35
36 Q. "According to the studies by Ancel Keys from 1953 to
37 present, about 70% of heart disease can be explained by
38 saturated fats. Epidemiological evidence as has been
39 pointed out by Dr. Arnott, requires support from
40 independent sources the best of which is experiment which
41 provides a rational mechanism. The estimate from Ancel
42 Keys work is in accordance with the experimental data. The
43 experimental atherosclerosis is most strongly influenced by
44 the saturated fatty acid content of the diet.
45
46 Of the 1,905,000 eating once weekly at McDonald's that meal
47 is likely to contribute a 7th of the week's saturated fat
48 intake and a minimum of a 14th."
49
50 Is it basically from around a 7th of the week's saturated
51 fat intake to a 14th? I am not sure if there is a word
52 missing?
53 A. It depends whether you have one meal a day that is
54 saturated fat traditionally in your family or whether you
55 have two that are full of saturated fats.
56
57 Q. Right. I am just wondering if the word "between" is
58 missing. It maybe does not matter.
59
60 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Just pause a moment. Are you agreeing with
