Day 061 - 05 Dec 94 - Page 65
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2 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Perhaps I should have asked Mr. Gregory. How
3 do abattoirs run in this country? Do the abattoirs buy the
4 stock which they slaughter and send out as carcasses, offal
5 and whatever, or are they paid a fee for slaughtering or
6 may it be a mixture of both?
7 A. Generally they buy for slaughter and they may send out
8 as carcasses or part carcasses or as deboned meat.
9
10 Q. So they buy the stock?
11 A. Yes.
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13 Q. And they sell the meat on after slaughter?
14 A. Most do.
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16 MR. MORRIS: You said that your Quality Assurance Department has
17 access to the vets' reports in abattoirs. Is it abattoirs
18 or abattoirs and farms, the veterinary reports?
19 A. It would be abattoirs mostly. Generally the QA people
20 would not be going to the farms.
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22 Q. My notes of what you said on whenever it was, Thursday or
23 whenever it was, was that the QAD goes to abattoirs and
24 farms, but in fact they do not?
25 A. No. Basically they would go to abattoirs, not to
26 farms. That is not to say they have never been to a farm;
27 they probably have, but not generally.
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29 Q. When they have access to veterinary reports these, this is
30 presumably during the three visits a year. Would this be
31 Barbara Crawford basically?
32 A. It may be her assistant Keith Kenny.
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34 Q. He also makes visits?
35 A. Yes.
36
37 Q. How many people from McDonald's visit, say, abattoirs?
38 A. Two.
39
40 Q. Two people. They go to about three a year each?
41 A. No. I would say three to four in total for the two
42 people.
43
44 Q. In total. Then when they are there they get access to the
45 vets?
46 A. If they require them.
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48 Q. If they require. Are you aware that some companies that
49 supply meat have people permanently based at abattoirs that
50 supply them?
51 A. Doing what?
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53 Q. I am talking about, for example, Sainsbury's?
54 A. Yes.
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56 Q. Are you aware they have people based in their abattoirs to
57 check that standards are being maintained?
58 A. I have to say I was not aware. I am not surprised but
59 I was not aware.
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