Day 069 - 19 Dec 94 - Page 14


     
     1        chickens.  We cook our products to an average of 180 to 185
     2        degrees.
     3
     4   Q.   And for how long?
     5        A.  You will remain at that temperature for about two
     6        minutes.
     7
     8   Q.   According to your understanding of the science and the
     9        technology, is that a safe temperature and a safe cooking
    10        method?
    11        A.  Absolutely.  It far exceeds what is needed.
    12
    13   Q.   Can you tell us what it means when it says "Dr. Hemphill
    14        declined to assign an epidemiology case number"?
    15        A.  He means, like in this particular case, that the
    16        samples were taken first, that it was a raw product; it
    17        should have been cooked, and it is labelled properly.  It
    18        is a requirement by the United States Department of
    19        Agriculture, and in this case the Food Safety Inspection
    20        service.  That is number 1.  Number 2, that the person
    21        making the claim took some stool samples.  You can take
    22        stool samples of anybody and find salmonella very often,
    23        but it does not mean it came from the Nuggetts.  It could
    24        mean it came from the water, that it came from any food
    25        that that person would have taken.  So Dr. Hemphill found
    26        no evidence to pursue the case.
    27
    28   Q.   Can I just correct one thing you said?  It was not a
    29        McNugget; it was somebody else's product?
    30        A.  That is correct.
    31
    32   Q.   Can we turn over, please, to the drumsticks?  This is the
    33        fifth of these documents.  The same source, Tysons Foods of
    34        Nashville, Arkansas, supplied by somebody called Howard
    35        County Farms to a shop in North Charleston, South
    36        Carolina.
    37
    38        It is said here -- I cannot tell how many people became ill
    39        after eating this product, because mine has a hole punched
    40        through it.
    41
    42   MS. STEEL:  Two.
    43
    44   MR. RAMPTON:  Thank you very much.  Two persons became ill after
    45        eating this product.  One sees that they vomited three and
    46        a half to four hours afterwards, or said they did, and that
    47        they had cramps and a fever of 99.9 degrees.
    48
    49        "Ms. James said she and Deano Capers, a friend, both ate
    50        the product which was prepared by Miss James and both had 
    51        the same symptoms.  11th May 1993.  Observed package 
    52        container, labelling, and remaining product.  The labelling 
    53        did not bear a plant number in the Federal legend, printed
    54        on the bag or on the metal clip of the package.  11th May,
    55        1993, visited Winn Dixie Store, interviewed Jerome Gathers,
    56        Assistant Marketing Manager, who said they had received no
    57        other complaints concerning this product.  There was no
    58        remaining product on hand from the same labelled product.
    59        Contacted David Moore, Buyer, buyer Winn Dixie."
    60

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