Day 079 - 27 Jan 95 - Page 58
1 Q. Whereas the other is whatever is not positive release, it
2 is general release?
3 A. Yes.
4
5 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It is this general release, but since you
6 have got the E.coli positive release as it happens it will
7 have been sitting there giving you time to get your
8 bacteriological results back, if I have understood your
9 system?
10 A. Yes, sir.
11
12 Q. But you are still convinced in your own mind that if it was
13 more than 10 million per gramme that had not appeared to be
14 of poor condition on visual or touch matter, provided it
15 did have positive release on E.coli it could go to
16 McDonald's?
17 A. Yes, sir.
18
19 MS. STEEL: Can I ask another question? Is all the equipment,
20 the manufacturing equipment, sterilized between each batch?
21 A. No.
22
23 Q. It is not?
24 A. It is not, no. It is sterilized for 8 hours at night.
25 There is a complete strip down of all the machines. There
26 is a night cleaning shift. There is a separate boiler
27 system and the whole thing is cleaned with bacteriocidal
28 foam, hot water, cold water, steam, etc.
29
30 Q. That is only time it happens, at night?
31 A. Yes.
32
33 MR. MORRIS: When a combo is tipped out what happens to the
34 physical bin, what happens to it?
35 A. What, that the meat came in?
36
37 Q. Yes.
38 A. It is destroyed. There is a big compactor and it is
39 all smashed up and goes away.
40
41 Q. I thought there were big metal tubs?
42 A. No, cardboard. Most are cardboard.
43
44 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That is why they have eight sides because
45 that gives them extra strength?
46 A. Yes. They are cardboard. We have some in-house
47 plastic ones, giant white plastic ones, but when meat comes
48 in on trucks it comes in on cardboard combos.
49
50 MR. MORRIS: Where is tipped out of the combos onto?
51
52 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I think you have a picture?
53 A. Yes, you have got a very good picture. You have a
54 picture of a cardboard combo on the loading dock coming in
55 off a truck. You have a picture of the combo being tipped
56 into the initial grinder, the stainless steel grinder, and
57 you have a picture of the ground meat coming out into the
58 toe pins before they are transferred to the formax machines
59 which are the beginning of that long line that you can see
60 in the bigger picture.
