Day 269 - 25 Jun 96 - Page 68


     
     1        olive oil which contains a very small proportion of
     2        saturated fatty acids.
     3
     4   Q.   We cannot live on olive oil though, can we?
     5        A.  Well, the Greeks have managed that for several thousand
     6        years.
     7
     8   Q.   Not exclusively?
     9        A.   They did not have any other oils in the good old days.
    10        Infact it is only relatively recently the Greeks allowed
    11        soya bean oil into Greece.
    12
    13   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  But they had fats from other sources?
    14        A.  They had fats from other sources but I mean, olive oil
    15        was the predominant source of fat in the Mediterranean
    16        countries for thousand of year..
    17
    18   MS. STEEL:  That was not actually the question that Mr. Rampton
    19        asked.  He did ask: "Can you think of any fat which does
    20        not contain saturated fatty acids?"
    21
    22   MR. RAMPTON:   The answer is no.  The Greeks ate at any rate in
    23        classical times a whole range of fats, from pigs and
    24        probably still do?
    25        A.   I think feta cheese is a recent invention by the
    26        Greeks.
    27
    28   Q.   Yoghurt?
    29        A.  I am not sure how long that goes back.  It probably
    30        might go back.  I do not know.  I cannot tell you the
    31        answer.
    32
    33   Q.   It goes back surely to influence the incidences of heart
    34        disease in Greece does it not, in modern times?
    35        A.   Indeed.
    36
    37   Q.   The purpose of the 0 in the 0-10 which is mentioned by the
    38        WHO is simply to say this, is it not?  It is not a
    39        recommendation at all.  What it is saying is, we do not
    40        need saturated fatty acids for our lives, for our living;
    41        our well-being.  Therefore, you do not need any at all.
    42        That is what it is really meaning, is it not?
    43        A.   That is essentially the purpose of the 0. I would
    44        actually interpret it slightly differently, knowing the way
    45        that these Committees work, that they would feel that they
    46        would want to draw peoples' attention to the undesirability
    47        of the fatty acid content of the diet and therefore they
    48        would put that bottom limit of zero as more an example of
    49        their feelings about it, rather than that they felt it
    50        could be achieved in practice.
    51
    52   Q.   Now I would like to pass on from that if I may.
    53
    54   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Well, pause then Mr. Rampton.  We will have
    55        our five minute break.
    56
    57                         (Short adjournment)
    58
    59   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   Mr. Rampton, in case I forget to mention it,
    60        I have not attempted to get a full note of what Professor

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