Day 107 - 24 Mar 95 - Page 44
1 is a build up of lactic acid in the area which causes the
2 muscles to seize, a cramp, and give you the pain.
3 Postmortem, it occurs, lactic acid builds up normally as a
4 result of postmortem metabolism in the absence of oxygen.
5
6 Q. Thank you. I do not think we have any more.
7 ^^
8 Cross-examined by MR. RAMPTON, Q.C.
9
10 Q. Mr. North, imagine, if you will, an ordinary, domestic
11 kitchen -- by an "ordinary, domestic kitchen" I mean one
12 without a grill calibration, one without disinfectants, one
13 without thermometers to measure the internal temperature of
14 beef and chicken, one where the same cloth is used to mop a
15 spill from the coffee, the drip from the defrosting
16 chicken, the vegetables and everything else besides -- is
17 that a fair picture of you ordinary, domestic kitchen?
18 I will add some more details in a moment.
19 A. I do not think there is an ordinary, domestic kitchen.
20 There is a whole range, but it is a description ---
21
22 Q. That is a fairly typical scenario that I have given you so
23 far, is it not?
24 A. -- of some kitchens, yes.
25
26 Q. Where the dishes are washed either in a dishwasher, as more
27 often nowadays perhaps than not, also sometimes in some
28 primitive households in a bowl of fairly warm, luke warm,
29 if you like, water using a bit of detergent, and the dishes
30 are then left to dry in a rack?
31 A. Yes.
32
33 Q. The knives and forks, the knives made of perhaps some
34 composite material for the handle with (inaudible) between
35 the handle and the steel blade; why is it, Mr. North, do
36 you think, that the owners of those millions and millions
37 of similar kitchens throughout this country and the rest of
38 the world are not constantly in a state of what one might
39 call poisonous degeneration on account of bacteriological
40 infestation or invasion?
41 A. First of all, one has to say that, refer back to my
42 earlier evidence, you actually have to work very hard to
43 get food poisoning.
44
45 Q. Bellow at me because I am a bit deaf.
46
47 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Keep your voice up.
48 A. In my experience, you have to work very hard to get
49 food poisoning.
50
51 MR. RAMPTON: Yes.
52 A. In that sense, very often the domestic cook is relying
53 on an over-kill, if you like. The single, very often,
54 defence they have is cooking. It is not pared down to
55 seconds. It will very often be very, very much longer than
56 is strictly technically necessary. That sort of process
57 builds in it an enormous safety margin.
58
59 Q. Do you eat meat, Mr. North?
60 A. Yes.
