Is CAP “designed to kill Europeans” through heart disease?

As if it were not enough that CAP imposes substantial costs on developing countries as well on EU consumers and taxpayers, according to a new study published in the July Bulletin of the World Health Organization, CAP is also to blame for cardiovascular mortality (www.who.int). The study pointed out that CAP has increased availability and consumption of products which contain saturated fats and that the EU spends €16 billion a year in supporting the dairy industry.

The study stressed that “These full-fat dairy products are a significant source of saturated fat to the population, potentially increasing coronary heart disease (CHD) and obesity.” Consequently the authors of the study argued that CAP has now become “a hazard to public health throughout the EU and may be promoting inequalities in health through the types of food consumed.”

CAP itself has been described as “a system designed to kill Europeans through CHD.” The objective of the study was to estimate the burden of cardiovascular disease (CVDs) as a result of excess dietary saturated fats attributable to CAP in 15 EU Member States before the 2004 enlargement. The authors quantified the CAP subsidies for dairy and meat products through impact on cardiovascular mortality, making several calculations based on population mortality rates and dietary information.

They concluded that “The estimated mortality contribution attributable to CAP was approximately 9800 additional CHD deaths and 3000 additional stroke deaths within the EU ….” The authors believe that “Reducing saturated fat consumption by 1 per cent and increasing monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat by 0.5 per cent each would lower blood cholesterol levels by approximately 0.06 mmol/l, resulting in approximately 9800 fewer coronary heart disease deaths and 3000 fewer stroke deaths each year.” CAP is to blame for cardiovascular diseases and stroke deaths. The authors believe that “changes in CAP subsides would particularly benefit France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK.”

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