Day 038 - 19 Oct 94 - Page 26
1 A. That will be at issue here are amongst those suspected
2 of provoking acute reactions of intolerance.
3
4 Q. I only ask the question because I think I am going to need
5 some help at some stage, since all (or nearly all) these
6 additives have been very widely used for a very long period
7 of time, as to what actual evidence we do have of adverse
8 reaction and, if so, what adverse reaction to them.
9
10 MS. STEEL: We were going to come on to the specifics anyway.
11
12 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Very well.
13
14 MS. STEEL: I think Professor Walker claimed that the problems
15 of intolerance such as allergic reactions are not
16 life-threatening; is that something you would agree with?
17 A. Not stated quite as baldly as that. I think one can
18 fairly say that many of them are not life-threatening.
19 Eczema skin eruption may be unpleasant and itchy, but is
20 not in itself life-threatening. I would not, however,
21 agree that intolerant reactions are never
22 life-threatening. I can think of a very small number of
23 cases where I believe an intolerant reaction has been or
24 may have been life-threatening. I am thinking at the
25 moment in particular of a very sad case.
26
27 MR. JUSTICE BELL: When you say "intolerant reactions", do you
28 mean reactions which do not affect -- cannot be shown to
29 affect the immune system?
30 A. No, that is not quite how I use the term. Effects that
31 can be shown to affect the immune system are called
32 allergic reactions, but intolerant reactions are a slightly
33 broader categorisation, including allergic reactions and
34 other acute reactions not mediated ----
35
36 Q. Intolerance is an omnibus term, is it?
37 A. Yes, including allergic reactions, which is a slightly
38 broader categorisation.
39
40 Q. You got as far as saying: "I would not, however, agree
41 that intolerant reactions are never life-threatening"; you
42 could think of a very small number of cases?
43 A. Yes. There was a tragic case a year or two ago of a
44 young boy whose name, I believe, was Michael Beddows. He
45 had been identified by his parents and his doctors as
46 suffering acute hyperactive reaction to some food
47 additives, and his diet was under control and he was
48 behaving normally. But on one occasion he was
49 inadvertently given some sweets containing some artificial
50 colours and, I believe, included Amaranth. Quite
51 uncharacteristically the boy then ran out in the road and
52 was knocked over and killed.
53
54 Certainly at the inquest I know his parents claimed that
55 consumption of those additives, particularly the
56 colourings, were a significant contributory factor to their
57 son's death.
58
59 I am also aware of one or two cases where people have
60 reported, what I take to be strong circumstantial evidence,
