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
