Day 252 - 20 May 96 - Page 51


     
     1
     2   Q.   If we look at "saturated fatty acids", we see that the
     3        lower recommendation is 0 percent and the upper
     4        recommendation is ----
     5
     6   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Which one is this?
     7
     8   MR. MORRIS:  "Saturated fatty acids", 0 percent and 10 percent,
     9        between 0 and 10 percent effectively.  Dietary cholesterol
    10        is between 0 milligrams to 300 milligrams?
    11        A.   Yes.
    12
    13   Q.   Then it has carbohydrate recommendations and I will not go
    14        into those and dietary fibre.  Total dietary fibre is
    15        between 27 grammes per day and 40 grammes per day; yes?
    16        A.   Yes.
    17
    18   Q.   That is what it says. Free sugars as a percent of total
    19        energy, 0 percent with an upper limit of 10 percent?
    20        A.   Yes.
    21
    22   Q.   And finally, salt, grammes per day, the lower limit it says
    23        "not defined", upper limit, 6 grammes per day.  If you
    24        just look at the first one again, the total fat, lower to
    25        upper of 15 to 30 percent of total energy, it says
    26        underneath the chart where there is a little (b) "an
    27        interim goal formation with high fat intake.  Further
    28        benefits would be expected by reducing fat intake towards
    29        15 percent of total energy", so it seems to be a pragmatic
    30        figure, the 30 percent seems to be the pragmatic figure
    31        because of recognitions of what industrialised countries
    32        are consuming.
    33
    34        With that proviso for the saturated fat levels, would you
    35        broadly accept those recommendations as the medical
    36        consensus as it was in 1990?
    37        A.   Well, I must say I am not at all sure that we are
    38        talking about a medical consensus.  The fact that this is a
    39        document produced with the Association of the World Health
    40        Organisation does not mean that this is a document produced
    41        by a worldwide body of experts deliberating together.  I am
    42        aware that putting this document together was very much the
    43        work of one scientist who happens to be British.
    44
    45        The important thing about the table that you have shown
    46        here, or you have drawn our attention to, is that the
    47        right-hand column is very similar to the recommendations
    48        that are made by the COMA Committee and I have no quarrel
    49        with them.  I think that in looking at the left-hand
    50        column, you must be aware of what this really means. 
    51 
    52        These are values below which presumably there might be some 
    53        risk.  They are not to be looked at as values to which we
    54        should aspire, because obviously if we did, then we would
    55        end up with a very, very low calorie diet.
    56
    57        Looking at these values there, these are suggestions for
    58        values as a minimum value, as I say, below which there
    59        could be nutritional deficiency, so it is important not to
    60        confuse this with a target that we are actually aiming at.

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