Day 098 - 07 Mar 95 - Page 09

     
     1   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Put it.  What is it?
     2
     3   MR. MORRIS:  I want to see whether your company would be
     4        concerned about hygiene of potential cross-contamination.
     5
     6   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Can you see a way that hygiene would be
     7        compromised by a man walking from one side of the line to
     8        the other.
     9
    10   MR. MORRIS:  With material, with raw material.
    11
    12   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  In any way at all as things happen in
    13        your  -----
    14        A.  I can only speak for our operation.
    15
    16   Q.   That is all you can do.
    17        A.  But we do not really store things in barrows or bins to
    18        move anyway.  They are taken away by chutes or on hooks.
    19
    20   MR. MORRIS:  Is one of the reasons you do that is precisely to
         avoid potential cross-contamination?
    22        A.  Certainly, I mean, hides drop straight down as soon as
    23        they are off down the chute and away, the same with guts
    24        and heads -- sorry, not heads.
    25
    26   Q.   You said something less than one per cent of carcasses were
    27        condemned?
    28        A.  Yes.
    29
    30   Q.   Can you say roughly what that will be when you say "less
    31        than one per cent", is it half a per cent or three-quarters
    32        of a per cent?
    33        A.  I tried to look for it last night, to be honest.  From
    34        memory -- I mean, there are two types of -- total
    35        condemnation of a carcass is actually very rare indeed.
    36        From memory, it is .00 something of a per cent.  It is not
    37        very much at all.
    38
    39   Q.   So most of those are partial condemnations, you are cutting
    40        off some bits and getting rid of the rest?
         A.  The figure I gave you from memory was for total
    42        condemnation, but do not ask me to quote figures because
    43        I really could not tell you.
    44
    45   Q.   When you say condemnation "something less than one per
    46        cent", are we talking about some part of the carcass being
    47        condemned?  You said there are two types of condemnation.
    48        A.  Yes.
    49
    50   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Why not let him explain what kind of 
    51        condemnation there is apart from total condemnation of the 
    52        whole carcass? 
    53        A.  OK. Total condemnation, obviously, the whole thing is
    54        condemned.
    55
    56   Q.   Put that on one side now.
    57        A.  Partial condemnation, at the discretion of the meat
    58        inspectors could be for a part of that carcass becoming
    59        condemned, the rest being passed as fit.
    60