Day 105 - 16 Mar 95 - Page 64
1 piece of meat. Is that right?
2 A. Yes.
3
4 Q. Have I understood it correctly?
5 A. Yes, particularly under chilled conditions.
6
7 Q. Can you explain how it happens, if you know?
8 A. I am given to understand on studying the matter that at
9 temperatures represented by a commercial chiller, as we
10 have seen they may well be round about 7, 10 degrees
11 Centigrade, certain types of bacteria which develop more
12 quickly at those temperatures do just that, and they
13 compete very strongly with, for example, Salmonella which
14 is not a particularly robust organism at those temperatures
15 and, therefore, you are likely to get smaller numbers
16 rather than less as the spoilage organisms take over. It
17 is commercial refrigeration. You get bacterial growth, of
18 course, but it is altered tremendously in its pattern by
19 the temperature.
20
21 Q. When you say "compete", what is the nature of the
22 competition; do you know?
23 A. Well, the conditions mainly of temperature and possibly
24 of dryness help the particular bacteria that thrive, but
25 Salmonella dislike intensely that temperature and the drier
26 conditions. Salmonella proliferate very rapidly in moist,
27 warm conditions, hence the need for catering care.
28
29 MR. RAMPTON: Thank you, Mr. Bennett. My Lord, those are all
30 the questions.
31
32 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Thank you, Mr. Bennett.
33
34 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, I have taken, unless your Lordship says
35 otherwise, all the witnesses are released.
36
37 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes.
38
39 (The witness withdrew)
40
41 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What is to happen next then? Mr. North is
42 next Thursday.
43
44 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, that is the first event I have on the
45 calendar. I make no suggestions for the intervening
46 period, not because there are things that could be
47 discussed, there are, but simply because I want the
48 Defendants to have as much time as possible to attend not
49 only to the witnesses that have to come next week, but to
50 matters which lie further in the future.
51
52 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Do you have anything to say about that? We
53 have Friday, that is tomorrow, Monday, Tuesday and
54 Wednesday, when we will not be in court which, unless you
55 have a suggestion to make to the contrary, will give you
56 more time to get ready for your own witnesses. I would be
57 grateful if you could attend to the forms in relation to
58 the employment witnesses in so far as you have been unable
59 to do that as well. Is there anything else?
60
