Day 069 - 19 Dec 94 - Page 09

     
     1        set up the cover, and it goes to a freezer and goes to
     2        packaging.  Then it goes through a metal detector.  It is
     3        packaged.  Basically, it is stored for a day or two, and
     4        then sent to the distribution centres.
     5
     6   Q.   So, taking the two parts of that process which might be
     7        important here, you said that the meat which goes into a
     8        chicken sandwich is ground up chicken; is that right?
     9        A.  Yes, it is.
    10
    11   Q.   I think you said that the little pieces of chicken, after
    12        the grinding, are no more than a quarter of an inch in
    13        diameter?
    14        A.  Sorry -- it was half an inch; in the US, it is half an
    15        inch.
    16
    17   Q.   I am not asking you to comment or offer any view about
    18        whether this might be the case in these particular cases,
    19        but, in your experience and from your knowledge of the
    20        business, does it happen from time to time that people, as
         it were, pretend that they have found foreign bodies in
    22        McDonald's food?
    23        A.  Very often, yes.
    24
    25   Q.   Can you turn over to the next one, which I have numbered
    26        "2" at the top?  This dates from 18th March, 1993.  It is
    27        a Chicken McNugget, and it originates from the same plant
    28        at Nashville, Arkansas.  In this particular case -- and
    29        I am afraid it is cut off -- "Stephen Thomas, Food
    30        Inspector for Vets Services" -- and this is in Alaska,
    31        I think, Adak, Alaska --  "stated that a consumer at
    32        McDonald's bit into small metal ring embedded in a Chicken
    33        McNuggett.  No injury was involved.  Ring appeared to be
    34        portion of a metal clip.  Sgt Thomas called this compliance
    35        office as Tysons food Inc. was located in the Baton Rouge
    36        area.  Acting Supervisor Al Bush was notified this date.
    37        Sgt Thomas stated his office had conducted a review at
    38        McDonald's in Adak, Alaska."
    39
    40        We have no more information.  There is no second page to
         this document.
    42
    43        Can you tell me something, please, about the efficiency of
    44        the metal detector which you say forms part of the Tyson
    45        manufacturing process?
    46        A.  Yes.  It is capable of detecting metal no bigger than
    47        1.5 millimetres.  I mean, it will detect any metal bigger
    48        than 1.5 millimetres.
    49
    50   Q.   We do not, I think, find in this document what the size of 
    51        this small metal ring was, and we do not know what the 
    52        metal clip of which it is said to have been a part, or it 
    53        might have been a part, we do not know what that metal clip
    54        was.  Are there any metal clips used in the manufacturing
    55        process of these chickens at any stage in Chicken
    56        McNuggett?
    57        A.  No, there is not.
    58
    59   Q.   Are the McNuggetts made up of ground up chicken or are they
    60        just burned pieces?