Day 252 - 20 May 96 - Page 38


     
     1   Q.   It does.  For example, on page -- 70 there -- is a thing
     2         -- I mean, I have only looked through this very briefly,
     3        but under "meat and meat products", I do not know which
     4        example it is talking about actually, but it talks about a
     5        switch towards lean meat and then it says:
     6
     7        "For those individuals who eat fatty meat trimming the
     8        invisible fat could reduce total fat intake by about 3
     9        grammes a day just under 2 grammes a day and the main
    10        change suggested for this group is an average reduction by
    11        around 50 percent in the amount of meat products in
    12        something consumed."
    13
    14        It also talks about reducing the salt as well.  I do know
    15        that I have seen in it other Health Educational Authority
    16        pamphlets, for example.  Would you accept that?
    17        A.   Well, with some reservation.  I mean the suggestion
    18        here is for a reduction in meat consumption.  That
    19        obviously depends on how much meat you actually eat.
    20
    21        Looking at the overall picture of meat consumption in
    22        different European countries, I was quite surprised to see
    23        what enormous amounts of meat some countries do on average
    24        consume, much higher than the United Kingdom.  But, as I
    25        say, this is an individual thing.  The recommendation that
    26        is being made is really in relation to fat associated with
    27        meat and this has been very much a Health Education policy
    28        of encouraging people to eat less meat, not because of the
    29        meat but because of the saturated fat associated with it.
    30
    31        I personally have misgivings about encouraging people to
    32        eat less meat, particularly children, because meat is by
    33        far the most richest and most readily available form of
    34        iron and iron deficiency anemia is the most common nutrient
    35        deficiency in children, so to encourage children to stop
    36        eating meat is, to me, something that is really rather
    37        worrying.
    38
    39   MR. RAMPTON:   I am sorry, I could not catch the end of that
    40        answer because the defendants were talking through it.   It
    41        has come up as funny stuff on my screen.
    42
    43   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  It has come up perfectly clearly to me. One
    44        thing which is missing is "anemia".  Anyway, there we are.
    45        The key in the penultimate line is "children".
    46
    47   MS. STEEL:  Would you agree that the recommendations on reducing
    48        fat, the fat content of the diet, would entail increased
    49        consumption of fruit and vegetables and less consumption of
    50        meat and dairy products? 
    51 
    52   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Is what you are putting in 3.7.2 that it is 
    53        suggested there that less meat should be eaten?
    54
    55   MS. STEEL:  For people who eat fatty meat.
    56
    57   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes, but are you looking at the parentheses
    58        "(and more vegetables, pulses or potatoes)"; is that what
    59        you had in mind?
    60

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