Day 081 - 31 Jan 95 - Page 32
1
2 MS. STEEL: So it was all in relation to food poisoning
3 incidents or hygiene?
4 A. I think it was in relation to food hygiene but I was
5 not involved myself.
6
7 Q. Is that all within the last few years or does this go back
8 further than that?
9 A. No, just within the last few years.
10
11 Q. Presumably, that was a commercial ---
12 A. Yes.
13
14 Q. -- relationship?
15
16 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You are paid a fee?
17 A. Yes, sir.
18
19 Q. Now you are a professor, do you have to pay all your fees
20 into the department?
21 A. Not all of them, sir. I manage to keep a small amount
22 for myself.
23
24 Q. It can be a disadvantage of being a professor in some
25 positions that those professional expert witness fees which
26 you could retain have to go to your department rather than
27 into your own pocket?
28 A. Yes, sir we are not nowadays given enough money to run
29 our department. We have to earn extra money from
30 consultancy and other work.
31
32 MR. MORRIS: George Rummel of McDonald's Corporation (who is a
33 witness for McDonald's) states in his statement: "In 1982
34 approximately 47 people, mostly from Michigan and Oregon,
35 not all of whom had eaten at McDonald's, were found to be
36 infected with a previously unknown strain of E.coli. The
37 Centre for Disease Control performed a statistical analysis
38 of the outbreak and concluded that its research inferred a
39 numerical correlation between the outbreak and McDonald's.
40 McDonald's paid the medical bills and related claims of
41 these individuals as a means of settling the matter to
42 everyone's satisfaction. There was never an admission of
43 liability on McDonald's part." They have admitted
44 liability for the Preston outbreak and we have the report
45 of the Centre for Disease Control on the US E.coli
46 outbreak.
47
48 Is there a reason why E.coli seems to have become an issue
49 in America before -----
50
51 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Just pause. Perhaps you had better ask him
52 if he knows whether it is first; he may answer "yes" and
53 then ask him a question.
54
55 MR. MORRIS: Do you know if E.coli became an issue in America
56 before it became an issue in the UK?
57 A. I believe it did, yes.
58
59 Q. Do you know why that should be the case?
60 A. No. These things happen that way. You might well ask
