Day 038 - 19 Oct 94 - Page 27
1 that they have had epileptic fits or epileptic type
2 fits, seizures, triggered by the consumption of food
3 additives. In that case artificial sweeteners and not
4 compounds are in dispute here. But in those cases, well,
5 in one case a woman fell over by a bus stop and cracked her
6 skull on the pavement and I count that as -----
7
8 Q. So indirectly you would say -----
9 A. -- as a life-threatening acute reaction, but amongst the
10 acute reactions the life-threatening ones are the most
11 rare.
12
13 MS. STEEL: Right.
14
15 MR. JUSTICE BELL: There may be more to that than appears. You
16 say among the acute reactions, that is the ones which arise
17 pretty quickly after ingestion ----?
18 A. Yes, within a few minutes or hours.
19
20 Q. -- of whatever it may be. Was your question meant to limit
21 it to acute reactions as opposed to chronic ones, that is,
22 ones which may last and build up over a period of time?
23
24 MS. STEEL: I cannot remember what I asked now.
25 A. I think it was a question about acute reaction.
26
27 MR. MORRIS: Do you want to give an answer relevant to chronic
28 reactions?
29 A. Yes, I would be prepared to do that.
30
31 MR. JUSTICE BELL: The question was related to whether
32 intolerances are never life-threatening. So, I did not
33 understand it to be limited to an intolerance which is
34 acute as opposed to chronic?
35 A. Right. I thought I was answering the question which
36 I was being invited to comment on, a remark made by
37 Professor Walker. My recollection, on reading his
38 evidence, was that he made that remark in the context of
39 referring to acute reactions. That is why I answered in
40 that way. But I am prepared to respond to the question
41 asked of me in respect of long-term chronic reaction.
42 Indeed, I would say that some of the evidence that leads me
43 to doubt the safety, the long-term safety, of some of the
44 additives we shall be discussing indicates that the effects
45 which they might cause in the long run might, indeed, in
46 some cases be life-threatening. That is why their safety
47 is in doubt.
48
49 Q. Can you give me an example?
50 A. Butylated hydroxy anisole, BHA, or E320, is one of the
51 compounds which has been shown to cause cancer in at least
52 two species of laboratory animals. If it were to cause
53 cancer in humans, that is life-threatening.
54
55 Q. No. The line I was on and I thought -- I may be wrong --
56 that Ms. Steel was on was intolerances in men and women.
57
58 MS. STEEL: I think it is because Mr. Morris asked a separate
59 question about chronic reactions.
60
