Day 094 - 01 Mar 95 - Page 54
1 that meat.
2
3 Q. If it was shut down, you would not be able to anyway. But
4 if it is found that a slaughterhouse has violations of
5 hygiene regulations but not so extreme that it is not shut
6 down, you would still accept meat from that company?
7 A. Let me put it this way: If the meat is safe, we will
8 accept it. There is not a "yes" or "no" answer. They will
9 have, under the best conditions, minor violations. Am I to
10 expect that everything is going to be perfect? We cannot
11 do that. Nothing is perfect in this world, especially when
12 it comes nature. Nobody in the world can do that.
13
14 Q. So violations are inevitable, you say?
15 A. It is part of the variation. "Violation" you have to
16 define what type of violation.
17
18 Q. Violations of hygiene regulations are inevitable, you are
19 saying?
20 A. No, violation of hygiene, we do not accept that.
21
22 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You mean if someone gets convicted for a
23 hygiene thing, you would say: "Right, no more meat from
24 you"?
25 A. Absolutely.
26
27 Q. You would? You would not just look into it and form a
28 judgment on whether this was just one of those things which
29 might happen from time to time?
30 A. That is correct.
31
32 MS. STEEL: So what are the other minor violations that you
33 would accept then, what are they in relation to?
34 A. We could spend the next three days talking about that.
35 Do you have any specific questions?
36
37 Q. Just general categories of what those kinds of violations
38 you are talking?
39 A. OK. An inspector will consider -- now this is
40 switching now from the performance based inspection, the
41 one that we talked this morning about, it is totally
42 different. Now we are switching to a really hygiene
43 estimation of plant or product that is in movement. If an
44 inspector finds somebody that is walking into a processing
45 line, even before he goes to the line, and has a hairnet in
46 summer and an inch of the hair is coming out of the net, it
47 will be a major violation, even though it does not
48 represent any immediate safety hazard, but they will do
49 that and they will record it. Those kinds of things, we
50 accept it.
51
52 Q. That is something that is connected to hygiene, though?
53 A. Yes, it is.
54
55 Q. So with minor hygiene violations you would make a decision
56 on whether you thought it affected the meat?
57 A. We make decision not in terms of the number of
58 violations. We make decisions on the wholesomeness of the
59 meat, period.
60
