Day 016 - 22 Jul 94 - Page 17
1 Not you -- Professor Wheelock.
2 MS. STEEL: I would like to go back to this question.
3 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You can come back to the question in a
moment.
4 A. My point, quite simply, is that here we have evidence
of a real problem, the possibility of a real problem.
5 When we have been discussing the possible relationship
between people eating at McDonald's and, in particular,
6 eating excessive amounts of certain products at
McDonald's, then it has been put to me that there is the
7 hypothetical situation that they would be at greater risk
of heart disease and that McDonald's has a responsibility
8 to point that out.
9 I am simply drawing the attention of the court to the fact
that any extreme of diet does have risks associated with
10 it. Therefore, those people who are actually advocating
that need to be very careful in the way in which they do
11 advocate it, and, in the way McDonald's are doing,
emphasise that if you want to be a vegetarian, then it is
12 important that you have a varied diet and that you balance
the diet to ensure there is plenty of iron in it.
13
MS. STEEL: Are you saying it is OK to link anaemia in young
14 school girls with vegetarianism based on one study?
A. I am not saying it is. It is based on one study.
15 I am saying that the evidence here is consistent with what
we can expect to find based on what we know about the
16 composition of different foods, and it is just one more
example; that is all.
17
Q. You -----
18 A. No, let me explain.
19 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Let him finish then ask your next question.
A. It is one more example of the fact that one would
20 expect to find health problems with people who are on a
particularly narrow and restricted diet.
21
MS. STEEL: Are you saying it is reasonable to advise people to
22 be careful about -- to advise young vegetarian girls to be
careful about their diet based on this one study?
23 A. I am not saying that one should take that advice.
I mean, assume from what you are saying that anybody who
24 advocates vegetarianism does not have a responsibility to
emphasise the importance of balance and variety.
25
MR. JUSTICE BELL: Maybe I have missed the point, but if any
26 child made a significant and substantial change in their
diet -- in this case it was between the ages of 12 and 14
27 -- it does not matter whether it goes to becoming
completely vegetarian or eating twice as much meat as they
28 have eaten hitherto, would it not be reasonable to advise
them to be careful?
29 A. This is exactly the point I am making, Sir.
30 MS. STEEL: So if it is reasonable to advise people to be
careful on this issue, is it reasonable to advise people
