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

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