Day 094 - 01 Mar 95 - Page 31


     
     1        We do not know the case that happened in the US.  We came
     2        back and checked and that is -- as well as the Centre for
     3        Disease Control did a lot of checking into the patties.
     4        They never found it there.  We do not know the source of
     5        the E.coli.
     6
     7   Q.   You know they increased the cooking times after the Preston
     8        incident, or that is the evidence that has been given?
     9        A.  Yes.
    10
    11   Q.   Did you increase the cooking times in America after the
    12        Oregon incident?
    13        A.  I do not know.
    14
    15   Q.   You do not know?
    16        A.  No.
    17
    18   Q.   So, if you do not know, or you are saying or you are
    19        claiming that it has not been proved it was the
    20        under-cooking, that was the problem -----
    21
    22   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I think the trouble is with the
    23        under-cooking, obviously, it had not been cooked, if we
    24        suppose (and I have to because of admissions which have
    25        been made for the purposes of this litigation) that people
    26        suffered E.coli 0157 food poisoning in and around Preston
    27        in 1991 as a result of eating McDonald's burgers, it must
    28        follow, must it not, that the burgers which they consumed
    29        had not been cooked for long enough and/or at a sufficient
    30        temperature to kill the E.coli organisms?
    31        A.  That could be one of the causes, yes.  I will accept
    32        that.
    33
    34   Q.   If they had cooked them for long enough and at a sufficient
    35        temperature to kill the E.coli in the burgers, there would
    36        not have been the E.coli food poisoning, would there?
    37        A.  That is correct.
    38
    39   MR. MORRIS:  So, in fact, it is the under-cooking of burgers
    40        that is the cause of the transmission of the E.coli
    41        infection into the human body?
    42        A.  That could be one of the causes.
    43
    44   Q.   Can you name another cause, a possible cause?
    45        A.  The air, the water, a surface at the restaurant where
    46        it might come into contact with a cooked patty, it could be
    47        an employee that is carrying the E.coli and touches the
    48        cooked patty.  It could be a lot of sources.
    49
    50   Q.   So you are saying, despite the effective cooking that you 
    51        claim happens when McDonald's cook their burgers, people 
    52        could still get infected with a potentially fatal E.coli 
    53        infection at McDonald's?
    54        A.  That could be the case, yes.  Our record shows that is
    55        not what happens.  Our record is impeccable.
    56
    57   Q.   It is not impeccable, is it?  You have had two major
    58        outbreaks affecting not one or two people but a substantial
    59        number of people, and it is not a trivial disease, is it?
    60        People have died in other burger companies from eating

Prev Next Index