Day 016 - 22 Jul 94 - Page 45


     
     1
              Now, clearly, if you achieve a 10 per cent improvement in
     2        that, then you make a big improvement in the health of the
              nation.  If you achieve a 10 per cent improvement, where
     3        you have an infinitesimal risk, then the net effect is
              negligible.
     4
         Q.   Part of that improvement might be gained, might it not, if
     5        people stopped promoting foods that were unhealthy?
              A.  Yes, well, we are back to a different part of the
     6        equation which deals with the recommendations on fat and
              unsaturated fat which we have discussed fairly
     7        exhaustively, I think.
 
     8   Q.   We will not go back to that right now.
              A.  OK.
     9
         Q.   I do not know whether this matters, but on page 40, going
    10        on from page 40, there are various criteria listed, only
              to say that there is not very much detail there.  We do
    11        not actually know why they rank them in that way.  So I do
              not know whether -----
    12        A.  All I am doing there is just giving the views of other
              people that -----
    13
         MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Do not enlarge on that then unless ......
    14
         MS. STEEL:  My main concern is that if any great reliance is
    15        placed on that, that we should see the papers.
 
    16   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  It does not seem as if there is.
 
    17   MS. STEEL:  You go on to quote, starting at the bottom of page
              64, Dr. Wodicka, explaining why he put food additives at
    18        the bottom of the list.  At the last sentence you say:
               "At some point in time the regulatory agencies had to be
    19        convinced that the substance was harmless under the
              conditions of use or it would not be permitted in food
    20        supply"?
              A.  Yes.
    21
         Q.   Is that actually true?
    22        A.  Well, I suppose in absolute terms it is not strictly
              accurate because it is pretty well impossible to
    23        demonstrate that a particular substance will never be
              shown to be harmless under any circumstances.
    24
         Q.   No, but also to put it a bit stronger than that -- well,
    25        for example, some additives that are allowed in some
              countries are banned in other countries, are they not? 
    26        A.  Yes, but what you have to bear in mind is that there 
              may well be differences between the groups of 
    27        toxicologists and other scientists looking at it in terms
              of the interpretation of the data but, probably more
    28        importantly, there are different food patterns between
              different countries.  Therefore, the actual additives that
    29        are in use can vary quite considerably from one country to
              another.
    30
         Q.   But they also can be convinced if something was harmless

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