Day 094 - 01 Mar 95 - Page 71
1 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Follow my direction and do that now.
2
3 MR. MORRIS (To the witness): You have not read the Oregon
4 report, but it was noted in the report that during busy
5 periods certain parts of the grill in restaurant 2,
6 whichever restaurant that was but it was McDonald's, were
7 cooler than the temperature standard established by
8 McDonald's. So, was that a problem of the old grill types,
9 this is 1982, that you wanted to avoid when you changed
10 some of your grill machinery?
11 A. I do not know. I was not with the company in 1981.
12 I have not had -- I have not heard any concerns that will
13 indicate that; that there are some variations in
14 temperature in the grill area, I said it before. You will
15 find that. It is always a normal variation in any process.
16
17 Q. So that is why now, is it, that you have changed to
18 checking the internal temperatures of routine sampling,
19 rather than just relying on grill temperatures and times,
20 is that correct? It is a more accurate analysis of whether
21 it is being properly cooked?
22 A. Yes, it is.
23
24 Q. So do you accept that before your newly introduced checking
25 system, then there may have been problems with under-cooked
26 burgers which you were not noticing?
27 A. No, I do not accept that.
28
29 Q. That is what the report -----
30
31 MR. JUSTICE BELL: He has not accepted that. You have to take
32 it up with me by some other route. He does not accept it.
33 It is eight or nine years before he joined the company.
34
35 MR. MORRIS: The new grills and the new checking systems, have
36 they been brought in to try to avoid previous risks that
37 food would be under-cooked?
38 A. Let me answer that two ways. We have made comparisons
39 side by side with the new system as well as the gas or
40 electric grills. We have not found a significant
41 difference. In addition to that, we have done a lot of
42 work looking again at the entire process, not just at the
43 cooking side. We have made improvements in every aspect,
44 from raw materials, from our suppliers, from the
45 distribution centres to the restaurant operations. We are
46 always continually improving. How much -- that is it.
47
48 Q. But, as far as you are concerned, before you did your
49 testing, internal testing, of burgers, yes, when you joined
50 you were doing the old system, yes, which was relying on
51 the cooking times and temperatures, yes?
52 A. No, when I joined they had the new cooking equipment.
53
54 Q. Yes, but you were not doing the routine internal
55 temperature testing?
56 A. Oh, that is correct.
57
58 Q. That is correct, yes. So, you were relying on the cooking
59 times and temperatures to reach the minimum standards set
60 by the company?
