Day 023 - 13 Sep 94 - Page 27
1 A. That is right. I think -- because it is such a low
2 proportion it must mean these specific dietary practices
3 which are adopted by certain groups.
4
5 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Was your three per cent, Mr. Morris, your
6 interpretation of the solid black in the food column?
7
8 MR. MORRIS: Yes.
9
10 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Or did it include alcohol as well?
11
12 MR. MORRIS: No, it was just talking about the food
13 specifically. I mean, alcohol is part of the diet but
14 I was just concentrating on the food column which is
15 responsible for 30 -- they say 35 -- per cent of possibly
16 preventable cancer deaths. Mr. Rampton can make what he
17 wants of that.
18
19 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Do you disagree with that, because next to
20 the green it says: "This gives an idea of what experts
21 believe may prove to be preventable causes of cancer in
22 the future"?
23 A. I have to say I think that -----
24
25 Q. Do you take issue with that?
26 A. Well, I think that is pure conjecture though.
27
28 MR. MORRIS: Of course, there is a difference also between
29 preventable and caused by anyway, presumably?
30 A. Yes, but often the two are related.
31
32 Q. Yes, are related. But members of the public who this is
33 geared to would get the impression, would they not, that
34 diet is linked to cause of -----
35 A. I think they would get the impression that diet may be
36 linked. That is all this says. It does not say any more
37 than that. I think it says very much the sort of thing
38 that I have been saying to you.
39
40 Q. But they are also being advised, are they not, to cut down
41 on fats and avoid being over weight?
42 A. But I have said that that is very reasonable advice.
43
44 Q. I understand. Mr. Rampton will no doubt make what he
45 wants of it.
46
47 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Could you help me with the date again, Mr.
48 Morris, of this?
49
50 MR. RAMPTON: 1989, my Lord.
51
52 MR. MORRIS: Just one question on the World Health Organisation
53 pamphlet which is not the Grey Book.
54 A. The one you gave me this morning?
55
56 Q. Yes. Just in the first section 3.3, if we look at the
57 second paragraph, two thirds of the way down, it says:
58 "Case-control studies of the dietary habits of cancer
59 patients and comparison subjects, and prospective studies
60 of populations with known dietary habits, provide stronger
