Day 039 - 20 Oct 94 - Page 33
1 A. Yes, I do. That is where I distinguish preservatives
2 from all other additives. Preservatives clearly have a
3 function to play in the protection to public health.
4 Bacterial food poisoning can be very unpleasant. It can be
5 seriously debilitating. It can even be fatal. Therefore,
6 a case can be made saying that we need preservatives;
7 whereas I have yet to see any evidence to suggest that
8 antioxidants are needed. I am persuaded that manufacturers
9 and retailers find antioxidants useful, but I do not think
10 they are necessary.
11
12 Q. To prolong shelf-life.
13 A. To prolong shelf-life, and, therefore, if I were an
14 official policy adviser or an official policy maker,
15 I would deem it prudent to withdraw BHA unless and until
16 convincing evidence of safety becomes available.
17
18 MR. MORRIS: That applies to BHT as well?
19 A. It does indeed.
20
21 Q. Do we know that would be particularly -- OK, we will leave
22 it at that. Is there any need to look at any further
23 references? All I am concerned on this is that we do not
24 miss out a particular reference.
25
26 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What you are being asked is, is there a
27 reference we should look at which might cast some
28 particular light on the topic? That is a general
29 question. While we are on BHA and BHT, is there some
30 particular reference you should refer to, and is there any
31 other reference other than the ones you have footnoted to
32 the passages I referred you to which might give us some
33 guide to direct human evidence? That is the more specific
34 question.
35 A. OK. On the latter question, I know of no other
36 references. On the former one, I place particular weight
37 upon the references to the studies which have indicated
38 that BHA and, for that matter, BHT appear to be animal
39 carcinogens at a range of doses in a range of species.
40
41 Q. You have stressed that in your comments on both of them.
42
43 MR. MORRIS: Is there a need to look at those studies? I mean,
44 I am in the hands of the court here. Do we want to look at
45 one of them?
46
47 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No, I think I must leave it to you. You
48 clearly do not have it in mind that I must look at this
49 reference or that reference. I am not going to stop you
50 asking Dr. Millstone, but you have asked him more than once
51 now. I will ask him again: Is there some particular
52 reference we should not miss, Dr. Millstone, on
53 carcinogenicity?
54 A. I think if particular care were to be taken in the
55 forms of time and scrutinising these references, I would
56 emphasise the paper by Professor Ito and his colleagues,
57 which I have given as footnote 46. There are, in fact, two
58 papers there both from the Japanese -- sorry, one from the
59 Japanese Journal of Cancer Research and the Journal of the
60 National Cancer Institute.
