Day 111 - 30 Mar 95 - Page 33
1 there is a vet -- wait a second, I have to think.
2 Immediately after the gut removal, there is a man with a
3 hosepipe next to the line who -- this was another great
4 concern which was discussed with MAFF as well at various
5 times -- washed the front part of the carcass, basically,
6 the front feet, the neck, and part of the thoracic cavity
7 with high pressure water. This was obviously -----
8
9 Q. This was before the inspection?
10 A. This was before inspection. This was obviously a great
11 concern for us because, according to Fresh Meat Hygiene
12 Regulations, Inspection and Hygiene Regulations, if you
13 look at the schedule -- I cannot remember the schedule now;
14 I think it is Schedule 9 -- it says that, I cannot remember
15 the exact wording of the text, but basically you are not
16 supposed to handle the carcass in any way which might
17 hinder an efficient inspection, or might mask signs of
18 contamination or disease in the carcass.
19
20 Basically, in my professional opinion, washing off
21 contamination of the carcass, or any parts of the carcass
22 at this stage is exactly against this Regulation.
23
24 Additionally, it does concern me in my professional opinion
25 as well, because this area of cattle, you often find
26 abscesses in this area of cattle due to the material that
27 the cows have eaten. If the man with the hosepipe, he is
28 not a meat inspector, he is an abattoir attendant, who
29 works at various positions so it is not necessarily even
30 the same man always. If he misses an abscess that has,
31 perhaps, been split already during that, or even if it has
32 not been split, misses an abscess at this point, he might
33 either burst it with the water or he might spread the pus
34 from the abscess already opened by the knife in a larger
35 area of the carcass, and it would be impossible for the
36 inspector after this to know which part of the carcass the
37 pus has actually spread to.
38
39 We would be faced either to condemning the whole carcass
40 or, perhaps, the inspector might even miss the fact that
41 there has been an abscess, that there has been pus
42 contamination from the abscess. It is generally accepted
43 that washing should not occur on the slaughter line before
44 meat inspection.
45
46 Q. Do you have any views about the effect of washing in
47 general and spraying?
48 A. Well, this is something I will come to as I discuss the
49 chilled carcasses. Generally, it is recommended by both
50 the scientists and people who work with meat hygiene that
51 carcasses should not be washed at all. I personally do
52 think that, as far as public health is concerned, it is a
53 good practice to wash the inside of the split carcass after
54 the carcasser has split the carcass because you are dealing
55 with a lot of sawdust, bone dust basically from the
56 splitting of the carcass and it is advisable to get rid of
57 that sawdust because it is a good growing ground for
58 bacteria and it might also have public health implications
59 if people ended up eating a lot of sawdust.
60
