Day 098 - 07 Mar 95 - Page 16
1 someone is told whether that is positive or negative or
2 that there is either cause for concern or no cause for
3 concern?
4
5 MR. MORRIS: I mean, do you get results within days rather than
6 weeks?
7 A. Yes.
8
9 Q. So, how many days would it take to get a result, say, just
10 approximately from a test from, say, Salmonella?
11 A. Salmonella could take up to five days, I believe.
12
13 Q. E.coli takes a bit longer, does it, normally?
14 A. Yes, with both of those you can get a presumptive
15 result in a much shorter time. In other words, you can
16 have a presumptive positive or a negative. If you have a
17 presumptive -----
18
19 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What sort of time span are we talking about
20 there?
21 A. Again without talking to my microbiologist, I do not
22 know, but I think you can probably get the E.coli one,
23 presumptive, within 24 hours, 24 to 48 hours.
24
25 Q. And Salmonella?
26 A. A little longer, I think.
27
28 MR. MORRIS: So, really, these tests are for your educational
29 purposes to test the general quality of meat that is
30 arriving. They are not used to condemn particular
31 carcasses because they have already gone through the line
32 and they are out the other end, basically?
33 A. To a certain extent that is true, I suppose, but
34 obviously we have storage and holding before dispatch and
35 there are some lee times in that area. From when we take a
36 sample of a carcass in the slaughter hall, it might be
37 three days anyway until it is in a box, if you like.
38
39 Q. But if you have six to 800 carcasses going through a day,
40 you do not want to get a big backlog, do you? I mean, you
41 are generally shifting 800 a day as well out the other end?
42 A. Sure, yes.
43
44 Q. Is that quite common to find Salmonella? We have had
45 figures for chickens of something like 25 per cent.
46
47 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, I think it is pretty obvious we have to
48 distinguish. You are being asked about beef. Mr. Morris
49 wants to know if you can give an indication of how often
50 frequently you find Salmonella.
51
52 MR. MORRIS: What kind of percentage of the tests would show
53 positive for Salmonella?
54 A. Not a very high percentage at all.
55
56 Q. Just roughly?
57 A. I cannot tell you. I do not know.
58
59 Q. Are we talking single figures or double figures?
60 A. Single figures, I would think, in percentage terms, but
