Day 016 - 22 Jul 94 - Page 51
1 A. Oh, yes.
2 Q. If something is withdrawn it is then banned, obviously?
A. Oh, yes, well, I mean, presumably, in that case new
3 information has become available and so a decision has
been made that it would be better to be safe than sorry.
4
Q. Right.
5
MR. JUSTICE BELL: Have you any more about Amaranth?
6
MS. STEEL: I am trying to keep it short. (To the witness):
7 With sunset yellow, is it right that allergic reactions
occur quite frequently or this is one of the ones where
8 allergic reactions are more frequent?
A. I am not sure about this. I think it may be that
9 there have been some instances with it, yes, but I should
explain that there are certain additives where it has been
10 alleged that there are allergic reactions or, you know,
children may be hyperactive. But if there is sound
11 evidence, then this will be taken into consideration in
reaching a decision on it by the regulatory authorities.
12
Q. What do you feel about the observations of parents of
13 hyperactive children, if they feel it is making a
difference to their child's behaviour or health? Do you
14 think that is something that should be taken seriously?
A. I do, yes, but of course the regulatory authorities
15 have the problem of actually getting hard evidence on
that, and the fact that a mother may happen to think that
16 her child is allergic or reacts adversely in some way to
an additive cannot really be taken as evidence on that.
17
Q. But if you say, you know, it might be difficult to ban
18 something on those grounds, whatever, would it not be
fairly easy for -- to give an example, could not
19 McDonald's put a sign in its restaurants which products
have which additives and make sure it is prominently
20 displayed so that people who are concerned about that sort
of thing can make sure they avoid it?
21 A. Of course, all that information is provided in the
publicly available booklets. I mean, I am pretty sure
22 that if there is an individual or a mother who is
concerned about her child because of the history of that
23 child, then he or she will take the trouble to find out
about it.
24
Q. Right.
25 A. I mean, there is no attempt on the part of McDonald's,
as I understand it, to hide that information ---
26
Q. No, but if -----
27 A. -- not to give it.
28 Q. There are two points really: Sometimes the book, the
pamphlet, is not always available in stores, so people
29 would get a problem with that; then at other times, if
people are in a hurry and they have to look through a big,
30 long leaflet, that might be difficult for them, might it
not?
