Day 098 - 07 Mar 95 - Page 12

     
     1
     2   Q.   Can you say what they are, the other ones?
     3        A.  Yes, Clostridium perfringens, pseudomonas aeroginosa.
     4
     5   Q.   So the Salmonella, E.coli, TVC and coli forms are done,
     6        what, weekly, daily?
     7        A.  Daily.
     8
     9   Q.   The environmental ones, how often are they done?
    10        A.  On a kind of ad hoc basis as well.  We are monitoring,
    11        if we are -- really, the purpose of those is to monitor the
    12        effectiveness of the cleaning operation.  So, we use it as
    13        a sort of barometer of how well the cleaners are
    14        performing.  Then if we need to investigate a particular
    15        area we might say:  "Right, we need the whole of this room
    16        or this machine monitored".
    17
    18   Q.   So the environmental tests, in an average week, would they
    19        be done once or twice in a week or what?
    20        A.  Some weeks they might be done every day.  It is
         difficult to say.
    22
    23   Q.   How long have you had labs on site?
    24        A.  10 years.
    25
    26   Q.   10 years?
    27        A.  Yes.
    28
    29   Q.   How long have you been doing -- the E.coli testing is only
    30        recent, is it not?
    31        A.  Relatively recent, yes.
    32
    33   Q.   Do you remember when it started?
    34        A.  I am terrible with dates -- it is shortly after the
    35        McKey addendum to their specification that required that we
    36        tested for 0157.
    37
    38   Q.   So the other testing, Salmonella, TVC, coli forms, when
    39        were they introduced, those tests, those specific -- I mean
    40        TVC counts, presumably, have been done for a very long
         time?
    42        A.  More or less when we started the laboratory, yes.
    43
    44   Q.   When were the Salmonella and coli forms -----
    45        A.  Salmonella -- take them one at a time.  Salmonella is
    46        fairly recent also, really, it has come along with the
    47        development of our HACCP programme over the last two
    48        years.  Coli forms, it is a bit easier, so we have been
    49        doing that for a little bit longer, probably almost as long
    50        as the TVC actually.  Do you want me to go on with the 
    51        different tests that we do? 
    52 
    53   Q.   No.  So, when you have a sample from a carcass or even from
    54        the environment, does that sample do one test and then you
    55        get another sample to do another test, or are all tests
    56        from the same sample?
    57        A.  It is possible -- you can take a -- once you have a
    58        sample and you have homogenised it in the sterile liquid,
    59        it is possible to take volumes of that liquid to carry out
    60        all the tests that I have mentioned if you need to,