Day 298 - 11 Nov 96 - Page 34
1 government of 1,600 milligrams a day and is above that
2 recommended for a 10 year old child of 1,200 milligrams a
3 day.
4
5 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Are those maximums?
6
7 MR. RAMPTON: No, my Lord. That is the RNI, the 1,600. The
8 DRV is about 2,385.
9
10 MS. STEEL: It is my recollection that there is no -- beyond
11 like the salt that is naturally found in foods, there is no
12 -- which is a minimal amount -- there is no requirement
13 for additional salt, and that those figures -- the 1,600
14 milligrams is the recommended amount. It is not what
15 people are trying to achieve per day. I am quite sure
16 about that. But if you want -----
17
18 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No, I just want to -- just let me have a --
19 (Pause) Well, the 1,600 is what they call the RNI, which is
20 reference nutrient intake, the amount that is enough or
21 more than enough for about 97 percent of the people in the
22 group, so that if the average intake of the group is at the
23 RNI then the risk of deficiency in the group is very small.
24
25 MS. STEEL: I think it was slightly different to salt. I do
26 remember something about this at the time, now I think
27 about what they were saying. It did come up that apart
28 from anything else the World Health Organisation says we do
29 not need additional salt at all. But perhaps it would be a
30 good idea if I dug out the reference.
31
32 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I think you are thinking of the paragraph
33 that dealt with and said "the panel were unable to offer
34 guidance on high consumption, though noted that usual
35 intakes are in excess of 140 ml a day. That would be about
36 3,200 milligrams. The panel saw no physiological advantage
37 in exceeding this intake. I assume that to refer back to
38 the 1600 rather than the twice as much. And considered
39 that it would not be appropriate to increase these intakes
40 further.
41
42 I was just merely taking issue with what you said about
43 maximum, because that was not my recollection of what was
44 said.
45
46 MS. STEEL: That is the evidence by Jane Brophy, who is a
47 health professional who does give advice about this to the
48 public. I think that the situation with sodium is, I think
49 the grey book is extremely confusing.
50
51 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Did she say that 1600 was the maximum?
52
53 MS. STEEL: I am 99 percent certain that those are her exact
54 words. (Pause) Yes, it is actually taken directly from
55 her statement. The sodium content of McDonald's meal
56 combination one is closer to the maximum recommended by the
57 government of 1,600 milligrams.
58
59 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, that may be in her statement, but all
60 I was asking was, I assumed that when she says the maximum
