Day 295 - 06 Nov 96 - Page 29


     
     1        safety, food poisoning and related issues on day 125,
     2        basically between the pages of 7 to about 14, I think.  So
     3        they might be worth -- if I could ask, if you could cast
     4        your eye over that.
     5
     6   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   Yes.
     7
     8   MR. MORRIS:   I have got statements somewhere.  (Pause)  He also
     9        explained how in some States in America the company was
    10        able to use left-over milkshake mix despite other States
    11        saying they should not be because of potential bacterial
    12        build-up.  The operations manual still advocated this
    13        practice.  I cannot find the exact reference to that.  I am
    14        sure you probably remember it.  But one of McDonald's UK
    15        witnesses said that they would not, that practice would be
    16        discouraged, for that very reason.  I might see it in a
    17        minute.
    18
    19        Moving on to Timothy Chambers, just some of the relevant
    20        references that I might not have picked up on.  I might be
    21        repeating myself because I have not cross-referenced them
    22        with the ones that I did this morning.  He said that some
    23        of the carcasses were partly or totally condemned as unfit
    24        for human consumption, day 98, page 9.  And they relied on
    25        McKeys to reject any batch containing over five million
    26        bacteria per gram due to concerns over health risks, and
    27        that was day 98, page 18, line 29.
    28
    29        And moving on to Keith Kenny, now this was the important
    30        details about customer complaints procedures or lack of
    31        them.  This seemed to be dealt with mostly on day 100.
    32        First of all, he claimed that the company investigated all
    33        alleged food poisoning incidents.  That was page 12, line
    34        40.  But after being challenged by documentary evidence, in
    35        particular the Isle of Wight matter, that was on day 101,
    36        page 22, if my notes are correct, he later admitted they
    37        only investigated the small fraction which was identifiable
    38        as outbreaks.  The reference for that is day 100, page 15,
    39        line 5.  I am hoping my references are accurate here.  So
    40        there seemed to be some toing and froing between days 100
    41        and 101 on this subject.
    42
    43        He recognised that bone fragments, cartilage and plastic
    44        slivers were sometimes found in the meat products and that
    45        such foreign bodies could inhibit the eradication of
    46        bacteria during cooking.  That was on day 99, page 34 and
    47        also on day 100, page 9.
    48
    49        And on day 100, page 13, line 40, he admitted there was a
    50        particular risk of food poisoning from chicken products if
    51        undercooked due to salmonella contamination.  And he agreed
    52        that McDonald's had been taken to court at least four times
    53        for selling and had admitted selling undercooked products.
    54
    55        There was an example which Helen was going to bring up, but
    56        I might as well do it now.  There was one case where they
    57        were found not guilty, even though they admitted selling
    58        undercooked food, if I can find the reference to it.  1992,
    59        Well Street Magistrates found Plaintiffs guilty of serving
    60        a raw Quarter Pounder at their Tottenham Court Road branch.

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