Day 031 - 05 Oct 94 - Page 49
1 A. No, I am sorry, I do not. (Handed)
2
3 Q. If you go to the section: "What is so unhealthy about
4 McDonald's food"?
5 A. Yes.
6
7 Q. Then the second paragraph under that: "What they don't
8 make clear is that a diet high in fat, sugar, animal
9 products and salt and low in fibre, vitamins and minerals
10 which describes an average McDonald's meal is linked with
11 cancers of the breast and bowel and heart disease. This
12 is accepted medical fact, not a cranky theory. Every year
13 in Britain heart disease alone causes about 180,000
14 deaths".
15
16 Your particular area of expertise is the role of dietary
17 fat in nutrition and the relation of that to disease.
18 What is your opinion of that statement?
19 A. Without going into the debatable use of the word
20 "medical fact" (because I am not quite sure what that
21 means) I would say that a diet high in fat and animal
22 products if, presumably, we mean land animal products, is
23 linked with cancers of the breast, bowel and heart disease
24 is a very fair comment on the basis of our present
25 knowledge.
26
27 Q. In your view, is that something that is generally accepted
28 by the medical profession?
29 A. I think it is. I think if one looks at the
30 recommendations that we have been discussing, that I am
31 sure you have just discussed before, that this represents
32 a very wide range of medical opinion and scientific
33 opinion which is of that view.
34
35 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, I have this observation to make about
36 that last series of questions, and it is this: First of
37 all, of course, the question what in proper context those
38 words mean is for your Lordship and not for this witness
39 or, indeed, for Ms. Steel to decide. The second and
40 perhaps more serious problem is this: The Defendants have
41 been in the habit since this case began of extracting in
42 obviously a wholly selective way pieces of evidence from
43 the transcripts of the hearing and distributing them to
44 the public at large.
45
46 It does seem to me, at least, that that last series of
47 questions was designed, at least in part, to fuel that
48 line of communication with the world at large; if so, it
49 should be prevented now.
50
51 MR. MORRIS: I want to object very strongly to that. We were
52 asked to put certain points to witnesses to make our case
53 clear. That was the intention of that question.
54
55 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, I say, I have taken it on that basis.
56 At the end of the day I am going to have to select the
57 answers which help me to a conclusion which I have to
58 draw. The answers to questions which I am not minded to
59 stop you asking, but whatever the witness's answer is, I
60 know only I can answer for the purposes of this
