Day 039 - 20 Oct 94 - Page 20
1 of a broad blanket ban on azo-dyes. All azo-dyes are
2 banned as a group in Norway. I believe by reference to the
3 evidence concerning intolerance, acute intolerance, and by
4 reference to the fact that there is deemed to be no need
5 for them, and I have no information on the question of
6 whether or not the Norwegian authorities have chosen to
7 scrutinize the carcinogenicity evidence on a compound which
8 they are not going to permit for other reasons. What the
9 grounds are in Yugoslavia, I have no information.
10
11 Q. Austria?
12 A. Again, I have no information on that. All I have is
13 lists of documents listing what compounds are permitted and
14 banned in which countries. When I last checked the most
15 up-to-date version I had, Amaranth was excluded from the
16 Austrian list.
17
18 Q. So your general verdict on Amaranth then?
19 A. My general verdict is that it is a compound for which
20 there is no clear need; doubts about its safety remain; the
21 evidence that has subsequently been produced does not
22 satisfy me. But, for example, as I observed towards the
23 end of my comments on Amaranth, even the Scientific
24 Committee for Food acknowledge they could not actually
25 establish a no-effect level, yet were willing to postulate
26 one than rather discover one experimentally and nonetheless
27 set an ADI. I do not think that is a sensible way to
28 proceed. Therefore, I think it is prudent to avoid it,
29 pending the results of any further studies that might
30 emerge.
31
32 Q. When you say "prudent to avoid it", do you mean it should
33 not be put in food or just that people should individually
34 choose?
35 A. This is a policy question rather than a scientific
36 question.
37
38 Q. What is your view?
39 A. My personal view is that it is unnecessary and
40 undesirable to take gratuitous risks with public health.
41 If I was charged with advising a minister or, even less
42 plausibly, in the position of being a minister, my advice
43 or decision would be not to permit it.
44
45 Q. OK. If we can move on to nitrates and nitrites. Just
46 before we leave Amaranth, Professor Walker said that the
47 anecdotal evidence is much the same for Amaranth as Sunset
48 Yellow; would you agree with that?
49 A. It is similar in kind but larger in quantity. Far
50 greater quantities of Amaranth have been incorporated into
51 the food supply for far longer periods than is true in
52 respect of Sunset Yellow; and also Amaranth is used in a
53 much wider range of products. Sunset Yellow is more or
54 less confined to products which have, as it were, orange
55 type of colour and flavour; whereas Amaranth is used far
56 more widely in a range of red and purple products, far more
57 widely in sweets and soft drinks and, consequently,
58 Amaranth is cited far more frequently in reports received
59 by organisations such as the Hyperactive Children Support
60 Group than is the case for Sunset Yellow.
