Day 106 - 23 Mar 95 - Page 45
1 However, by putting in crate washing, they also put in,
2 they told me and showed me, very expensive disinfectants.
3 By so doing, they felt that that was one of the factors
4 which had contributed to the reduction in flock infection.
5 There are other areas, of course. There has been intensive
6 programme on the breeders to reduce infection in the
7 breeders, there has been intensive and many, many changes
8 on the actual production, the live bird production sites,
9 tightening up all the way around. All this stems from 1988
10 and the great salmonella crisis.
11
12 Q. So this would have been changes made since when?
13 A. 1988 was the key year, end of 1988. So, an awful lot
14 of work has been done, 1989, 1990. The breeding flock
15 orders came in in 1989. There is a Notice Order came in in
16 1989. The codes of practice were reissued, I think it
17 might even have been very late 1988, certainly 1989. So,
18 an awful lot of work was done through 1989 and 1990 and
19 subsequently to reduce incidents of salmonellas in live
20 birds.
21
22 Hitherto, previous to that, I think it was 77 figures for
23 salmonella, the PHLS, the Public Health Laboratory Service,
24 figures were in the order of 70 per cent.
25
26 Q. In live birds?
27 A. No, in carcasses salmonella in carcasses. By 1990 the
28 Public Health Laboratory Service was reporting 50 per cent;
29 so, that Sun Valley going down to 25 per cent represents
30 not an inconsiderable achievement.
31
32 Q. The 50 per cent, at what stage is that? Is that directly
33 after slaughter?
34 A. No, the PHLS are doing finished carcasses, that is
35 whole carcasses, from retail stores, that is, wrapped and
36 oven ready.
37
38 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That is before the meat has been deboned and
39 mixed up together?
40 A. This is true so that -----
41
42 Q. So is that not the equivalent of the 4 per cent being
43 reduced to 1 per cent?
44 A. No, because I would suggest that the deboned meat will
45 probably be a higher level contamination than the carcass
46 birds. So, it is in their favour in that sense, that
47 figure. It does, in fact, suggest that if they represented
48 in 1988 and the 70s the industry norm -- I do not know that
49 they did but if they did -- then the results they have at
50 the moment represent a quite significant improvement on
51 what they have been able to deliver hitherto.
52
53 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It is somewhere between the 1 per cent and
54 the 25 per cent because the bird is no longer live; it is a
55 carcass which has gone through the factory so it may have
56 received more contamination there?
57 A. That is right.
58
59 Q. On the other hand, it has not been deboned and mixed up so
60 it has not had a risk of spread contamination which is
