Day 254 - 22 May 96 - Page 14
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2 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Which is the particular paragraph?
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4 MS. STEEL: Under the "Vegetable and Fat Mono Unsaturated Fat"
5 section it talks about Mediterranean diet and the
6 widespread use of olive oil and that a study found a strong
7 protective effect of olive oil against breast cancer.
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9 It goes on to say at the bottom of that page, excluding the
10 chart page, the bottom of the text:
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12 "In summary, there is little evidence of a protective
13 vegetable oil per se against cancer but there is good
14 evidence of an inverse correlation between cancer risk and
15 olive oil consumption."
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17 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That is why I wanted you to put it in.
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19 MS. STEEL: Then in the conclusion.
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21 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I am not sure that is the same as -- I have
22 read and underlined the conclusion lower down.
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24 MS. STEEL: Yes. In the conclusion:
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26 "The evidence on vegetable fat suggests a neutral effect on
27 cancer risk although there is evidence that olive oil has a
28 protective effect against breast and colon cancers."
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30 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Do you join issue with any of that? They are
31 not in the same terms as Ms. Steel put her question to
32 you?
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34 MS. STEEL: I said "belief" actually, I did not say "approved".
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36 MR. JUSTICE BELL: "It is believed that" which might have with it
37 connotations that it is so, whereas one can read the actual
38 words in the text, so I have to be really quite precise
39 about the terminology which is used. You do not disagree
40 with any of the conclusions?
41 A. I do not, my Lord, but I would point out that in fact
42 what he is quoting is one particular study carried out by
43 Gerber and he then goes on to say:
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45 "However, the evidence regarding vegetable oils as a whole
46 should be treated with great caution since not enough is
47 currently known about the vitamin and antioxidant effect
48 not content of the oil is consumed."
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50 MS. STEEL: It is saying that there may actually be a beneficial
51 effect from them but they do not know at the moment?
52 A. That is absolutely true.
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54 Q. Right.
55 A. In fairness, I think that is what I have been trying to
56 say in all of my evidence, that there is no consistency in
57 any of this in that bits of evidence which suggest one
58 thing and bits of evidence which suggest another thing, and
59 the scientific community therefore needs then to go on and
60 investigate these apparent correlations in more detail to
