Day 068 - 16 Dec 94 - Page 36


     
     1        again into patties; would that be allowed?
     2        A.  I have to say it would depend.  If you thaw it out, it
     3        causes some flavour changes and some structural changes.
     4        Freezing and thawing will destroy the cells of the muscle.
     5        If you freeze it again, it will create some quality
     6        problems and it will be more difficult to cook.  We will
     7        also lose yield when you thaw it, as you would imagine.
     8
     9   Q.   So that is why you say that the parts you saw did not have
    10        the machinery to do it all while kept in its original
    11        frozen form; is that right?
    12        A.  That is correct.
    13
    14   Q.   I mean, in theory, you could use just the same equipment
    15        which you use on fresh meat, could you, if you thawed out
    16        the meat before you turned it into patties?
    17        A.  Yes.  But I was under the assumption that we were
    18        talking about strictly the US.  The US does not have the
    19        freezing capacity so that you can thaw out the meat.  We
    20        have an enormous volume which would require an enormous, a
    21        big tempering, as we call it, thawing facility.
    22
    23   Q.   So it was not the actual machines which mince up the meat,
    24        or whatever they do do -----
    25        A.  Let me see if I can clarify.  The other option that we
    26        have that you potentially or technically you can do, is use
    27        equipment that will process, that will grind the frozen
    28        block.  That would be the most logical -- in fact, it will
    29        be our current facilities; that would be the only choice.
    30        When we go into a country, that is our normal process.  We
    31        buy equipment that will handle the frozen meat.  We do not
    32        thaw it, for economic reasons because we lose in quality
    33        reasons.  If we do not temperate, then we do not have the
    34        quality changes and we do not have those yield losses,
    35        money, we would lose.  So we use that technique, buying
    36        equipment that will handle the frozen meat.
    37
    38   MR. MORRIS:  So when it says in your specifications -----
    39
    40   MR. RAMPTON:  Can we have a reference, please?
    41
    42   MR. MORRIS:  I think it is tab 2 of volume IX, page 20.
    43
    44   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Pink IX.
    45
    46   MR. MORRIS:  Pink volume IX, Rearing and Slaughter.
    47
    48   THE WITNESS:  What is the tab number?
    49
    50   MR. MORRIS:  It is tab 2, I believe. 
    51        A.  Yes. 
    52 
    53   Q.   Page 20; yes?
    54        A.  That is correct.
    55
    56   Q.   Point 4?
    57        A.  That is correct.
    58
    59   Q.   It says: "Fresh only, not frozen"; that is a specification,
    60        or it was in 1986; yes.  Is that specification then not to

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