Day 112 - 31 Mar 95 - Page 42


     
     1   Q.   I know it is a leading question, but the obvious
     2        implication is there was cross-contamination from one
     3        carcass to the next because of that?
     4        A.  Yes.  Well, that could happen as well, yes.
     5
     6   Q.   You said something like there were between 150 to 300
     7        animals per day?
     8        A.  Well, it depended on the day very much.  As I said
     9        earlier, it was not the normal routine at Jarretts because
    10        we did not have the lambs.
    11
    12   Q.   We are talking about just cattle?
    13        A.  Yes.
    14
    15   Q.   So when you say 150 to 300 a day, can we safely multiply
    16        that by five to get the throughput for one of the weeks you
    17        were there, for example?
    18        A.  Yes.  As I said before, the throughput is a very
    19        misleading figure in the slaughter industry.  The thing
    20        that really counts, we could have 150 animals a day and we
    21        would have finished by breakfast time.  We started
    22        slaughtering at 6 because the line speed was so high.
    23
    24   Q.   But in terms of the volume in the chillers and things like
    25        that?
    26        A.  Right, yes.
    27
    28   Q.   Then that would have an effect, the total throughput would
    29        have an effect?
    30        A.  Yes.
    31
    32   Q.   You said 150 to 300 a day.  Could we safely say that it was
    33        something between 750 and 1500 in a week that would have
    34        gone through Jarretts at that time?
    35        A.  Yes.
    36
    37   Q.   Which is basically multiplying by five?
    38        A.  Yes.
    39
    40   MR. MORRIS:  Mr. Bennett for McDonald's said that they were
    41        processing 400 to 500 cattle a week and that was the
    42        maximum capacity a plant could work to.  If it is true what
    43        he said, would you be concerned in fact that they were
    44        taking 750 to 1500?
    45        A.  Well, there was concern expressed both by me and by
    46        Jarretts about the fact that we had to move the carcasses
    47        out of the chillers after one night's, after 24 hours
    48        chilling.  They knew and I knew, I was not suggesting they
    49        would turn their chillers at a cooler temperature because
    50        that would immediately lead to poor quality, and I am 
    51        normally just as concerned about the quality as I am 
    52        concerned about the public health issues, and so our only 
    53        choice was really to take the carcasses out earlier and
    54        hope that the temperatures would be down.  But there was no
    55        possibility for that because we had to move them on.  Both
    56        sides recognised the problem during the time I was there,
    57        at least there was no dispute about it.  It could be, as
    58        far as Mr. Bennett is concerned, that he was there at a
    59        different time.  He perhaps was there during the time when
    60        they are mainly slaughtering sheep, which means they will

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