Day 098 - 07 Mar 95 - Page 29

     
     1   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Do you know how cattle are aged, generally
     2        speaking, on examination, like looking at horses' teeth?
     3        A.  Yes, it is done a lot by denticians, sir.
     4
     5   Q.   That is so with all ruminants, I suppose ---
     6        A.  I believe so.
     7
     8   Q.  -- grinding away for long periods.
     9
    10   MR. MORRIS:  Just going on to your relationship with
    11        supermarkets that buy your meat, you say they visit a lot?
    12        A.  Yes.
    13
    14   Q.   Why do they come down so often?  What are their concerns?
    15        A.  I do not know particular concerns, but they are coming
    16        to inspect our adherence to their specifications in terms
    17        of -----
    18
    19   Q.   Why do they visit so often?  You said they visit a lot.  I
    20        do not know how many times that is.  Is that just because
         it is the responsible thing to do or have they any
    22        particular concerns?
    23        A.  I think so, yes.  Remember that they have, I mean,
    24        supermarkets have big departments, you know.  They do not
    25        just have a man that checks the meat that goes to them.
    26        They have people who check butchery specifications, people
    27        who check tray weights, for instance, what they call
    28        "yields" from packs and different things.  We also do a
    29        certain amount of product development work with them.
    30
    31   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Presumably, it is of interest to them to see
    32        what is coming through?
    33        A.  Of course, yes.  I mean, the sort of things which we
    34        pack, in some cases we are the last line between production
    35        and the customer shelf.  They do not butcher it in-store,
    36        so obviously they need to make sure that what we are
    37        producing in retail packs is up to the mark.  It is the
    38        last thing that they see.
    39
    40   MR. MORRIS:  Do they have any specifications beyond weight and
         the hygiene and meat quality and that kind of stuff?
    42        A.  With regard to?
    43
    44   Q.   Supermarkets?
    45        A.  Yes.
    46
    47   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Keep your voice up.
    48        A.  Sorry.
    49
    50   MR. MORRIS:  What specification? 
    51        A.  Oh, typical supermarket specification would, depending 
    52        on the product, specify the type of animal going into that 
    53        product; it would specify the method of slaughter; it would
    54        specify certain chilling regimes in some cases; it would
    55        specify butchery down how many millimetres of this
    56        particular tendon you remove; it would specify the type of
    57        bag which you would put the product into, if you are vacuum
    58        packing it; the type of manufacture of the packing pack or
    59        films which we would perform, specify the gas mixtures
    60        which we put into those packs; the label; the information