Day 244 - 03 May 96 - Page 22
1 I am happy with that. Is there anything that the judge
2 would you like to clarify?
3
4 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You must take your own course. What I will
5 do is I will make the comment so you are aware of what is
6 troubling me, and then I will have the 5-minute break and
7 you can carry on.
8
9 MR. MORRIS: I think I know what it is.
10
11 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It is the second sentence in the paragraph:
12
13 "As to their potential harm. No specific links between
14 the consumption of pesticide residues at the levels which
15 would be found in McDonald's food and harm to public health
16 have been proven".
17
18 Then on page 3:
19
20 "It is thus my view that any exposure to OP residues is
21 undesirable in that discharge may be caused, the damage
22 rather than the toxins being cumulative. In that
23 McDonald's food may well have detectable residues of OPs,
24 consumption of such foods might be considered undesirable."
25
26 It may be that I have misunderstood Dr. North's evidence,
27 I will read the transcript of it carefully again in due
28 course, but there seemed to me to be an inconsistency
29 there. What I will do is I will rise for 5 minutes and if
30 you want to ask him more about it, please do so, and then
31 you can deal with the note on campylobacter.
32
33 (Short adjournment)
34
35 MR. MORRIS: Dr. North, you have talked about the inadequacies
36 of the official monitoring system, and then you say in the
37 first paragraph that the judge referred to, "harm to public
38 health has not been proven". Can you just explain what you
39 meant there?
40 A. I think we are dealing with slightly clumsy phrasing.
41 Nobody has gone out specifically to do a study on
42 McDonald's produce to say that if you eat X number of
43 burgers it will cause you damage. On the other hand, there
44 are numerous studies on the effects, long-term effects, of
45 pesticide residues on mammalian systems.
46
47 Now, if you then link the two, if you say that detectable
48 residues are likely to be found in McDonald's foods, and
49 that you say long-term term exposure to those residues is
50 likely to do harm, then it is reasonable to conclude that
51 long-term term exposure to McDonald's foods carries with it
52 a probability of harm.
53
54 Q. You have said in the second paragraph that the judge
55 referred to which is on page 2?
56 A. Sorry, the second paragraph?
57
58 Q. Yes, just wait ----
59 A. I beg your pardon.
60
