Day 084 - 07 Feb 95 - Page 28


     
     1
     2   Q.   What is reason for that?
     3        A.  To ensure that the product is fully cooked.
     4
     5   Q.   Is that an annoying addition to procedures for the
     6        employees or is it a simplification?
     7        A.  It was a simplification.  Before we had checked
     8        temperatures and times within the restaurant to ensure that
     9        the machinery was working correctly and thereby, by
    10        implication, the food would be cooked.  That process took a
    11        little bit longer.  Our aim was to achieve a certain
    12        temperature on a cooked product, so it seemed a much
    13        simpler procedure to check the finished product and
    14        ascertain that it was 70 degrees or 80 degrees, whatever
    15        the specification.  So, it was a much quicker way to do it
    16        and thereby was more likely to be complied with.
    17
    18   Q.   When was that introduced, do you know?
    19        A.  Not the exact date, but early 1992.
    20
    21   Q.   Early 1992.  What instrument is used to ascertain the
    22        internal temperature of a product?
    23        A.  It is called a pyrometer within McDonald's.
    24
    25   Q.   Can we call that a "thermometer"?
    26        A.  Yes, it is a digital -- a digital thermometer would be
    27        a good description.
    28
    29   Q.   Are you confident that it is sufficiently sensitive and
    30        accurate?
    31        A.  It is.  We looked at alternatives to the one that we
    32        had and we looked at different ways of taking that
    33        temperature.  We arrived at this one with a particular
    34        sensitive needle probe was the best one, and we also
    35        introduced a checking procedure, a checking mechanism every
    36        month, and it has to be checked against a separate kit to
    37        make sure that it continues to read accurately, and every
    38        six months we send this away to an independent place to
    39        make sure it is reading correctly.
    40
    41   Q.   Perhaps I may be forgiven for this:  The reason for making
    42        the check of the internal temperature of the product is to
    43        ensure that it is at a temperature at which pathogens would
    44        have been killed; is that right?
    45        A.  That is correct.  Not only is the temperature checked,
    46        the piece of, the product is destroyed.  "Destructive
    47        testing" it is called; we rip it to pieces to make sure
    48        that every element of it is cooked correctly.
    49
    50   Q.   On, roughly speaking, how many products in a day will this 
    51        test be carried out? 
    52        A.  It will be done on beef products three times, on 
    53        chicken products three times, on egg and sausage once.
    54
    55   Q.   Are you familiar with the outbreak of food poisoning that
    56        occurred in Preston in Lancashire in 1991?
    57        A.  I heard about it while I was an Operations Manager.
    58
    59   Q.   But you were not involved in it in any way?
    60        A.  I was not involved in it at all.

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