Day 081 - 31 Jan 95 - Page 41
1 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No, rephrase it.
2
3 MR. RAMPTON: I certainly would not.
4
5 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Put it as you were beginning to do again.
6
7 MR. MORRIS: Yes, it does not really matter where it takes
8 place. But the point I am saying is that when there is
9 washing by hose it is important that there is no
10 cross-contamination, is it not, from the hosing?
11 A. Yes.
12
13 Q. So that should be restricted in some way?
14 A. Yes.
15
16 Q. And well-managed?
17 A. Yes.
18
19 Q. I am making general questions. In general, what are the
20 problems in the slaughterhouse caused by if there is
21 over-capacity, if they are taking basically more per day,
22 more animals than they can efficiently deal with, what are
23 the problems, not in this, but I mean in general in the
24 slaughterhouses that you have looked at?
25 A. Well, the throughput is limited by the number of men
26 and the line. The problem, presumably, would be at the end
27 in the storage, if there was such a case, that there would
28 be a shortage of storage space. Generally, there is a
29 limit to the speed at which the slaughterman can work and
30 at which the line will travel if it is a moving line.
31
32 Q. We have a statement from a veterinary officer who worked at
33 Jarrets who says -----
34
35 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It is far better if you just put if a certain
36 state of affairs happened and then ask the witness's view.
37 That is not directed at you. Just generally speaking, it
38 is not thought right to put what someone else says and then
39 ask for comment. Just put it as a hypothetical situation,
40 the particular point you have in mind.
41
42 MR. MORRIS: One problem could be from over-capacity, could it
43 not, that, say, for example, in the chiller which is the
44 top right-hand corner that could be over-filled which could
45 lead to cross-contamination because of the proximity of
46 carcasses?
47 A. Well, it might lead to cross-contamination if one was
48 contaminated it might contaminate an adjacent one.
49
50 MR. JUSTICE BELL: They are still hanging on rails, are they?
51 A. Yes.
52
53 MR. MORRIS: Do you know about the time which carcasses are
54 meant to spend in the chiller in order to get to the
55 required temperature normally, or what the standards should
56 be or practice?
57 A. To get to what required temperature?
58
59 Q. Carcasses go into the chiller to be brought down to the
60 required temperature, is that correct? Is that the purpose
