Day 295 - 06 Nov 96 - Page 13
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2 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, but is two incidences a lot or very
3 few, or what?
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5 MR. MORRIS: I would say that E.Coli is always present in beef.
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7 MR. JUSTICE BELL: 0157H is not. It was not discovered in
8 America until the outbreaks there, and it was not
9 discovered in this country until Preston. It is clearly
10 very serious, or potentially serious, but the picture is it
11 is very rare. E.Coli of various kinds are very common, but
12 the picture at the moment that I have got is that E.Coli
13 0157H is rare but its potential for damage is such that it
14 has to be taken seriously. It is the usual risk
15 assessment. You balance the frequency or rarity of the
16 incidences against the severity of the consequences, if it
17 does appear.
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19 MR. MORRIS: Right. My understanding is that it is prevalent
20 in British herds.
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22 MR JUSTICE BELL: Not 0157H.
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24 MR. RAMPTON: Dr. North gave some figures. I think one of them
25 was four in six hundred cows.
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27 MR. MORRIS: That is quite prevalent.
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29 MR JUSTICE BELL: I may be wrong, which is why I am asking the
30 questions, but -----
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32 MR. MORRIS: Even working on that figure, four in 600,
33 something just under one percent, I would say that is
34 extremely prevalent of a dangerous contaminant, because
35 McDonald's system absolutely guarantees that the
36 contamination will be spread throughout the products that
37 they produce.
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39 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Just pause a moment.
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41 MR. MORRIS: That was Dr. North.
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43 MR JUSTICE BELL: Are you really saying that -- because one has
44 to use one's words carefully -- it guarantees that it would
45 be spread because it is in the gut to start with?
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47 MR. MORRIS: Yes.
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49 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It is not in the cow. Certainly, is not in
50 the meat, because to start with the moment the animal is
51 killed -- because assuming the animal is healthy, none of
52 these organisms are found in healthy muscles.
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54 MR. MORRIS: Right. But -----
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56 MS. STEEL: I think, bearing in mind that they use beef from
57 6,900 head of cattle per week, that actually means there is
58 quite a lot of potential for the spread of E.Coli, for
59 E.Coli to get into the products.
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