Day 099 - 08 Mar 95 - Page 28


     
     1        is?
     2        A.  Well, the specifications are written by our parent
     3        company in the States, so that it would relate to probably
     4        USDA recommendations and guidelines out there, as opposed
     5        to the EC ones here.
     6
     7   MR. RAMPTON:  Do you know anything about the American side of
     8        the business?  Do you know the people that work in
     9        equivalent fields to yours?
    10        A.  Yes, I know some of the people that work in similar --
    11        in the international market, yes.
    12
    13   Q.   Do you think that they are less concerned about human
    14        health than you are in this country?
    15        A.  No, not at all.
    16
    17   Q.   Do you think that a TVC on a sample of, let us say,
    18        8,000,000 or 9,000,000 represents a danger to human health?
    19        A.  No, it does not.
    20
    21   Q.   What do TVCs actually count?
    22        A.  They count the total number of living bacteria present.
    23
    24   Q.   Are all those bacteria counted in that way pathogenic, do
    25        you think?
    26        A.  Oh, no, far from it.  The majority of those organisms
    27        would be under normal circumstances harmless organisms,
    28        spoilage organisms, rather than pathogenic bacteria.
    29
    30   Q.   So, if on one of your own tests you found a piece -- I am
    31        not saying you would, I am not saying you ever have -- but
    32        if you found a Total Viable Count of, let us say,
    33        10,000,000 exactly, what would be your reaction, so far as
    34        your customers are concerned?
    35        A.  They would be a perfectly count for a raw meat product.
    36
    37   Q.   Can you keep your finger -- sorry, this is what I was going
    38        to do before -- in that tab and turn over, please, to
    39        I think it is probably G, it is your seventh appendix,
    40        where there is a rather blotchy copy of an article or pages
    41        from a textbook?
    42        A.  Yes.
    43
    44   Q.   It looks rather like pages from a textbook?
    45        A.  Yes.
    46
    47   Q.   What is this textbook?  I think it is in your statement
    48        somewhere.
    49        A.  Yes, this is relating to chicken.
    50 
    51   Q.   This is chicken, is it? 
    52        A.  Yes.  These are recommendations by the Microbiological 
    53        Committee.
    54
    55   Q.   Whose Microbiological Committee?  I think I can -----
    56        A.  It is the International Union of Microbiological
    57        Societies.
    58
    59   Q.   Is that a reputable body -- I do not know.
    60        A.  I am sure they are very reputable, yes.

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