Day 038 - 19 Oct 94 - Page 42


     
     1        to something much more rigorous (which is often dismissed
     2        as being merely anecdotal), namely, what I
     3        would characterise as strong circumstantial evidence.
     4
     5        So that, for instance, I am familiar with quite a few cases
     6        where people have, by modifying their own diet or their
     7        children's diets, come to the conclusion that they or their
     8        children do react adversely to a compound, even though it
     9        has not been established with a double-blind challenge, but
    10        then they have experienced something close to a
    11        double-blind challenge where, for instance, unexpectedly
    12        for the first time for a long period symptoms erupt and
    13        they then often when out at somebody's home or in a
    14        catering establishment find what was in the food -----
    15
    16   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Quite frankly, I do not think a general
    17        statement like that is going to help me.  What I wanted to
    18        do is -- you understand perfectly well -- I need it applied
    19        to a specific compound if it is so, and some idea of how
    20        often it happens; you know, is it a truly exceptional case
    21        or is it someone eating McDonald's food genuinely ought to
    22        be concerned about.
    23
    24   MR. RAMPTON:  My Lord, can I say before that happens (and
    25        I heartily accord with that approach, if I may respectfully
    26        say so) if there be documentary material, I do not call it
    27        evidence, to support such assertions as Dr. Millstone may
    28        or may not make them, then I should be grateful to be told
    29        where in the bundles I find them and if I do not, why not,
    30        and where they are to be found.
    31
    32   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes, I appreciate that.  I think, Mr. Morris,
    33        if you or Ms. Steel had not asked it and Mr. Rampton had
    34        not, I probably would and, no doubt, it would have come out
    35        then.  But let us see how we go on it.
    36
    37   MR. MORRIS:  This is my last question before we move on.
    38        (To the witness):  What awareness do you have of the
    39        anecdotal evidence to do with allergies?
    40        A.  It is difficult to know precisely how I can
    41        characterise it, but what I would say is this:  I have
    42        worked fairly closely with the Hyperactive Children Support
    43        Group since the late 1970s/early 1980s and have inspected
    44        some of their files and some of their records, and have
    45        some sense of the extent of the materials which they
    46        possess.  I started collecting evidence in 1985 and
    47        onwards.
    48
    49        I had not gone out of my way to gather evidence of acute
    50        adverse reactions other than a documentary kind but, 
    51        rather, because I am the author of works on food additives, 
    52        I frequently receive letters and calls at work reporting 
    53        these.  They typically take the form of an anxious parent
    54        or partner asking me whether a particular food or additive
    55        might be responsible for the symptom that their child or
    56        member of their family seems to be suffering with.
    57
    58        I suppose that, the best part of nine or 10 years now,
    59        I probably have received phone calls or letters, on
    60        average, about ten of those a month.  What that represents

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