Day 068 - 16 Dec 94 - Page 12

     
     1        A.  McDonald's specification for our beef patties.  I have
     2        seen all of the product specifications that we have had
     3        since the first ones; and, if I remember correctly, it was
     4        in the 50s.  Since the very beginning, we state in our
     5        product specification that it must be 100 per cent domestic
     6        beef.  When we make that claim and we put it on our box, as
     7        I mentioned before, it must be regulated by the US
     8        Department of Agriculture.
     9
    10   MR. MORRIS:  So these specifications which you have seen, are
    11        they in your office back in Chicago, or wherever?
    12        A.  Yes, they are.
    13
    14   Q.   Going back to 1954?
    15        A.  That is correct, sir, about that time.  I am not sure
    16        about the exact date.  But it goes back to the very first
    17        one that we had.
    18
    19   Q.   The words they used were "100 per cent domestic beef"?
    20        A.  That is correct.  If I may add, it may say "only" or
         "100", but it is the same thing.
    22
    23   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  But it says "domestic beef" rather than "US
    24        beef", or something like that, does it?
    25        A.  Yes.  According to the US regulation, it is the
    26        Continental -- as far as US is concerned, it is
    27        Continental.
    28
    29   Q.   Do not worry about that.  We are just on the
    30        specification.  You were asked whether those were the exact
    31        words, and you said that there might be "only" rather than
    32        "100 per cent"?
    33        A.  Yes.
    34
    35   Q.   I was just checking that your recollection is that the
    36        phrase used is "domestic beef" rather than "US beef", or
    37        something like that?
    38        A.  That is correct.  Maybe I can clarify?  The US
    39        describes the beef as "domestic" or "imported".  That is
    40        the terminology that they use.  So when we put it on our
         label, it has to follow the guidelines, the labelling
    42        guidelines, so there is that extension between domestic and
    43        imported.  So "domestic" means "US beef".
    44
    45   Q.   "Domestic" means that which could be probably described on
    46        labels as "US beef"?
    47        A.  That is correct, or that it originated from the US.
    48
    49   MR. MORRIS:   This is what is known as a tangent.  We have gone
    50        off on a tangent. 
    51 
    52   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Just pause for a moment, please, Mr. Morris. 
    53           Yes?
    54
    55   MR. MORRIS:  So when the US DA label a consignment "US beef",
    56        that means it is domestic beef; is that correct?
    57        A.  No.  Let me just clarify.  The US DA does not label.
    58        They grant the labelling permit.  We label -- our suppliers
    59        label the boxes.  In order to get that on the label, you
    60        have to have an approval for that, so you have to submit a