Day 105 - 16 Mar 95 - Page 32
1
2 Q. "Keep an eye on the cleaning but basically do nothing to
3 improve the situation"?
4 A. I did not say that at all.
5
6 Q. No, but that is the reality of what is going on?
7 A. I would disagree with that entirely.
8
9 MR. MORRIS: So when you say something is "acceptable", you mean
10 something is usual. It is the sort of general standard you
11 would expect?
12 A. When I say it is "acceptable", I am talking in the
13 context of dangers to health, and I mean that, I just mean
14 that, that any meat passing through this process is safe.
15
16 Q. Yes, but this is only the first stage, is it not? This is
17 the actual slaughter plant before it is transported,
18 processed, transported again -----
19
20 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That is just the point I was trying to make a
21 little while ago. You have to look at the whole thing.
22 You have asked Mr. Bennett a number of questions about
23 this. You are calling Mr. North. Whether or not he says
24 anything in his statement, I am not going to stop you
25 asking about what appears here. I have not heard any of
26 your witnesses yet. I suggest you leave it there and see
27 what you can produce to help your argument.
28
29 MR. MORRIS: It might be worth noting on page 85 we have the
30 beef forequarters in the chiller, that is, before it goes
31 into the boning hall, 1.2 million bacteria per gramme?
32 A. Yes.
33
34 Q. Total Viable Count. So, the swab tests are educational is
35 what you say, yes?
36 A. Yes, insofar as they are a management tool, yes,
37 I would agree with you on that. Could I add that they are
38 extremely typical of the sort of microbiological counts you
39 get in abattoirs in general.
40
41 Q. How important is it that the abattoirs stick to the
42 specifications and quality control limits that are set by
43 their customers?
44 A. It is important insofar as if they do not, they get the
45 meat back.
46
47 MR. JUSTICE BELL: They risk rejection?
48 A. Yes.
49
50 Q. It will always be up to the customer to say: "This is
51 above our specification"?
52 A. Yes.
53
54 Q. "We are content" for whatever reason. But they risk a
55 point blank rejection because they have not provided a
56 product which accords with the contract they have with
57 their customer?
58 A. Indeed. In the present context of McKey Food Services,
59 I can tell you, from experience, that this is particularly
60 liable to be the case.
