Day 097 - 06 Mar 95 - Page 64
1 A. I could not tell you exactly, but it is less than one
2 per cent.
3
4 Q. Then some of it gets into the detained room. It may not be
5 condemned, I suppose?
6 A. That is right.
7
8 Q. What happens to it if it is not condemned?
9 A. It is possible that it has what they call a partial
10 condemnation whereby part of the carcass is removed before
11 the rest of the carcass carries on through the normal
12 route.
13
14 Q. Who makes that judgment?
15 A. The senior meat inspector or veterinarian.
16
17 Q. Then if it is possible the bit that is OK will be removed,
18 and then what happens to the bit that is OK?
19 A. The bit which is OK will pass through the system the
20 same, depending on -- there is a certain infection, it is a
21 kind of cyst infection whereby it is actually boned
22 separately and stored in a freezer for a certain amount
23 time before being released.
24
25 Q. Looking at this plan what, so far as you know -- I am not
26 using this in its technical sense, but what are the
27 critical stages at which meat may become contaminated with
28 bacteria of one kind and another?
29 A. Before dehiding?
30
31 Q. Yes, take it from before hiding.
32 A. OK. Before hiding, if hiding is done mechanically as
33 we have, there is a certain amount of preparation work that
34 goes on in order to free the hide from the carcass, and in
35 that pre-hiding stage is where the contamination occurs.
36
37 Q. Contamination from what?
38 A. From the hide.
39
40 Q. So you get, for example, cow dung sticking to the hide, do
41 you?
42 A. Yes, you could do.
43
44 Q. Is there anything you can do to get rid of that? Can you
45 wash it or what?
46 A. No. We have been looking into this quite a lot
47 actually. Washing it does not -- I believe there is some
48 work done in Finland or Sweden or somewhere actually shows
49 it does not improve the condition at all, because what you
50 have is a wet hide and, of course, water spreads, just
51 makes the situation worse, certainly not better.
52
53 Q. So what steps must you take to ensure, so far as possible,
54 that contamination on the hide does not get on to the meat?
55 A. Well, obviously the cutting, the knives cutting the
56 hide have been to washed and sterilized or swapped between
57 animals; the operative's hands washed, generally making
58 sure you do not touch the carcass with a hand or implement
59 which has just touched the hide. To carry on with the
60 contamination thing, it is possible that at evisceration
