Day 094 - 01 Mar 95 - Page 29
1 A. Because, first of all, you have to recognise that it
2 was unknown. It was unknown. It is difficult to prevent
3 something that you do not what you are supposed to
4 prevent. We just happen to be the ones; it is as simple as
5 that.
6
7 Q. E.coli contamination or infection comes from bad handling
8 practices, does it not?
9 A. Not necessarily, no.
10
11 Q. It comes -- is not E.coli 0157 H -----
12 A. 7?
13
14 Q. Yes, in America you call it 0157 H7 but here we call it
15 0157 H, but yes.
16
17 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I think it is probably the same, but probably
18 if you looked it up in some kind of glossary of these
19 things it would be right down to the 7 at the end, but you
20 know the particular E.coli that Mr. Morris is asking you
21 about?
22 A. Yes, I do.
23
24 MR. MORRIS: It comes, does it not, from -- it is in the gut of
25 the cattle that are killed and it can be cross-contaminated
26 with the rest of the meat during the slaughter stage?
27 A. Yes, it could, but it is not the only source. There
28 has been a lot of research after that. We have spent
29 millions of dollars to find out where it is coming from and
30 we just about find it in every place we look at.
31
32 Q. When did you start taking the risk of E.coli food poisoning
33 of customers as a serious possibility? When did you start
34 taking action on this?
35 A. Immediately or soon as we found out about it.
36
37 Q. But when did you start actually doing specific testing?
38 A. Oh, immediately after that. First, there was no
39 testing available. We funded a lot of research to find a
40 means to identify the bacteria. If in the past is not a
41 new bacteria that just appeared, it is probably bacteria
42 that mutated. At that time there was no tests available to
43 detect it. It might have happen before and people just did
44 not know it was there or that was the cause because there
45 were no tests available for it.
46
47 Q. So when did the tests become available? When did you start
48 doing these tests after they became available? Do you
49 remember what year?
50 A. No, I do not remember the year. I know we have been
51 doing it, from what I have heard, since right after the
52 incident. So, it might have been eight, 10 years that we
53 have been testing.
54
55 Q. Are you aware that McDonald's was the cause of an E.coli
56 0157 H outbreak of food poisoning in Preston in the UK in
57 1991?
58 A. That is correct, I am aware.
59
60 Q. If you were testing for that possibility in America soon
