Day 069 - 19 Dec 94 - Page 54
1
2 Q. And old cardboard and newspapers, and things like that?
3 A. That is not -- I have never seen anybody using that.
4
5 Q. You have seen them using the slaughterhouse waste and the
6 waste from farms?
7 A. What you call "waste", the internal organs can be dried
8 up, mixed up; and they are mostly used for pet foods.
9
10 Q. But they also get used for cattle feed?
11 A. It could be, yes. They have, yes. It is protein; it
12 is a very good source of protein. Humans do not tend to
13 have an appreciation for it, but it is protein.
14
15 Q. The US DA has tried out using cement dust to use in the
16 feed and they have found that that is very effective for
17 making the cattle gain weight?
18 A. Cement dust?
19
20 Q. That is right.
21 A. I do not know where you get that information. That is
22 absurd.
23
24 Q. You do not know about that?
25 A. There is no nutritional value from cement. You cannot
26 feed anybody dust and expect that it will gain some
27 weight. I do not know where you get your information from.
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29 Q. So you are not aware of that?
30 A. No.
31
32 Q. But McDonald's would not have any specifications to stop
33 that happening?
34 A. I have no control over what is fed to the animals. We
35 have controls regarding some of the things that you may or
36 may not use, such as hormones and antibiotics, but we do
37 not have control over how they are fed. We could not
38 possibly have control over what they eat. Animals can eat
39 whatever they want. We do not have to tell them: "Do not
40 eat dust." I have seen cattle that eat pieces of plastic,
41 pieces of metal, dust. You cannot control that.
42
43 Q. No. I am talking about what they are fed in their feeding
44 troughs, not what gets in accidentally?
45 A. As I mentioned before, we do not have specifications
46 for that.
47
48 Q. Is that the same the world over?
49 A. Yes, except that you will find a very small proportion
50 of feed lots outside of the US, even in the biggest
51 suppliers or exporters of beef in the world, including
52 Australia and Argentina.
53
54 Q. So have you actually looked into what goes into the feed
55 for the cattle in the feed lots that supply McDonald's?
56 A. Yes, I have.
57
58 Q. Apart from the cement dust, which you dispute, the other
59 things that were referred to, it would not surprise you at
60 all to see them in the food?
