Day 092 - 27 Feb 95 - Page 26

     
     1        A.  No, not for poultry.
     2
     3   Q.   We heard from Mr. Pattison of Sun Valley that they use
     4        antibiotics regularly in the food.
     5
     6   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  You must be careful.  I thought we were still
     7        in the United States.
     8
     9   MS. STEEL:  Yes.
    10
    11   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  If we move worldwide or back to the UK, make
    12        it clear.  We are still in the United States?
    13
    14   MS. STEEL:  We are still in the United States.
    15        (To the witness):  We heard from Mr. Pattison that they
    16        were used routinely in the UK.  Do you think that the USA
    17        is different to that?
    18        A.  Yes, it is.
    19
    20   Q.   It is?
         A.  Yes.
    22
    23   Q.   How long has that been the case?
    24        A.  I do not know.  I have been with McDonald's and our
    25        suppliers, which is Tyson and Keystone, have not used
    26        antibiotics since I have been with the company.
    27
    28   Q.   Why is that?
    29        A.  Oh, simply it costs too much.
    30
    31   Q.   They cost too much?
    32        A.  They cost too much and we are getting better and
    33        better.  If I can give you an example of Tyson, for
    34        instance:  They control the environment so well from the
    35        very, very beginning.  Most of the causes of disease or how
    36        bacteria can be transported into a growing house comes from
    37        the hatcheries.  They control their own hatcheries.  They
    38        control their own breeding stock.  So, if you can control
    39        that and eliminate the source of bacteria, then there is no
    40        need for antibiotics.  You will see people will use
         antibiotics when they do not have that kind of expertise or
    42        control, and it takes time to develop that kind of
    43        expertise and it is expensive.
    44
    45   Q.   The pigs, are they the same as the cattle in terms of
    46        antibiotics usage?
    47        A.  That one, I do not know for sure.
    48
    49   Q.   You do not know?
    50        A.  No. 
    51 
    52   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Used in the feed in feeding lots, cattle 
    53        feeding lots, in the States, is that for a growth promoting
    54        effect?
    55        A.  Yes, to some degree.  It prevents a lot of the cattle
    56        that comes from, let us say -- there is the different
    57        segments of the industry.  When the cattle comes into a
    58        feed lot, they do not know the -- many cattle, because it
    59        is a new environment, because it is a new phase in their
    60        growth, if you give an antibiotic before they get sick they