Day 100 - 09 Mar 95 - Page 20

     
     1        This was before I actually joined McDonald's.  It does not
     2        say that they have accepted responsibility.
     3
     4   Q.   No, they have accepted that it was possible?
     5        A.  They have accepted that a worm may have been concealed
     6        in the lettuce heads whilst on their premises.
     7
     8   Q.   So you are saying they are not accepting that it is
     9        possible?
    10        A.  Well, it does not say here they are accepting that a
    11        live worm could have survived through the vacuum packing
    12        and distribution processes.
    13
    14   Q.   So are you saying that this is a carefully worded letter
    15        designed to fob off this person who has been making a
    16        complaint, Mr. Lynch?
    17        A.  I would not say it is to "fob off".  As I said
    18        yesterday, even if we have complaints that we find
    19        extremely suspect, we still handle them in the proper
    20        manner and I believe this is what has been done.
    21
    22   Q.   The indication is there, is it not, that they think it is
    23        possible that the worm that Mr. Lynch found could have come
    24        from them?
    25        A.  They are saying that the worm could have been present
    26        in their lettuce heads.  I do not know what information was
    27        given to their suppliers.
    28
    29   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  We will take that as part of the overall
    30        letter.  It is being suggested that if you read that
    31        letter, at very least, you would treat it as an acceptance
    32        that it was possible that there was a worm in the burger?
    33        A.  That it is possible there is a worm in the burger,
    34        yes.  It does not mention anything about the worm being
    35        live.  That is the most important part of the thing to me.
    36        I could accept that a worm could survive intact through the
    37        processing, but I definitely could not agree that it could
    38        survive the vacuum packing process.  To me, that is
    39        impossible.  I do not know whether the suppliers were given
    40        that information.
    41
    42   MR. RAMPTON:  My Lord, may I say this, it may help your
    43        Lordship:  Absent any kind of a witness statement from
    44        Shaun Lynch, and direct evidence, I am not sure where it is
    45        that we find the accusation that the worm was alive, except
    46        from the northern edition of the Daily Mirror which is in
    47        the first appendix to Mr. Lynch's second statement, in
    48        which it is reported that he saw a three inch worm
    49        wriggling across the floor -- difficult for a dead worm --
    50        and that is all we have got.  So, one knows one's 
    51        newspapers and what one does not know is what Mr. Lynch 
    52        would actually say if he were going to come to give 
    53        evidence.
    54
    55   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  For all I know -- I will have to wait and see
    56         -- Mr. Lynch complained of finding a worm, query, how
    57        long, query, its state of health, in his burger, and the
    58        story, perhaps nothing to do with Mr. Lynch, has grown in
    59        the telling, I do not know.
    60