Day 200 - 12 Dec 95 - Page 18

     
     1        when we were in what I call the ordinary position when we
     2        did not know what the meaning was going to be that your
     3        Lordship was going to find.  That evidence was led against
     4        the possibility that your Lordship would say (which you
     5        have not done) that all that the leaflet meant was you
     6        should not eat too much of this because, if you did, you
     7        might unbalance your diet if you are not careful what else
     8        you ate.
     9
    10        That has not happened.  That is the proposition to which
    11        that evidence was directed and to which it was relevant.
    12
    13   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I understand that, but I would not say that,
    14        for instance -- to use your word "occasional" or
    15        "occasionally" -- myself that one meal a week is an
    16        occasional meal.
    17
    18   MR. RAMPTON:  No, nor would I, but I would not say that once a
    19        month was an occasional meal either.
    20
    MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Without indicating even the most provisional
    22        view on it, it might be that the Defendants could justify
    23        the second part of the meaning from "because" down to "as a
    24        result" if they were able to show on all the evidence that
    25        if you had a McDonald's meal once a week -- just take that
    26        as an example -- that might well make your diet high in fat
    27        with the consequence that there would be a very real risk
    28        that you will suffer cancer of the breast or bowel or heart
    29        disease as a result.
    30
    31        You say:  "Well, on all the evidence that cannot be
    32        justified at all".  You say:  "One meal a week will not
    33        make it high in fat and it is certainly not going to lead
    34        to a very real risk of cancer or heart disease".
    35
    36   MR. RAMPTON:  My Lord, I would say that and I say it now.
    37
    38   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  But are not the Defendants entitled to say:
    39          "Well, we do not agree with Mr. Rampton.  We think there
    40        is evidence and we would like to have further evidence that
         if you, for instance, have a Big Mac, regular fries once a
    42        week, that may well make your diet high in fat etc. with
    43        the very real risk that you will suffer cancer of"  -----
    44
    45   MR. RAMPTON:  I understand that is a theoretical possibility,
    46        but since I hope that I deal with realities, I would very
    47        much appreciate knowing where that evidence is going to
    48        come from.  It has not been led by the Defendants yet.
    49
    50   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Then the whole point is we may not have 
    51        finished the evidence yet. 
    52 
    53   MS. STEEL:  That is right.
    54
    55   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I am very disinclined -- nothing would please
    56        me more than knocking lumps off the rest of this case so
    57        that we get to the end of the evidence as soon as possible
    58         -- to shut the Defendants out from recalling a witness.
    59        They do not have to bother about -- I have forgotten his
    60        name now, I am afraid -- the doctor from the States because