Day 069 - 19 Dec 94 - Page 19
1 batch of McNuggetts or chicken sandwiches were found to
2 have been unfrozen or partially defrosted because of a
3 fault in the refrigeration system, what would happen to
4 that consignment?
5 A. To the product?
6
7 Q. Yes.
8 A. The product will show some definite signs of
9 temperature abuse. When you cook it, that product, it will
10 turn red, as opposed to yellow. The product is dry; the
11 cover when it is frozen is dry. When it is temperature
12 abused, it will pick up some water, if you do not follow
13 the conditions; and it is just a physical process. You
14 know, hot air will hold water. Cold air will be very dry.
15 You can see that in Chicago; you can see the humidity in
16 the rainforests. Our products are very, very cold at that
17 temperature, are very, very dry, because all of the
18 moisture is frozen. If you temperature abuse it, it will
19 pick up that moisture. When you cook it, that moisture
20 will be released in the oil. It is pure physics: when
21 something releases, something has to go in, and it goes to
22 the oil. There is more oil that goes in contact with the
23 chicken and will burn our cover, our Nuggetts. So, any
24 temperature abused product, you will see that at the
25 restaurant immediately.
26
27 Q. I was going to what the McDonald's people would do with the
28 product if they got a consignment of temperature abused
29 Chicken McNuggetts?
30 A. We will not sell it. We will notify Tyson and the
31 distribution centres and they will follow up.
32
33 Q. Then finally with these -- I think it is finally -- on page
34 16 is the ninth of these customers' complaint sheets.
35 These were some Tyson chicken patties from Roger, Arkansas
36 -- I think you have already told us -- not one of the
37 plants that supplies you. Are these pre-cooked or are they
38 raw products, the Tyson chicken patties?
39 A. They are raw.
40
41 Q. So the same product then, are they, as on page 12?
42 A. It is a similar product, yes.
43
44 Q. A similar product.
45 A. Different formula.
46
47 Q. This was not, apparently, an alleged case of food
48 poisoning; this was simply that there were only three,
49 instead of the declared four, patties in the box. Do you
50 see that?
51 A. Yes, I do.
52
53 Q. Again, do you know enough about Tysons' procedures to know
54 how that could have happened, if it did?
55 A. Yes, I do.
56
57 Q. Can you tell us?
58 A. The packaging equipment that is used at Tyson, it is
59 automatic. With that automation process, there are scales
60 throughout the packaging area. Those scales will reject a
