Day 080 - 30 Jan 95 - Page 29
1 ground on this already. If there was a misunderstanding on
2 your part between top quality and prime cut, if you were
3 taking the two to be the same and that is what led to this
4 point of enquiry, then there we are. There may be nothing
5 in any point you wanted to make. That is not a criticism
6 of you. We all live and learn.
7
8 MR. MORRIS: I do not believe it is established yet anyway what
9 quality meat McDonald's use but .....
10
11 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What he is saying boils down to this, that,
12 you know it is the forequarter and flank; it comes either
13 from steers and heifers or shop cows, not wet old cows.
14
15 MR. MORRIS: Foreign bodies in burgers: When there is a
16 complaint by a customer of McDonald's, do McKey's get to be
17 informed?
18 A. Yes.
19
20 Q. What kind of check do you make if you get a complaint?
21 A. The laboratory analyses the complaint, looks at it
22 under a microscope, checks it and reports back to
23 McDonald's as to where they think the complaint originated
24 -- and it did not always originate in the meat.
25
26 Q. I think -- I cannot remember, somewhere -- in Mr. Clark's
27 report -- you can take my word for it but it is on page 13
28 of his report at the top -- he reports seven foreign body
29 complaints in three stores in Scotland in about a year/year
30 and a half period. They may not all, of course, be
31 relevant to burgers, they may have been Chicken McNuggets
32 or whatever, but how many, if that was for the whole
33 country, that average, seven to three stores, we would be
34 talking about, say, something like two a store per year or
35 something, we are talking about a thousand complaints a
36 year, do you keep records of the complaints that you get?
37 A. Yes, we do, yes.
38
39 Q. So do you remember roughly how many you would get in a
40 year?
41 A. No.
42
43 Q. Enquiries from McDonald's?
44 A. But I think, on the basis of the number of restaurants
45 we have now, I do not think 800 would be unreasonable, 800
46 investigations a year, but I am guessing that figure.
47
48 Q. So it is something in that region?
49 A. Yes, but you had better -- you get some very unusual
50 complaints, you know. You get teeth -----
51
52 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Of those 800, about how many would you say
53 the conclusion is that the foreign body probably did come
54 from the patty, that is, without any fraud on the part of
55 the complainant or someone involved with the complainant?
56 A. I have been told that figure, sir, but I have forgotten
57 it.
58
59 Q. You cannot help as to what sort of percentage?
60 A. I mean, literally it would be about 100 to 150 over a
