Day 297 - 08 Nov 96 - Page 24
1 McDonald's is part of the process of doing.
2
3 Professor Crawford also referred to a recommendation by the
4 British Nutrition Foundation, which, as I said before, is
5 funded by the British food industry, to reduce total fat to
6 decrease the risk of developing cancer. Day 31, page 33.
7 Which we would regard as a significant admission bearing in
8 mind that it comes from the food industry.
9
10 In the Scottish paper that we referred to earlier, there
11 was reference to the World Health Organisation's report and
12 the Scottish view was to support the adoption of a prudent
13 diet low in fat, particularly saturated fat, and high in
14 fibre, which they considered should reduce the cancer
15 burden, although it was suggested that no tangible evidence
16 would be expected for about 20 years because of the length
17 of time cancer takes to develop. That is day 31, page 35.
18
19 Then on day 31, page 36 there were, I expect you remember,
20 questions about whether or not it was referring to the
21 causation of cancer, and although Professor Crawford said
22 that the evidence was stronger for promotion rather than
23 causation, that was because he was using the causation in
24 the sense of initiation, but obviously in the sense that
25 the court is looking at it, he certainly viewed diet as a
26 causative factor in cancer.
27
28 Professor Crawford agreed with the World Health
29 Organisation report in 1990 which stated that the evidence
30 is clear that the risk of certain types of cancer is
31 directly associated with the level of total of fat in the
32 diet, and that dietary factors influence the development of
33 a range of chronic diseases. That was day 31, page 48.
34
35 MR. JUSTICE BELL: 48?
36
37 MS. STEEL: 48. Professor Crawford agreed with the dietary
38 statement in the London Greenpeace fact sheet, the
39 nutrition section, saying that it was a fair comment on the
40 basis of our present knowledge and generally accepted by
41 the medical profession. That was day 31, page 49.
42
43 Moving on to Dr. Lobstein, he referred to the survey of
44 school children's lunch habits, which revealed that a high
45 proportion of older children were eating fast food so that
46 the nutritional content of their meals was lower, and
47 approximately a quarter to a third of children had fat
48 intakes contributing to over 40 percent of their energy
49 intakes and these dietary patterns will potentially put
50 them at risk of heart disease, obesity, and other diseases
51 in later life. That was day 32, pages 14 to 16.
52
53 Dr. Barnard, the president of the Physicians Committee for
54 Responsible Medicine, stated unequivocally that a diet high
55 in fat, cholesterol, salt and sugar and low in fibre and
56 certain vitamins and minerals is linked to a higher risk of
57 heart disease, cancer and other chronic diseases, as well
58 as to a worse prognosis when these diseases arise. By
59 reducing fat intake and increasing vitamins and fibre
60 intake, the risk of these diseases drops and he said what
