Day 080 - 30 Jan 95 - Page 05
1 particular item, rather.
2
3 Q. Then again on page E there is under "Inspection 4" some
4 contamination with the flank around the split line?
5 A. Yes. Can you get this into context? You are looking
6 at a report on a visit to an abattoir by an inspector. If
7 on the particular case here, on the first one you
8 mentioned, the hide point, "Not effective. Contamination
9 at this stage", that would have been followed up and after
10 the hide is removed, as I said in evidence last week, the
11 whole carcass is washed. This is just proving that my
12 inspectors when they go around the premises look at things
13 and make comments. If you go to your second one, "flank
14 around the split line, some contamination", that would be
15 again covered by spraying the carcass.
16
17 Q. So are you saying that those things are not important
18 because you are going to wash them off?
19 A. They are not important in the context of a side of beef
20 going through an abattoir. All it means is that my
21 inspectors are pointing out to the abattoir when things are
22 not perfect.
23
24 Q. If there is no problem with it, why do they not just take
25 them straight through the line? It does not matter how
26 they do it, as long as you give them a good wash at the end
27 of it?
28 A. Well, you do not run a business or an inspection like
29 that. What I do not think has been grasped by you so far
30 in anything I have said is that we are trying all the time
31 to improve, to set high standards. As I have said to you
32 previously, McKey Food Service, in my opinion and in the
33 opinion of many of my professional colleagues, has got the
34 highest standards it is possible to achieve in the meat
35 industry in Great Britain.
36
37 Q. It is possible?
38 A. The highest it is possible to achieve.
39
40 Q. So you could not improve anything?
41 A. Of course you can. I only said three minutes ago we
42 are continually improving. If you ask me in six months
43 time, we might have 50 quality control checks.
44
45 Q. On to page G, the third paragraph: "The slaughter line is
46 well spaced and kept clean on an ongoing basis. There was
47 contamination from the hide at the time of the audit. This
48 was at the preskinning stage and can be rectified by
49 flaying from the top of the animal rather than the bottom
50 from the brisket. All stations have sterilizers for
51 equipment and were all being used. The carcasses were
52 having a final wash but this needed to be more effective as
53 all contamination was not removed". So, there was another
54 problem, was there not?
55 A. Yes.
56
57 Q. There was contamination in the first place and then it was
58 not being washed off properly which is what you say is the
59 defence?
60 A. When my inspector would see that, he would ensure that
