Day 100 - 09 Mar 95 - Page 46
1 finished products, their hamburger patties through the
2 system. I am not 100 per cent sure whether that refers to
3 them checking their own systems to able to trace that, or
4 whether that refers to the additional traceability which is
5 now afforded, which traces the meat back into the abattoirs
6 and from the carcass tags. That previously was not
7 available. It has been introduced nationally. I am not
8 totally sure which one of those two things it is referring
9 to, actually.
10
11 Q. Is it not right, actually, that at the time of the Preston
12 incident, if you had a batch of burgers in a store you were
13 not able to check exactly where they came from?
14 A. That is not quite true. If we have the code off of the
15 case -- each case is dated with a "best before date" and a
16 production code -- if we are given that code, we can trace
17 very accurately what the raw materials were that made those
18 burgers.
19
20 The problem arose, I believe, in the Preston incident, that
21 nobody was aware of a problem until several days after the
22 event, and by that time the product that was in use had
23 gone through the system and there was no record of what was
24 being used on that particular day.
25
26 Q. You do not keep records of which batches actually get used
27 then?
28 A. In the restaurant?
29
30 Q. Yes.
31 A. No, we do not keep records of that nature.
32
33 Q. So once they are eaten and the box has gone, you have no
34 record of where they have come from?
35 A. Correct.
36
37 Q. Just one other thing on this list: The MacFact card that
38 was referred to, there was one dated 1989 and one dated
39 1990 and they said 36 checks.
40 A. Yes.
41
42 Q. Do you know which two checks were introduced around that
43 time ---
44 A. I think -----
45
46 Q. -- out of those 38?
47 A. No, I do not. I am sorry.
48
49 Q. You do not know?
50
51 MR. MORRIS: You said you take your specifications, in general,
52 from America?
53 A. Yes.
54
55 Q. They set the kind of standards. So, the specification you
56 have now about fat content -- we were looking at this
57 yesterday -- which was for the regular hamburger,
58 20 per cent plus or minus one per cent; is that correct?
59 A. Yes.
60
