Day 077 - 25 Jan 95 - Page 38
1
2 Q. Dried faeces which stick on the hides?
3 A. That is why I also mentioned more and more abattoirs
4 are now spraying cattle with tepid water. If there is less
5 chance of dust, there is less chance of contamination.
6
7 Q. Does the tepid spray which is nowadays used, does that
8 actually have the effect of washing off dried faeces?
9 A. No, it cannot wash it off, but in hide pulling, in
10 modern chain hide pulling, the days when a butcher went
11 down with a knife and freed the hide have gone. They are
12 hydraulically pulled now. Two chains are -- there are two
13 ways of doing it, from top to bottom or bottom to top.
14 But, whichever way it works, two chains are linked around
15 the leg hide and then the machine rolls down and pulls the
16 hide. Now, if the hide is damp, dust cannot fly
17 everywhere, but if the hide is dry that is a source of
18 contamination which is immediately washed off but it is a
19 source of contamination.
20
21 Q. From the hygiene point of view, what is your view about the
22 desirability of washing carcasses?
23 A. In modern slaughter techniques, all carcasses have to
24 be washed and it is the right thing to do. It has a
25 detrimental effect to me. There is a school of thought
26 that the beef carcass must be kept dry, but when you weigh
27 up all the pros and cons, a hot wash under a shower --
28 I mean, I am not talking about touching it with a dirty old
29 cloth or anything -- you weigh up the pros and cons and
30 modern thinking must lead to showering of beef.
31
32 Q. Is there any risk in showering the carcass with hot water,
33 of creating water-borne contamination for the rest of the
34 consignment or whatever it is?
35 A. No.
36
37 Q. Look at the middle of chart, please, there is something
38 called "a gut room"?
39 A. Yes.
40
41 Q. Which is fed, it appears, by a chute going to a table and
42 then a hatch?
43 A. Yes.
44
45 Q. From the food hygiene point of view, is that an important
46 stage of the operation?
47 A. Very important. That is why for McDonald's (and
48 McDonald's has been absolutely the leader in this in
49 Britain) in conjunction with McDonald's quality control and
50 our chaps, we decided to insist that the gut and
51 oesophagus, the bung and the oesophagus, were tied off
52 before the evisera was removed.
53
54 In this particular operation here, obviously, they would be
55 tied off at the legging platform because of the height to
56 be up at the bung, and somewhere down here on the head
57 removal, the oesophagus would be tied off. So that when
58 the evicera is removed on to that chute, and that man on
59 the gut removal would be on a hydraulic platform, it would
60 be taken straightaway down the chute into the gut room and
