Day 081 - 31 Jan 95 - Page 31
1
2 Q. You are not aware of that?
3 A. No.
4
5 Q. What exactly is your area of expertise?
6 A. Environmental Health.
7
8 Q. So you would not look into botulism in cattle as an
9 example?
10 A. Not botulism in cattle, no. I cannot say I have heard
11 of that.
12
13 Q. Do you not need to be aware of all the various diseases,
14 bacteria, that are likely to crop up in ---
15 A. I am no longer ---
16
17 Q. -- meat?
18 A. -- a practising environmental health officer so it is
19 permissible for me not to be completely up-to-date, but I
20 would have thought that was an unlikely occurrence.
21
22 Q. So are you aware generally of the diseases that occur in
23 food animals?
24 A. Yes.
25
26 Q. You would be?
27 A. Yes.
28
29 Q. As a matter of interest, does Strathclyde University or
30 your department have any links with McDonald's?
31 A. Not that I am aware of.
32
33 Q. Have you done any work for McDonald's in the past or your
34 department?
35 A. We are actually employed by the solicitors who
36 sometimes have in the past given us work to do for
37 McDonald's.
38
39 Q. How many times is that?
40 A. I am not sure exactly, maybe three times.
41
42 Q. That is in relation to food poisoning incidents?
43
44 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, Ms. Steel is in danger of trespassing on
45 privilege ground, I think. I put that out as a warning.
46
47 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, just pause a moment. I do not think it
48 actually limits what you are seeking for. There is a
49 privilege in the hands of one of the parties to this action
50 because, presumably, you are talking about McDonald's UK
51 which is the Second Plaintiff in the action, in so far as
52 any legal advice is concerned. I do not want to go into
53 the extent and limits of that because I think probably it
54 is not relevant to what Ms. Steel wants to ask you. But if
55 you are worried about that at any stage, raise it and we
56 will deal with it. But I think what you are being asked at
57 the moment is whether you have been, or members of your
58 department have been, engaged as an expert witness with
59 regard to environmental health prosecutions, for instance?
60 A. Yes, sir, they have.
