Day 294 - 05 Nov 96 - Page 17
1 MR. MORRIS: Yes, and in particular, also, not only whether it
2 is foolproof but whether the lapses or problems regarding
3 that system are properly documented so that we could see
4 the reality in some of the statistics that have been
5 supplied to us. So I agree they are peripheral, but that
6 they may be instructive -- if that is the word -- they may
7 be pointers to something. I don't mean complaints are
8 peripheral, I mean the bit of plastic itself, whether that
9 would cause harm to a person is open to debate. We did not
10 hear much evidence on that, so it has become peripheral.
11
12 But the fact of it being there is not peripheral, and the
13 fact that we do not believe that these incidents are
14 properly recorded is relevant to the number of incidents
15 that there are in reality likely to be of undercooked
16 Mcburgers and food poisoning at McDonald's. For example,
17 that Mr. Atherton stated it was slightly more for chicken,
18 mostly concerning pieces of bone, so the impression is
19 given that most of the official complaints that do make it
20 through to head office, or whatever, regional office, are
21 when there is actually a piece of something in an item that
22 has been sold, and that complaints of undercooking or food
23 poisoning are generally not taken seriously. Obviously, we
24 rely on our witnesses for that as well.
25
26 Now, in terms of worst case scenario, not only is that
27 proven with the Preston incident there have been several
28 occasions when the authorities have taken action against
29 McDonald's for selling raw or undercooked meat products,
30 including an incident in November 1994 when a three year
31 old girl was served undercooked chicken McNuggets
32 containing salmonella which were declared by local health
33 officials as unfit for human consumption. There were two
34 or three more similar, which will be handed over tomorrow,
35 the references for those. I think they are the subject of
36 formal admissions from McDonald's as well, some of them.
37
38 So the court also has heard about the company now admitting
39 responsibility for a serious food poisoning outbreak in
40 Preston in 1991 when several customers were hospitalised as
41 a result of eating undercooked burgers contaminated by
42 potentially deadly E.Coli, O157H bacteria. They have also
43 admitted responsibility, effectively, for a similar
44 outbreak in 1982 in the USA caused by the same type of
45 bacteria, which affected at least 47 people in Oregon and
46 Michigan.
47
48 So here we have, if you like, both Plaintiffs, both bang to
49 rights for serious incidents which they did not want to
50 admit responsibility for but, because of this case, they
51 have had to admit responsibility. It does show, the fact
52 they did not want to admit responsibility is a pointer to
53 how seriously in fact they do take this issue.
54
55 Now, regarding the undercooking of burgers in McDonald's
56 stores, we say that not only is the system clearly fragile
57 because of the very tight corners, very precarious systems
58 that rely on not having any human error in the operation,
59 but that on top of that there are inbuilt,
60 institutionalised, serious problems as regards this
