Day 079 - 27 Jan 95 - Page 66
1 A. That is done on the meat when it comes in and at the
2 end of the burger as it is going out. It is on positive
3 release.
4
5 Q. The E.coli?
6 A. Yes.
7
8 Q. So there are two tests done at the end?
9 A. Yes, a general ----
10
11 Q. On each patty that is selected?
12 A. Yes.
13
14 Q. How many people have you got working in the laboratory, on
15 a shift in the laboratory, on each shift?
16 A. About 14.
17
18 Q. And how many shifts in a day?
19 A. Two production shifts.
20
21 Q. Two shifts in a day. These tests on each separate patty,
22 how do they physically do the test? They carry the
23 patty -- just explain how they do it?
24 A. Well, when the patty is emulsified and it is then
25 centrifuged, the actual loop -- have you ever been in
26 a bacteriology laboratory?
27
28 Q. No.
29 A. You have a plate of agar, and having got the
30 concentration you burn the loop in the Bunsen; you let the
31 loop cool; you dip it into the concentrate; you take it out
32 and you spread it on the plate. You turn the plate three
33 times burning the wire in between each time, so each time
34 you get a different dilution. The next morning when you
35 come in when that plate has been incubated right through
36 the night, it grows colonies. You can see them.
37
38 Q. So that test before it is left and stored overnight it
39 takes how long -- about half an hour, something like that?
40 A. What a plate? A minute. A minute to do the plating.
41
42 Q. From getting a burger, emulsifying it?
43
44 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It is not a burger surely, is it?
45 A. No, sir. You take a burger and you smash it up and
46 emulsify it, and then you centrifuge it to concentrate it.
47 You are getting a dilution and then concentrating it so you
48 can grow anything that is there. It is a routine
49 bacteriology test that is done in any laboratory.
50
51 MR. MORRIS: Did Mr. North see the laboratory?
52 A. Yes, I am sure he did. Yes, he did.
53
54 Q. Did he see these tests being carried out?
55 A. Well, he walked through the laboratory. There were
56 plates out. There was a microscope. There was ether
57 extraction going on, all the normal things that go on in a
58 laboratory.
59
60 Q. Just the last question on this. Did Mr. North see the
