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.

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