Day 106 - 23 Mar 95 - Page 43
1 A. Well, the carcass is then stripped.
2
3 Q. Is that not meat?
4 A. Well, it is carcass meat. Then you have processed
5 meat.
6
7 MS. STEEL: Can I say something? I believe that McNuggets are
8 being made in France at the moment anyway, are they not, so
9 they could not have been the actual McNuggets.
10
11 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, if that is what you meant, there has
12 been not only a complete misunderstanding on my part, but
13 I think on what has been put to every witness so far.
14
15 MR. RAMPTON: Yes, including Dr. Pattison.
16
17 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I am not alone in my misunderstanding because
18 of the word "processed".
19
20 THE WITNESS: I was standing in the processing room. I am
21 sorry, that is the word I used at the time.
22
23 Q. You see, it is on information which was given you, you say,
24 by Dr. Pattison. Quite frankly, if he used the words "in
25 the finished processed meat", I would have thought he was
26 referring to the patties or McNuggets at the end of the
27 day.
28 A. My Lord, I am easy -----
29
30 Q. Because by then the meat has been processed. If you are
31 relying entirely on what Dr. Pattison said to you, what did
32 he say to you?
33 A. I asked him what the level of salmonella was and the
34 context is, perhaps, important as well. The conversation
35 took place in the stripping room which is an enormous
36 building and, therefore, we were standing by bins of meat,
37 what I call the processed meat, saying: "What is the
38 contamination level here?" and was told it was 25 per
39 cent.
40
41 I might add that I am easy; if it is put to me that the
42 contamination rate refers to the McNuggets, Mr. Pattison
43 was not with me in the McNugget building, then that is what
44 I accept because, obviously, my source is them. But, if
45 you put to me that the contamination rate applies to the
46 processed meat -- do not forget it is a processing plant --
47 then the answer then is, if the question has been put: "Is
48 what then would the McNugget contamination level be like?"
49 the answer is: "I do not know". I did ask specifically
50 what they thought the McNugget level was, bearing in mind
51 Pattison was not with me then, my answer would be: "I do
52 not know".
53
54 Q. What was the answer to you?
55 A. The answer when I asked specifically about the McNugget
56 contamination level, was that they did not know, they had
57 no figures on that. So, the questions were put at
58 different stages of the process to different people.
59
60 But, simply, if it is taken that it was 25 per cent at the
