Day 244 - 03 May 96 - Page 19
1 reports.
2
3 Q. I understand that?
4 A. But, yes, it has been going on a long, long time, yes.
5 During the war, there were regimes.
6
7 MR. MORRIS: But the actual use of organophosphates, which is
8 what you are typically looking at in your statement, really
9 took off in the mid 1980s?
10 A. Early/mid 1980s, yes.
11
12 Q. I think, as far as I understand, your evidence is that it
13 was compulsory to treat cattle?
14 A. During that period, yes.
15
16 Q. With organophosphate.
17
18 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It is what comes next in the statement which
19 really matters in this case.
20
21 MR. MORRIS: I will move on.
22
23 MR. JUSTICE BELL: "their potential for harm".
24
25 MR. MORRIS: Where are we now?
26
27 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You had better read from: "Given the
28 relatively high dosage rates" again in the middle of that
29 paragraph.
30
31 MR. MORRIS: "Given the relatively high dosage rates of OPs in
32 respect of sheep and cattle - it is again inconceivable
33 that residues would not have been found had the correct
34 sampling sites been chosen. On balance of probabilities,
35 therefore, it is fair to say that a significant proportion
36 of foods sold by McDonald's during the relevant period were
37 affected by pesticides."
38
39 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That would apply to bread generally and beef
40 generally, would it?
41 A. No, my Lord. The bread generally, I would agree, not
42 beef generally. Extensively reared, high quality Aberdeen
43 Angus, say, would not be exposed to that regime.
44
45 Q. I see.
46
47 MR. MORRIS: But beef likely to be used by McDonald's, which you
48 have seen when you went to their processing plant, would
49 that be the beef that would be likely to be treated?
50 A. As a product of intensive system, yes, and certainly if
51 I may add, say you have taken on organic beef, then it is
52 as near as one could achieve in an industrial society that
53 would be more or less pesticide free because there is no
54 application permitted.
55
56 Q. We know McDonald's do not use organic beef. Continuing to
57 read:
58
59 "As to their potential for harm, available evidence on the
60 risks of long-term, low-level pesticide exposure is
