Day 196 - 06 Dec 95 - Page 22


     
     1
     2   Q.   I am on page 3, question 2.  You said that the flat-topped
     3        grill sometimes led to under-cooked burgers.  Why would
     4        that be?
     5        A.  The nature of the grill and the way that they were
     6        actually worked meant that it was a very skilled job to
     7        actually do the job properly.  If you had someone who was
     8        not totally skilled or could not actually have the knack of
     9        doing it, it was a skill that needed to be mastered.  It
    10        could lead to under-cooked food or over-cooked food,
    11        because the timing was so very critical.
    12
    13        Also if you had a very small person they would find it very
    14        hard to do one of procedures which was actually searing the
    15        meat if you were laying a lot of meat because they had a
    16        long way to stretch.  So although with the grills that
    17        started come in as I left, the closed down grills, that got
    18        away with that situation, the original flat-topped grills
    19        did mean that the people who were cooking had to be very
    20        highly trained.  It was not always possible to have those
    21        people on.  So you would have times where meat would be
    22        possibly over-cooked or under-cooked depending on whether
    23        the people was either taking it off too early or leaving it
    24        on too late.
    25
    26   Q.   Would any under-cooked food always be noticed or whatever?
    27        A.  Not always.  I mean, if there were enough people about
    28        it would be seen and stopped, but if you were short of
    29        staff by the time it actually got to you as a Manager, nine
    30        times out of 10 it is a completed hamburger and you would
    31        not be able to tell whether it was cooked or not from
    32        looking at it.  So it is possible on occasions that stuff
    33        would be either under-cooked or over-cooked, although it is
    34        very hard to say one way or the another.  If it did happen
    35        I would say it was an extreme case as opposed to the norm.
    36        Not something that would happen every day.  It might be
    37        once every so often it would happen.
    38
    39   Q.   A question that crosses my mind, do you ever go to
    40        McDonald's now to eat?
    41        A.  Yes.  I still eat there now, not very often but I will
    42        still eat there.  One of the things it did teach me is that
    43        I have got a high regard for the cleanliness of the stores
    44        and the way they are run, although I most probably would
    45        not go on a Saturday or a busy day which if there was going
    46        to be a problem it would be on a busy day when they are
    47        under pressure.
    48
    49   Q.   A problem with what?
    50        A.  When they are under pressure a lot of food is being 
    51        cooked, it is not going to be the same quality as if you 
    52        are on a quiet day and people can take more time with it. 
    53        So, although I do go in, I would make sure I did not go
    54        into a busy store or go in over a busy lunch time.
    55
    56   Q.   These explanations you have given of how the pressure was
    57        applied to keep food costs down and not to throw food away,
    58        are they similar to the ones about labour costs?
    59        A.  Yes.  It would have been discussed at the same
    60        meetings, where ideas would be put across, people would

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