Day 084 - 07 Feb 95 - Page 29


     
     1
     2   Q.   Is your position this, that the company merely responds to
     3        incidents of that kind or that it takes what one might call
     4        a more accurate stance in relation to matters of food
     5        safety?
     6        A.  The essence of my job is proactive in that we are
     7        seeking out ways to improve our current methods of food
     8        safety.  Occasionally, when an incident arises we it may
     9        refocus a priority for us, but the general work ethic
    10        within that department is to work out and to seek out ways
    11        to improve before any incidents happen.
    12
    13   Q.   Is that one of the things that you personally do?
    14        A.  More so in Operations Development when I was the
    15        Operations Development Manager, but of the four areas it is
    16        the area that I take a more keen interest.  Of the four
    17        areas I am responsible for now, operations development is
    18        the area I seem to spend most time in.
    19
    20   Q.   We know that in this case -- nobody disputes it -- it is
    21        the cooking of the product which is really the essential
    22        thing in seeking to ensure food safety.
    23        A.  Yes.
    24
    25   Q.   That involves both temperature and time.  I am not going to
    26        ask you anything about that at all, but I do want to ask
    27        you this:  What about the general hygiene of the
    28        restaurants, the services, the implements, the human beings
    29        that work there; is that important?
    30        A.  It is important, yes.
    31
    32   Q.   Do you look at ways of improving that aspect of matters?
    33        A.  We do.  We are looking at a number of ways to improve
    34        hand-washing, effectiveness of hand-washing.  We have
    35        projects on the go now that may come in that will prove to
    36        be more efficient.
    37
    38   Q.   How seriously -- forgive me if this seems an offensive
    39        question but it is one which the Defendants raised by their
    40        Defence and so I am going to ask you -- do you take the
    41        safety of your customers in relation to the food that they
    42        eat at your restaurants?
    43        A.  It is of paramount importance.  It could not be more
    44        important.
    45
    46   Q.   Do you feel any pressure within the organisation to cut
    47        corners in relation to food safety in order to increase
    48        profitability?
    49        A.  No.
    50 
    51   Q.   How often, if ever, I know not, do you get a queasy feeling 
    52        in your job that perhaps your procedures are risking the 
    53        health of your customers?
    54        A.  I do not think ever do I get a queasy feeling that our
    55        procedures are risking the health of our customers.
    56
    57   Q.   Have you read the statement, second statement, of
    58        Mr. Richard North, the witness for the Defendants, who
    59        visited one of your restaurants, I think, in Leeds?
    60        A.  Yes.

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