Day 038 - 19 Oct 94 - Page 42
1 to something much more rigorous (which is often dismissed
2 as being merely anecdotal), namely, what I
3 would characterise as strong circumstantial evidence.
4
5 So that, for instance, I am familiar with quite a few cases
6 where people have, by modifying their own diet or their
7 children's diets, come to the conclusion that they or their
8 children do react adversely to a compound, even though it
9 has not been established with a double-blind challenge, but
10 then they have experienced something close to a
11 double-blind challenge where, for instance, unexpectedly
12 for the first time for a long period symptoms erupt and
13 they then often when out at somebody's home or in a
14 catering establishment find what was in the food -----
15
16 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Quite frankly, I do not think a general
17 statement like that is going to help me. What I wanted to
18 do is -- you understand perfectly well -- I need it applied
19 to a specific compound if it is so, and some idea of how
20 often it happens; you know, is it a truly exceptional case
21 or is it someone eating McDonald's food genuinely ought to
22 be concerned about.
23
24 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, can I say before that happens (and
25 I heartily accord with that approach, if I may respectfully
26 say so) if there be documentary material, I do not call it
27 evidence, to support such assertions as Dr. Millstone may
28 or may not make them, then I should be grateful to be told
29 where in the bundles I find them and if I do not, why not,
30 and where they are to be found.
31
32 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, I appreciate that. I think, Mr. Morris,
33 if you or Ms. Steel had not asked it and Mr. Rampton had
34 not, I probably would and, no doubt, it would have come out
35 then. But let us see how we go on it.
36
37 MR. MORRIS: This is my last question before we move on.
38 (To the witness): What awareness do you have of the
39 anecdotal evidence to do with allergies?
40 A. It is difficult to know precisely how I can
41 characterise it, but what I would say is this: I have
42 worked fairly closely with the Hyperactive Children Support
43 Group since the late 1970s/early 1980s and have inspected
44 some of their files and some of their records, and have
45 some sense of the extent of the materials which they
46 possess. I started collecting evidence in 1985 and
47 onwards.
48
49 I had not gone out of my way to gather evidence of acute
50 adverse reactions other than a documentary kind but,
51 rather, because I am the author of works on food additives,
52 I frequently receive letters and calls at work reporting
53 these. They typically take the form of an anxious parent
54 or partner asking me whether a particular food or additive
55 might be responsible for the symptom that their child or
56 member of their family seems to be suffering with.
57
58 I suppose that, the best part of nine or 10 years now,
59 I probably have received phone calls or letters, on
60 average, about ten of those a month. What that represents
