Day 093 - 28 Feb 95 - Page 26


     
     1        A.  I am -- you ask a lot of questions; let me try to
     2        answer them in parts.  I am not the only one responsible
     3        for this area.  In the United States we have two other
     4        people that work directly with their suppliers.  I have a
     5        global responsibility which includes the US.  I am aware of
     6        some of the practices genetically that were being carried
     7        out in the 80s, but I do not know everything that happened
     8        in the 80s.
     9
    10   Q.   No, not everything.  But, basically, it is true to say that
    11        the meat obtained from a chicken on average over the years
    12        at McDonald's has gone up?  The breeding programme has
    13        successfully increased the amount of flesh, you know, over
    14        a period of the last, let us say, 15 years, it has gone up
    15        all the time gradually?  That has been one of the aims of
    16        the breeding programme?
    17        A.  Let me tell you -----
    18
    19   Q.   "Yes" or "no".
    20
    21   MR. RAMPTON:  My Lord, not "yes" or "no".
    22
    23   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  No, do not worry, Mr. Rampton.  I have every
    24        confidence that Dr. Gomez Gonzalez will not just say "yes"
    25        or "no".
    26
    27   MR. RAMPTON:  My Lord, I hope he will not.
    28
    29   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Give your explanation.
    30
    31   THE WITNESS:  We have -----
    32
    33   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Keep it as short as you can do while giving
    34        justice to your answer.
    35        A.  OK.  What we are looking after is the entire, again the
    36        entire picture.  The main thing about genetic programme, it
    37        is not only genetics, it is the entire -- it is genetics
    38        plus the environment which includes nutrition.  One of the
    39        things that we have done in the past, just let the animal
    40        grow older.  All species, as they grow, develop a higher
    41        proportion of meat to bone ratio.  A small animal, chicken,
    42        has a lot more bone than it is meat.  As it grows and
    43        develops, it has a higher proportion of meat.  So, do the
    44        animals have more meat today than they had in the 80s --
    45        yes, they do.
    46
    47   MR. MORRIS:  They do?
    48        A.  Yes, it is natural.  They are older today than they
    49        were in the 80s.
    50 
    51   Q.   So they were killed in the 80s before seven weeks, were 
    52        they, the male ones? 
    53        A.  It around -----
    54
    55   Q.   Or the female ones?
    56        A.   -- those days 40 to about ------
    57
    58   Q.   They were killed younger in the 80s?
    59        A.  Yes.
    60

Prev Next Index