Day 032 - 06 Oct 94 - Page 57
1
2 Q. Do you know Professor Verner Wheelock?
3 A. I have met him.
4
5 Q. Do you know Professor Michael Crawford?
6 A. I have met him.
7
8 Q. Can you please pick up the pink bundle VI and turn,
9 please, to tab 6? It is headed "Nutrition", I think.
10 A. Tab?
11
12 MR. JUSTICE BELL: 6.
13
14 MR. RAMPTON: Before I give you a page reference, tell me a
15 little bit more of what you know about the British
16 Nutrition Foundation, please, Dr. Lobstein. You say it is
17 funded by the industry?
18 A. Largely funded by the industry.
19
20 Q. But is not actually an industry body?
21 A. But is not actually an industry body, that is correct.
22
23 Q. Must I preface my questions with this, that you regard it
24 as a creature, cats paw or pawn of the food industry?
25 A. I would say that it might be muted when it comes to
26 making criticisms of food the industry.
27
28 Q. Please turn to page 13 of tab 6 in this volume. This is
29 part of McDonald's document. I can tell you this is
30 published in 1989. There is a comment attributed to
31 Professor Conning of the British Nutrition Foundation
32 which this is. Do you have it?
33 A. Yes.
34
35 Q. "These arguments (against fastfoods) use lack of balance
36 to dramatise a point that would be seen instantly to be
37 ludicrous if presented reasonably. No one in their right
38 mind would live exclusively on sausages or hamburgers or
39 meat pies (or sweets or crisps) but the arguments are
40 presented as if they would".
41
42 My question is this, Dr. Lobstein: Do you accept that the
43 key to this whole question is the frequency with which
44 people consume foods which you stigmatize as being bad or
45 unhealthy?
46 A. Not entirely. I would say there is a responsibility,
47 even if foods are not being eaten very frequently, but
48 clearly if foods are being eaten frequently and perhaps
49 promoted heavily, then there is even greater
50 responsibility on the part of the manufacturer or the
51 promoter to ensure that that food is of good value and
52 nutritious.
53
54 Q. Tell me what you mean by "frequently", please?
55 A. What you have to look at, I think, is particularly the
56 overall balance of the diet and the way in which various
57 influences can impact on changing that diet. I would say
58 if people are increasingly eating fast foods, then this is
59 a tendency that has to be taken seriously. So we are
60 talking about relative changes and trends and attempting
