Day 014 - 20 Jul 94 - Page 51
1 Q. You do not need to bother about that. That is just for
his Lordship's note. Those additives, McDonald's use of
2 which I would have to say, is criticised, are sunset
yellow, amaranth, sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate,
3 butylated hydroxyanisole -- have I got the pronunciation
right?
4 A. BHA.
5 Q. Let us call it BHA. Butylated hydroxytoluene?
A. Or BHT.
6
Q. Carrageenan which sounds very Celtic -- is it?
7 A. I think they are from seaweed.
8 Q. Monosodium glutamate, MSG and potassium bromate. Can
I ask you some general questions about additives first?
9 Into what different categories do these kinds of additives
fall? What uses are they put in the manufacture of food?
10 A. There is a whole range -- I can give you some
examples. They are used as preservatives which I think is
11 self-explanatory. Clearly, it is important that food
should be preserved both from the point of view of the
12 keeping quality and also, and probably just as important,
to prevent the development of -- well, the growth and
13 development of micro organisms that could be dangerous,
toxic, to humans.
14
Q. Pause there so that we can use a dramatic example. What
15 is clostridium botulinum?
A. It is a pathogenic bacterium which causes botulism
16 which can be fatal.
17 Q. What agent by way of food additive is used to control the
occurrence of clostridium botulinum in food?
18 A. Well, nitrites and nitrates are often used in this
context.
19
Q. I am going to jump ahead of myself just to pursue this
20 down to the end of the road. Is the quantity of nitrate
or nitrite in food controlled by authority?
21 A. Yes, it is.
22 Q. By which authorities?
A. Well, there are regulations issued by the government
23 of this country and, of course, currently these
regulations are being subsumed by European legislation,
24 but there are limits laid down -- well, first of all,
there are controls on which additives can actually be
25 used. Secondly, there may be controls on the amount of
the additive which can be used. Thirdly, there may be
26 controls on which foods any particular additive can be
used in. These are developed on the basis of advice which
27 the government and the European Commission would be given
by specialist committee on toxology.
28
Q. Are these specialist committees formed of advocates for
29 the foods industry or the chemical industry?
A. They would be drawn from a range of sources, some
30 would be from academia, some would be from research, some
might well be from the food industry.
