Day 016 - 22 Jul 94 - Page 24
1 understand it? Is it reasonable for people to give advice
that a diet high in fat and low in fibre has been linked
2 to cancers of the breast and bowel?
A. Well, if during the course of -----
3
MR. JUSTICE BELL: Can I just explain? I take "has been
4 linked" to include just one person saying that for the
purposes of this question; whether at the end of the day
5 that is what the leaflet means is another matter
entirely. But if one person said: "Statistically cancer
6 of the bowel is related to intake of fat or saturated
fat", then in ordinary English you could say that person
7 has linked the one to the other. Whether that is of any
relevance to the meaning of the leaflet or not is another
8 matter entirely.
9 What is your answer to the question that has been put by
Ms. Steel?
10 A. I really am a little bit confused as to what Ms. Steel
actually wants.
11
MR. JUSTICE BELL: I do not think it helps to press on with the
12 question. It seems to me you can ask other witnesses, if
you like, as to just what the evidence is, the totality of
13 the evidence at the end of the day, and what the leaflet
actually means. The leaflet goes on to say: "It is a
14 medical fact", does it not? I have to take the whole lot
together; the use of the word "link", the use of the words
15 "medical fact" and make what of it I will at the end of
the day.
16
You can make any comment you want at the end of the day if
17 you think that no satisfactory answer has been given to
your question and that that is significant then you can
18 address me on that at the end of the day.
19 The part of the leaflet or the most directly relevant part
of the leaflet, apart from any significance which I might
20 or might not attach to a heading like "McCancer", says
is: "What they do not make clear is that a diet high in
21 fat, sugar, animal products and salt (sodium) and low in
fibre, vitamins and minerals, which describes an average
22 McDonald's meal, is linked with cancers of the breast and
bowel and heart disease. This is accepted medical fact,
23 not a cranky theory. Every year in Britain heart disease
alone causes about 180,000 deaths".
24
When I have heard all the evidence and heard all you have
25 to say about what that would mean to the ordinary reader
and everything Mr. Rampton has said about what that would
26 mean to an ordinary reader, I will have to come to some
kind of conclusion. I do not think pursuing it any
27 further with this witness is going to produce much one way
or the other. It is up to you whether you ask any more
28 questions, but that is my view at the moment.
29 Ms. Steel, do not forget you have Dr. Arnott to come and
you may have your own witnesses touching on the matter.
30 So this is not the be all and end of it all.
