Day 105 - 16 Mar 95 - Page 47


     
     1
     2   Q.   So, when it arrives in the boning room, not every meat, but
     3        every half an hour a piece of meat is sampled as it arrives
     4        in the boning room?
     5        A.  No, the arrival check is on the intake sheet and that
     6        is a five per cent sample of a batch.  A batch of meat of
     7        comes in and that is the intake check.
     8
     9   Q.   This is not -----
    10        A.  This is not the half hourly QC check; this is just, if
    11        you like, a random check to once more indicate what the
    12        temperature was at each half hour interval.
    13
    14   Q.   On page 33, for example, five or six temperatures above six
    15        degrees?
    16        A.  Yes.
    17
    18   MR. RAMPTON:  Mr. Morris has said there were some above seven.
    19
    20   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  No, I thought that Mr. Morris was referring
    21        to a document, but he then made it clear he was just
    22        putting the suggestion that they went above seven degrees.
    23
    24   MR. MORRIS:  Some of the meat does reach above.
    25
    26   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  What was the page again, Mr. Morris?
    27
    28   MR. MORRIS:  Page 33.  So, the meat temperatures in the boning
    29        room vary quite a lot?
    30        A.  Yes.
    31
    32   Q.   We will move on from that.  In fact, on that day 10 of the
    33        entries were above six degrees?
    34        A.  Yes.
    35
    36   Q.   So what would explain why on some days the temperature
    37        seems to be near the mark, if you like, if that is what
    38        your case is, and other days it is three or four degrees
    39        below it?
    40        A.  It would depend on the load that has been placed upon
    41        the refrigeration plant and the loading of refrigeration
    42        plant, the temperature of the meat when it went in.  Even
    43        in an enclosed building in a structure such as an abattoir
    44        on a very cold day, the overall temperature would be lower
    45        and that speeds up the cooling process, so there are a
    46        variety of reasons why the temperature might vary.  The
    47        size of the carcass itself; large carcasses take longer to
    48        cool than small ones.
    49
    50   Q.   On page 60 --- 
    51        A.  Yes. 
    52 
    53   Q.   -- there seem to have been no samples taken after 7 o'clock
    54        in the boning room?
    55        A.  I do not read it like that myself.  I must confess
    56        4 o'clock, 1600 hours, seems to be the time of the last
    57        sample.
    58
    59   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  But there is nothing in the sample column?
    60        A.  Yes, I beg your pardon, that is true.

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