Day 093 - 28 Feb 95 - Page 23


     
     1        A.  No.
     2
     3   Q.   So you have not asked Tyson or Cargill about how many
     4        people they have checking on the birds?
     5        A.  If I do not know it is because I do not know.
     6
     7   Q.   McDonald's have never asked you to find that out?
     8        A.  No.
     9
    10   Q.   Do Tysons' other customers now use the Mr. McDonald
    11        chicken?
    12        A.  I think we went through this before.  There is no
    13        Mr. McDonald chicken.
    14
    15   Q.   Breed?
    16        A.  There is no Mr. McDonald breed.
    17
    18   Q.   I thought there was?
    19        A.  No, there is not.  We currently have breeds.  We do not
    20        have Mr. McDonald breed.  You are talking about a reference
    21        of a book that was published several years ago.  Today we
    22        have totally different birds that are in the past.
    23
    24   Q.   So Mr. McDonald is not used any more?
    25        A.  Mr. McDonald was a reference that somebody published to
    26        a specific type of broiler.  That has changed and it will
    27        change today and it will change tomorrow and it changed
    28        before, they called it Mr. McDonald's.
    29
    30   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  When was Mr. McDonald on the scene?
    31        A.  It is back in the early 80s there was -- and this is
    32        not a specific breed developed for us.  Tyson is involved
    33        in a totally integrated poultry business in which they
    34        produce all the way from the breeds to our products.  The
    35        breeds have been improved constantly since Tysons has been
    36        in the business.
    37
    38        At one point, because we wanted a bigger bird, they
    39        selected some birds for that purpose.  Most of the things,
    40        it was not just genetics, it was also the environment and
    41        the time in which the animals were fed.  In those days it
    42        was typical that a broiler will be fed for about 40 days.
    43        We changed that to about in the 50s, so we could get a
    44        bigger bird that could get more meat in proportion to the
    45        bones that will suit our purposes to make our products.
    46
    47   Q.   Rightly or wrongly, I got the impression that a time came
    48        when a significantly larger bird was produced?
    49        A.  That is correct.
    50 
    51   Q.   And that was called "Mr. McDonald".  For all I know, it had 
    52        some other more scientific name, but the name 
    53        "Mr. McDonald" was attached to it.  Is that right or not?
    54        A.  Yes, it was.
    55
    56   Q.   Over what period of time was that bird used by Tysons for
    57        McDonald's?
    58        A.  OK.  I cannot tell you exactly for how long.  What
    59        I can say is that the breeds are constantly improved.
    60

Prev Next Index