Day 107 - 24 Mar 95 - Page 52


     
     1        which are prepared some distance -- even countries -- away
     2        from the source of consumption and left for sale in display
     3        cabinets in food shops at temperatures conducive to the
     4        rapid multiplication of bacteria."   Pause there, no
     5        application to McDonald's, I take it, you would agree?
     6        A.  Not in terms of the products discussd.
     7
     8   Q.   Product handling, no, and you go on: "And you naturally
     9        have a better chance of an outbreak of food poisoning.
    10        Even so, the incidents of recorded outbreaks as opposed to
    11        the detection of bacteria during checks by environmental
    12        health officers, is very small indeed." As at whatever date
    13        this was in 1990, true or false?
    14        A.  True.
    15
    16   Q.   True.  Thank you.
    17
    18   MS. STEEL:  Before Mr. Rampton carries on, he has twice now said
    19        "and you go on", whereas Mr. North has said he did not
    20        write this chapter.
    21
    22   MR. RAMPTON:  He has also said that he adheres to what was said.
    23
    24   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I am taking it that ----
    25        A.  I accept -----
    26
    27   Q.   I am assuming, correct me if it is wrong, you said you
    28        collaborated on the book.  You actually did the drafting,
    29        save that Mrs. Gorman wrote this conclusion?
    30        A.  Yes.
    31
    32   Q.   But I am assuming that you each cast your eye over each
    33        other's work and it was acceptable of both you?
    34        A.  My Lord, I accept and endorse her comments, yes.
    35
    36   MR. RAMPTON:  I will read on, if I may, so I do not have to come
    37        back to this document:
    38
    39        "Salmonella and Eggs: To survive in a world packed with
    40        bacteria of all kinds", and it is, is it not?
    41        A.  Yes.
    42
    43   Q.   It is absolutely heaving with bacteria, wherever we go,
    44        whatever we touch?
    45        A.  Absolutely necessary to human survival.
    46
    47   Q.   "A world in which we, numerically, are the interlopers, our
    48        bodies have evolved methods to cope with the invasion of
    49        bacteria and their toxic effect".
    50 
    51        One explanation, Mr. North, of why it is that I have not 
    52        continuously suffered from food poisoning throughout my 
    53        childhood and adult life by eating from the various
    54        domestic kitchens which have fed me is that I have certain
    55        bodily defences, is it?
    56        A.  Yes, almost certainly.
    57
    58   Q.   What are those bodily defences?
    59        A.  Many and varied.  What do you want to know?
    60

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