Day 016 - 22 Jul 94 - Page 52
1 A. I am sure if a person is aware they may have a
problem, or the mother of a child is aware they may have
2 problem, then they will think this through and they will
take steps well in advance. I mean, if you have got that
3 kind of condition -- again, I must emphasise, that people
who do suffer from these kind of conditions, whether they
4 react to an additive or to a food, in many cases they also
have problems with normal foods, such as milk or eggs, and
5 so they will have gone to a lot of trouble to find out
just exactly what they can eat. A person with that kind
6 of history is not suddenly going to wander into a
McDonald's and try a new product just like that -- believe
7 you me.
8 Q. Even if, say, somebody who is fairly young who might
think: "I fancy a quick shake"?
9 A. The reality is they will know if they have that
problem and they will take precautions accordingly. In
10 fact, it really is a lot easier in something like
McDonald's because of the fact that they are standard
11 items and the information is readily available. Believe
you me, it is a different problem altogether if they go
12 into a restaurant where they cannot be sure what are the
ingredients used from day-to-day, from week-to-week, in
13 the products that are available. So, in that sense, it
would be probably a lot easier for them to go to
14 McDonald's.
15 Q. Do people always know their hyperactivity might be
triggered by something like this?
16 A. I think usually they become aware of it pretty early
on in their lifetime.
17
Q. But do you not think it would be helpful to put up a sign,
18 just drawing certain of these additives to people's
attention?
19 A. Again it falls outside my area of knowledge in
McDonald's, but I am not aware that there have ever been
20 problems with individuals who suffer from this kind of
condition going into McDonald's. As I say, I would have
21 thought it would be relatively easy for them to find out
in advance.
22
Q. Going on to BHT, there is concern over this additive, is
23 there not?
A. Not amongst the regulatory authorities, to my
24 knowledge.
25 Q. What about in the USA?
A. Again, not that I am aware of, and again I know that
26 Professor Walker has dealt in detail with this additive
and, to the best of my knowledge, there are no serious
27 concerns about it.
28 Q. Were you aware that McDonald's has stopped using BHT in
the United States -- they had in 1985 or 1986 anyway?
29 A. No, I was not.
30 Q. So you do not know why that might be?
A. I mean, if they were not using it, if they stopped
