Day 104 - 15 Mar 95 - Page 37


     
     1        confirmation using UV light and latex testing.  37 degrees
     2        Centigrade for 24 hours.  Is that an orthodox test?
     3        A.  Yes, it is.
     4
     5   Q.   Is there a better one available at the moment?
     6        A.  Not that I am aware.
     7
     8   Q.   Was there in 1994?
     9        A.  Not that I am aware of.
    10
    11   Q.   "Results:  10329 - E.coli 0157: H7 - not detected".  Please
    12        turn over to page 3, the same method, same result, that is,
    13        10th March 1994.  26th April 1994, that is three days
    14        before Ms. Hovi left, the same method, the same result.
    15        I can tell you, Mr. Bennett, and for his Lordship's
    16        benefit, that eleven pages take us through to page 11, 25th
    17        November 1994, with precisely similar results in every
    18        single case.
    19
    20        Then, says Mr. Hovi:  "The boning temperature of the meat
    21        in the boning hall at Alec Jarrett Ltd were", may be "was",
    22         "as a rule well above seven degrees Centigrade".  We
    23        looked at the temperature of the meat in the boning hall,
    24        those were half hourly checks, I think, were they not?
    25        A.  Yes.
    26
    27   Q.   We looked at them for the time Ms. Hovi was there, did we
    28        not?
    29        A.  We did.
    30
    31   Q.   From your knowledge of Jarrett, do you think it likely that
    32        they faked those documents?
    33        A.  No, I do not.  Having set them up and asked for them
    34        and paid for them to be set up, there would not appear to
    35        be any point.  But, I repeat, no, no reason at all to
    36        believe they have faked them.
    37
    38   Q.   Then she says at the top of your page 17:  "There is no
    39        system to identify the ages of the cows in the boning hall
    40        to prevent too old cow meat entering the McKey
    41        consignments".  How does one tell from looking at a piece
    42        of meat what the age of its original animal might be?
    43        A.  The general impression -- visual appearance does give
    44        you a guide.  Young meat will tend to be lighter in colour
    45        with what the butchers would call a decent fat cover, and
    46        would be rounded in appearance, without drawing parallels
    47        with the human species, and the older beast will be boney,
    48        have not much fat and the flesh will be darker.  That is,
    49        generally speaking, the overall indication of the age of
    50        the meat. 
    51 
    52   Q.   Taking an old dairy cow, for example, what sort of age 
    53        would you expect to start seeing -- of course, it depends
    54        on what the precise life it has, I understand that, what
    55        food it has been eating -- generally speaking, relatively
    56        little fat and dark meat?
    57        A.  By the time a working beast has reached eight, nine, 10
    58        years old, assuming it has not then been fattened for meat
    59        production, it will be showing distinct signs of age in the
    60        meat, that is, lack of fat cover and a skinny appearance,

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