Day 269 - 25 Jun 96 - Page 91


     
     1        which have suggested that consumption of fruit and
     2        vegetables diminishes the risk of cancer of the stomach"?
     3        A.  Yes.
     4
     5   Q.   He goes on about various things, the weakest is with regard
     6        to cancer of the breast; the fat is the causation of cancer
     7        and the breast and you said -- I just wanted to clarify
     8        what you said.  You said that something to the effect that
     9        he was talking about prospective studies.  Do you remember
    10        what you said?
    11        A.   Have we got what it was that he said?
    12
    13   Q.   If he is talking about prospective studies I would accept
    14        that?
    15        A.   Yes, if he is talking about prospective studies.
    16
    17   Q.   Is that the basis on which you broadly agree with what he
    18        said, or was it some other basis?
    19        A.  Yes.  I mean, I think the prospective studies are not
    20        in the cancer terms as conclusive as the cardiovascular
    21        studies, but the prospective studies, as I think I
    22        explained in my original statement, have a serious problem
    23        with regard to their implications; what they mean in terms
    24        of time spans and which cancer is induced and so on.
    25
    26   Q.   Right.  I have nearly finished here I think.  You said that
    27        you talked about the examples of Unilever and others having
    28        some affect on health risks?
    29        A.   Yes.
    30
    31   Q.   And you said that you were pleased with the improvements in
    32        the heart disease rates?
    33        A.   Yes.
    34
    35   Q.   And you said that they could have been better.  In the
    36        light of falling heart disease rates, how do you assess
    37        McDonald's contribution from its sale of its food in terms
    38        of a positive or negative contribution to the improving
    39        heart disease rate?
    40        A.   Well, I think the point I was trying to make was to
    41        give your Lordship examples of the way in which industry
    42        has acted responsibly in response to the evidence as early
    43        as the 1960's and Unilever is one of the world's largest
    44        companies and it is really has the capacity to spend large
    45        sums of money, either in extolling the virtue of its Stork,
    46        which you cannot tell the difference between Stork and
    47        butter.  Or moving, changing its products and because it
    48        invested so much money, rather in the publicity but more in
    49        the actual science, the Board was convinced that they had
    50        to change their product lines and I think that that they
    51        exerted a leadership which was followed by many other
    52        industries in the food industry.  I think it would be fair
    53        to say that that almost certainly has made a major
    54        contribution to the reduction in mortality, despite the
    55        fact that the total fat intake has remained somewhat
    56        similar over the period of time in question where the fall
    57        has been taking place, there has been a change in the ratio
    58        which is really quite important and Michael Oliver in his
    59        Scotland versus Sweden study emphasised.  The ratio between
    60        saturated fats and polyunsaturated rates has changed, I

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