Day 105 - 16 Mar 95 - Page 55


     
     1        step, and the law does not require microbiological tests to
     2        be carried out either for TVCs, certainly not for
     3        pathogens.  It is not standard practice in the meat
     4        industry to carry out a monitoring exercise for pathogens
     5        because until recently under the development of
     6        computerised analysis equipment it was not possible to
     7        obtain a result for, perhaps, three days, sometimes longer,
     8        and certainly Salmonella was, until recently, a longish
     9        test.
    10
    11        So, any monitoring checks that are done again tell you on
    12        occasion that there has been a Salmonella organism present
    13        in the meat which is known in any case in a small incidence
    14        of Salmonella in the animal herd, and that passes through
    15        the food chain.  The control measure to prevent it is to
    16        cook the product correctly, so I would disagree with you
    17        that it is irresponsible not to carry out checks for
    18        pathogens.
    19
    20   Q.   So spoilage organisms proliferate at an even a lower
    21        temperature than four degrees?
    22
    23   MR. RAMPTON:  May I enquire what spoilage organisms have to do
    24        with this case?
    25
    26   MR. MORRIS:  The witness brings it up, I brought it up, other
    27        people have brought it up.
    28
    29   MR. RAMPTON:  Only to distinguish the pathogens -----
    30
    31   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Which is why I asked the question which
    32        I did, because I am only concerned with spoilage bacteria
    33        in so far as it may help me in relation to pathogenic
    34        bacteria, am I not?  I am not concerned if spoilage
    35        bacteria survive or multiply in the context of this case,
    36        save in so far as it may be argued (which had not occurred
    37        to me until a moment ago) that the more spoilage bacteria
    38        you have the less pathogenic bacteria are likely to survive
    39        so as to cause food poisoning.
    40
    41        I am just reminding myself of Mr. North (who I am really
    42        treating as your expert in this area), if my recollection
    43        is correct, I do not think he anywhere mentions TVCs or
    44        TCCs and what figure, if any, might be a warning of
    45        possible risk of subsequent food poisoning.  I may be
    46        wrong, but he does not appear to me to suggest from any of
    47        the documents which were available to him, specifications
    48        and so on, that the figures set out there are
    49        unsatisfactory.
    50 
    51   MR. MORRIS:  Which figures? 
    52 
    53   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I assume that he could have been asked, if
    54        necessary, or could have been shown the specifications
    55        which had the McKey's and McDonald's TVC or TCC counts, or
    56        could have asked for them.
    57
    58   MR. MORRIS:  So far as I know, he did not see any documents.
    59
    60   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  They have been in the bundles for a long

Prev Next Index