Day 106 - 23 Mar 95 - Page 06

     
     1        define the terms, and it can be quite important.  If you
     2        like to think in terms of a large group of diseases which
     3        are conveyed to the human being by food, those are
     4        generally termed as food-borne diseases.  Within that
     5        larger group, there is a specific smaller group of diseases
     6        which are defined specifically as food poisoning.
     7
     8        The distinctions can be to an extent arbitrary, but the
     9        general specific identifier for food poisoning is that a
    10        large dose of the micro-organism concerned or its toxin is
    11        required to cause illness.  In general, the incubation
    12        period is short, and again in general the symptoms tend to
    13        be confined to the classic gastroenteritis, i.e. diarrhoea
    14        vomiting, stomach pains and associated disorders.
    15
    16        Now, the distinction is quite important in terms of
    17        control, because it is generally taken that the initial
    18        dose in foods tend to be small and, therefore, a
    19        prerequisite for food poisoning is usually considered to be
    20        multiplication of the organism within the food once it is
         contaminated, as distinct from the separate classic
    22        food-borne diseases which are generally -- and I do stress
    23        generally -- low dose do not require multiplication in
    24        food, and can give a variety of illness effects, classic
    25        diseases, can include things like typhoid, cholera,
    26        brucellosis and campylobacter enteritis.
    27
    28   MR. MORRIS:  Does that also apply for E.coli 0157?
    29        A.  E.coli would be better classified as a food-borne
    30        disease.  It is not a classic food poisoning in the sense
    31        that it is almost certainly a low dose infection, i.e. does
    32        not need multiplication within the food.
    33
    34   Q.   So the whole thing is like a very grey area in terms of
    35        scientific definition?
    36        A.  It is the classic philosophical argument, how many
    37        angels can dance on the tip of a needle, whatever; it tends
    38        towards the arbitrary at times.
    39
    40   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  So you are putting typhoid, campylobacter and
         E.coli in the second category?
    42        A.  In the major category of food-borne diseases; whereas
    43        things like salmonella -----
    44
    45   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  But not within the smaller food poisoning
    46        category?
    47        A.  Quite so.
    48
    49   Q.   Just pause a minute, please.  Which side does salmonella
    50        come in? 
    51        A.  Salmonella is the classic food poisoning. 
    52 
    53   MR. MORRIS:  But leaving aside the scientific debate and
    54        specifications, would it be fair to say that food poisoning
    55        colloquially describes that whole area of food-borne
    56        disease carried to humans?
    57        A.  In common parlance, the term "food poisoning" is used
    58        more than "food-borne".
    59
    60   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I think Mr. Morris has got anxious that some