Day 296 - 07 Nov 96 - Page 16


     
     1        also being fed an unnatural diet.
     2
     3        He said that modern beef production has become distorted
     4        from the wild nature of food to which we are
     5        physiologically adapted in that modern cattle are
     6        intensively reared for fast weight gain which results in
     7        unnaturally high levels of fat, particularly saturated
     8        fat.  He gave the example that meat in modern domestic
     9        cattle is in excess of 25 percent carcass fat compared to
    10        two to five percent in wild animals.
    11
    12        We had the evidence of Dr. Neil Barnard, the president of
    13        the US Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, who
    14        was clearly an expert on nutrition and health.  He said
    15        that many of the products sold at McDonald's are high in
    16        fat and cholesterol and low in fibre and certain vitamins,
    17        and that as a result these products contributed to heart
    18        disease, certain forms of cancer and other diseases.  He
    19        included in the 'other diseases' obesity, diabetes,
    20        hypertension.  He said that the links between diet and
    21        these now epidemic diseases are established beyond any
    22        reasonable doubt and that they are causal in nature.
    23
    24        Dr. Barnard also pointed out that in addition to the
    25        problem of consuming too much fat and too little fibre in
    26        the diet there is also increasing concern about the
    27        carcinogenic mutagens which form on the surface of grilled
    28        and fried meat.  I think we saw reports about that from
    29        elsewhere.  His view was that McDonald's products, it is
    30        quite clear, contain significantly more fat than the
    31        government guidelines and health authorities recommend, and
    32        that evidence had shown that fatty foods tend to be
    33        habituating and increase the likelihood of continued high
    34        fat intake.
    35
    36        Obviously, that is the minimum position, that they don't
    37        even meet the government and health recommendations,
    38        because obviously those recommendations are, as we have
    39        heard, made with a view to taking in commercial
    40        considerations and realism in terms of what the public
    41        would accept, bearing in mind the influences on people's
    42        diets through advertising and so on.  His view was that at
    43        the end of the day McDonald's food is part of the problem
    44        rather than part of the solution.
    45
    46   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   When you get to the end of your highlight of
    47        Dr. Barnard, we will take a break.
    48
    49   MS. STEEL:   OK.  Well, that is it.
    50
    51   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   Five minutes.
    52
    53                         (Short Adjournment)
    54
    55   MS. STEEL:   On top of the evidence from our witnesses, who all
    56        confirmed the links between diet and ill health, and that
    57        the links were causal, be it promotional rather than
    58        initiation, promotional development, there is also the
    59        admissions made by McDonald's own witnesses.
    60

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