Day 053 - 22 Nov 94 - Page 32
1
2 MS. STEEL: It does not mention cancer down there particularly,
3 and also it says "this sort of fake food". It is clear
4 there, again, that it is not specifically referring just to
5 McDonald's food, but to food that is high in fat and sugar
6 and low in fibre, et cetera.
7
8 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Do you want to go on to 10, then?
9
10 MS. STEEL: Yes. That can probably just be taken as read.
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12 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I would like you to expand on it, so I can
13 see where, if anywhere, you say you have actually missed
14 out? I know you have not called some witnesses who did
15 mention heart disease, but where have you called witnesses
16 who would have advanced the matter at all beyond what
17 Dr. Barnard said and what Professor Crawford said and what
18 Geoffrey Cannon said in his very full gathering together of
19 papers?
20
21 MS. STEEL: None of them really went into detail about the type
22 of relationship. Yes, it was mentioned.
23
24 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It was clearly a causal relationship,
25 according to their evidence, was it not?
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27 MS. STEEL: Yes. I am not sure -- I mean, if the Plaintiffs now
28 admit causal relation -----
29
30 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I have no difficulty with heart disease, so
31 far any difficulty from your point of view is concerned,
32 because you have actually called witnesses who say a diet
33 of a certain nature is causally linked to heart disease.
34 They have said: "We know largely the mechanism whereby it
35 is linked", and none of that has been challenged on behalf
36 of the Plaintiffs. You could carry on calling witnesses
37 for ever without putting yourself in any stronger position,
38 could you not?
39
40 MS. STEEL: I think the argument that was prepared here was
41 prepared before Mr. Rampton made his admission of a causal
42 association.
43
44 MR. RAMPTON: I must intervene at this stage. This has been
45 repeated ad nauseum; it is completely false, and I am sick
46 of it, I have to say, which is why I used word ad nauseum.
47
48 Can I draw your Lordship's attention to what I said in
49 opening, which is at tab 7 of my skeleton argument, page
50 38, lines 17 to 26, where I draw the clearest possible
51 distinction between the issues arising in relation to
52 cancer and the issue arising in relation to heart disease.
53 It is quite clear that in opening this case I conceded that
54 the relationship between diet and heart disease was a
55 causal one. I hope, by that means, we can stop going over
56 this wholly false, wobbly ground. Page 38, line 17, ending
57 at line 30.
58
59 MR. MORRIS: Can he identify which particular line he says there
60 is a causal relationship?
