Day 016 - 22 Jul 94 - Page 62


     
     1        look at monosodium glutamate in your pleading or the
              extract, if you have it there, it is on page 40, "... may
     2        cause heart palpitations, headaches, nausea, weakness of
              upper limbs, pains in neck, and symptoms similar to
     3        migraine".  Then you say it is not permitted in food for
              babies or young children.
     4
              If you want to put those matters to this witness,
     5        I suggest you do so because that is much more direct than
              arguing about whether the SCF should have taken a
     6        different view or has approached it from the wrong aspect,
              or which you are perfectly entitled to -- in fact, you
     7        have been invited to do -- take it up with Professor
              Walker.
     8
         MS. STEEL:   We were leaving that for Professor Walker.
     9
         MR. JUSTICE BELL:  If the point of this cross-examination is
    10        that you are going to take up monosodium glutamate with
              Professor Walker, what you just want to put is that the
    11        SCF takes a wrong attitude towards assessing risk, if any,
              of those matters.  Just put that to Professor Wheelock
    12        and, hopefully, one way or another he will give a short
              answer to it.
    13
         MS. STEEL:  That is not actually the be all and end all.
    14        Professor Wheelock is here to talk about McDonald's use of
              additives as well.  I think we were asking about
    15        McDonald's use of this product.
 
    16   MR. MORRIS:  Yes.  I think the difference is that we accept
              that we want to concentrate on additives with Professor
    17        Walker.  The advantage of cross-examining Mr. Wheelock on
              it is that he is an adviser to McDonald's, he is their
    18        main or only nutritional adviser, and to see the kind of
              advice he has given to the company.
    19
         MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Where does that take you?
    20
         MR. MORRIS:  To see if they are taking the concerns seriously;
    21        are they ahead of the regulatory bodies; are they behind
              them?
    22
         MS. STEEL:  Are McDonald's themselves giving the benefit of the
    23        doubt to the consumer?
 
    24   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I am not sure I see where that takes you in
              relation to your pleading of justification.
    25
         MR. MORRIS:  Maybe we should move on.  We have nearly finished 
    26        additives. 
  
    27   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I do not think you are losing anything.
              I know you have spent time talking about it now.  If I
    28        honestly thought you were losing anything by it, then
              I would say "carry on".  But I can see what is on page 13
    29        and 14.  They are hard and fast allegations.  That is
              really what you ought to concentrate on.
    30
         MS. STEEL:  I think it is important not to restrict our case to

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