Day 105 - 16 Mar 95 - Page 06
1 testing had started in the last two or three years or
2 something for that?
3 A. Yes.
4
5 Q. But are you aware it has been a concern in America for a
6 much greater period?
7 A. I believe seven years, eight years, ago there were
8 cases identified in America and Canada, yes.
9
10 Q. Did you know of a case involving McDonald's products, meat
11 products, in 1982 in America affecting, I think it is, 47
12 people?
13 A. I have not detailed knowledge of that outbreak.
14
15 Q. Have you heard of it?
16 A. I have heard of it in general terms. I knew that cases
17 of this micro organism had occurred in America in the past.
18
19 Q. So do the industries in this country wait until there is a
20 major incident before they take action, or do they learn
21 from situations in other countries?
22 A. The question of a major incident would not apply in
23 this particular case but, in my experience, the industry
24 takes account of the information available to it at a given
25 time in deciding what measures to adopt. The authorities
26 in the form of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and
27 Food also take account of whatever information they have in
28 drafting regulations and enforcing them.
29
30 Q. You said "a major incident would not apply in this case";
31 what did you mean by that?
32 A. In terms of epidemiology, that is the study of disease
33 patterns and disease effects in the population, in the case
34 of the United Kingdom with a population of some 60 million,
35 eating food three or four times a day in a year, the
36 incidence of, say, 30, 40, 50 cases of food poisoning does
37 not constitute a major incident.
38
39 It is clearly a major incident for the people concerned
40 because it is highly unpleasant to get food poisoning but,
41 in terms of public health and general pattern of disease
42 and compared with major public health problems, I would not
43 consider that number of cases to be a major incident.
44
45 Q. It is a major incident for the company concerned?
46 A. Indeed. It is always a major concern of any company to
47 ensure that its food is safe. I am talking in terms of
48 population and disease patterns in that population in
49 general terms.
50
51 Q. Of course, just because 40 or something may be reported,
52 because of the nature of the hamburger industry, it is
53 possible that tens of thousands of people may have eaten
54 the source of the food poisoning, is it not?
55 A. With any large company distributing widely, clearly, it
56 is possible for large numbers of people to consume the
57 product. I hesitate to connect that with food poisoning.
58 There seem to be two different issues there.
59
60 Q. You will be aware of the inherent cross-contamination that
