Day 039 - 20 Oct 94 - Page 29
1 BHA, indeed, my reference is 53 and 54.
2
3 Q. All I am saying, as Mr. Morris asked you questions, if you
4 want to draw my attention to other direct human evidence
5 apart from those matters I have just referred to, please
6 do.
7 A. May I now do that other than in the context of a
8 question?
9
10 MR. MORRIS: I have not asked a question yet.
11
12 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It is up to Mr. Morris.
13
14 MR. MORRIS: Do you want to go into it in the way you want to?
15 A. The only observation I thought worth making at this
16 stage on direct evidence of adverse effects in humans is
17 that the papers I have cited here deal primarily with
18 dermitological effects, but amongst the reports received by
19 the Hyperactive Children Support Group there are frequent
20 references to BHA and BHT and, unlike nitrate or nitrite,
21 it is much more straightforward to provide clear evidence
22 that these compounds are capable of triggering
23 hyperactivity, particularly as many manufacturers responded
24 to criticisms of BHA and BHT in the late 80s by examining
25 their use of these materials. They concluded that in many
26 cases they did not need to use BHA and BHT as an additive
27 in their frying oils to prevent rancidity. If they had
28 appropriate control of stock, of frying materials,
29 particularly of the frying oils, they could do without it.
30
31 Consequently, what happened is, from about 1988 onwards, it
32 became relatively straightforward to obtain products like
33 crisps that were fried in oils that did not contain BHA and
34 BHT. So, you had BHA and BHT free crisps as well as
35 products that did contain them, and that made it much more
36 straightforward for parents to test whether or not their
37 children reacted adversely to those particular compounds,
38 since that would be the only difference between competing
39 crisp products.
40
41 Q. Right. Just something that has crossed my mind there; the
42 lack of need for BHA and BHT would be particularly obvious
43 if it was a fast moving line, would it?
44 A. Yes, BHA and BHT are used to inhibit and slow down the
45 rate at which oils and fats oxidize and become rancid.
46 Now, if you use in your frying or cooking the oldest oil
47 from your stock and have proper stock control and change
48 the frying oils before they become rancid, then you can
49 substantially reduce and, indeed, in many cases, eliminate
50 any reliance on those antioxidants.
51
52 When I first made that argument in the mid-80s, I was told
53 that it was vital to continue using antioxidants BHA and
54 BHT because rancid oils are themselves toxic. When
55 I investigated that matter I came to the conclusion that
56 rancid oils may indeed be toxic, but they become
57 unpalatable long before they become toxic. Therefore,
58 I did not find the argument for the use of BHA and BHT
59 convincing.
60
