Day 099 - 08 Mar 95 - Page 60


     
     1
     2   Q.   -- can take to control the incidence in the product of
     3        nematode parasitic worms?
     4        A.  There are not any steps you can take to control it in
     5        the raw product.  The only thing you can do is look for it
     6        in the frozen cod blocks which they do do.
     7
     8   Q.   They do, do they?
     9        A.  Yes, they do using candelling tables.  Basically, it is
    10        a table with a bright light underneath so you can see.
    11        They use the same technique to look for bones.
    12
    13   Q.   Like what we used to look at eggs with?
    14        A.  Yes, the same thing.  Unfortunately, the technology
    15        does not exist currently to use techniques similar to the
    16        one that we use on chickens for on object detection.
    17
    18   Q.   There is not an X-ray machine that works?
    19        A.  Correct.
    20
    21   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Does it do any physical harm, because I
    22        have to keep reminding myself that we are actually in the
    23        area of food poisoning here, do they carry any risk of
    24        infection with them?
    25        A.  There is absolutely no risk of infection.  The only
    26        problem is they are rather unpleasant to discover in
    27        your  ......
    28
    29   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I can see that, but is there any risk of  ---
    30        A.  As far as I am aware ---
    31
    32   Q.   -- illness?
    33        A.  -- there is absolutely no risk of illness attached to
    34        cod worms being present.
    35
    36   MR. RAMPTON:  They do not transfer their parasiticm to human
    37        beings?
    38        A.  No.
    39
    40   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  They cannot live in the human body.
    41        A.  The worms would never survive live anyway because they
    42        are immediately frozen into solid blocks.  The fish is
    43        frozen to solid blocks and it remains in that form for a
    44        number of weeks before it is even processed and coated and
    45        battered for us so the worms would not be alive.
    46
    47   MR. RAMPTON:  What sort temperature is the filet-o-fish cooked
    48        at?
    49        A.  Filet-o-fish will then be cooked to a -- it reaches an
    50        internal temperature in excess of 80 degrees. 
    51 
    52   Q.   Then it is said that in March 1989, or about then, some 
    53        customers who consumed hamburgers in McDonald's on the Isle
    54        of Wight suffered food poisoning.  Do you know anything
    55        about that?
    56        A.  No, I do not.  I did try to find out about it and
    57        actually spoke to the store manager, or who was the store
    58        manager at the time, and he had no knowledge either.
    59
    60   Q.   Never mind that.  You found nothing in your record; is that

Prev Next Index