Day 294 - 05 Nov 96 - Page 25
1 I think the implication of having, as we have heard,
2 chicken bones and bits of plastic in the burgers is that
3 the food does not get properly cooked if there are foreign
4 objects in it. I mean, obviously if there is a foreign
5 object in it, a person is more likely to notice, but there
6 is an undercooking issue of having foreign bodies in food.
7 That is one of the reasons that the laws are, we believe,
8 are quite strict on the foreign bodies in foods in these
9 kind of products, because it is not just that you might
10 choke or something, but it is also an undercooking
11 problem.
12
13 And one further point I want to make generally is that some
14 people are particularly vulnerable in our society, young
15 people, pregnant people, old and immuno compromised people,
16 who, apart from the general risk that the population
17 obviously have with these kind of products, would have
18 additional risks on top. I think that is accepted whenever
19 that came up in evidence.
20
21 On the subject of hormones, we have heard how the use of
22 hormone growth promoters was pretty much normal in Europe
23 until it was banded by the EC, and I think Mr. Bowes said
24 his company had used growth promoters such as Clembuterol
25 until, quote, about five years ago when they were banned.
26 He admitted that until that time, quote, it was fairly
27 standard practice in the industry. That is regarding
28 pigs. And that would have been up to the time of the
29 alleged libel. I mean, by his evidence about 1990ish that
30 decision would have been made. Obviously in the USA,
31 Clembuterol is a fairly standard practice for cattle
32 still. I am jumping about a little bit, but -----
33
34 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Do not worry. Keep going.
35
36 MR. MORRIS: I am trying to get the main heads established.
37
38 Going back to Dr. Pattison, he said that he recognised the
39 principal hazards to human health are campylobacter and
40 salmonella food poisoning organisms. We have heard quite a
41 bit about salmonella, but also on campylobacter obviously
42 Dr. North gave expert testimony.
43
44 Dr. Pattison said that campylobacter was generally found on
45 70 percent of raw poultry, and he recognised that for very
46 young people and very old people, i.e. the people that are
47 vulnerable, particularly vulnerable, quote, a very low
48 number of organisms can cause food poisoning, unquote.
49
50 He said that the company did not test raw chicken for
51 listeria, but accepted that 60 percent of raw chickens were
52 contaminated with listeria mono-cytogenes, which can also
53 cause illness. He said that the bacteria would be killed
54 when cooked if the meat itself reached 70 degrees Celsius
55 for two minutes. We believe we have demonstrated their
56 chicken does not reach 70 degrees for two minutes.
57
58 Coming on to Timothy chambers.
59
60 MR JUSTICE BELL: Shall we take a five minute break?
