Day 217 - 09 02 96 - Page 5

 
 

                                                                  DAY 217
 
                                                     MRS. HOVI, Examined:
 
 
 
     1        cleaning; and poor cleaning means poor hygiene.
     2
     3        Since I gave evidence last time, there has been a major
     4        report published by the Government Advisory Committee on
     5        Microbiology on Food Safety, microbiology and safety of
     6        food; and in that statement, for the first time, it is
     7        officially agreed that surface testing such as was done at
     8        Jarrets is a very important pointer to the general hygiene
     9        at meat processing plants and catering establishments, and
    10        that poor readings mean poor hygiene, and poor hygiene
    11        means risk to public health.
    12
    13   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Just pause. (Pause)
    14
    15   THE WITNESS:  Then if we just, relating to that same issue,
    16        paragraph 6.A, Mr. Bone states that if poor cleaning does
    17        happen, it does show up by the swab tests; and it does.
    18        I just want to point out, and it does.  On this particular
    19        plant, it did show -- if these were original results from
    20        Jarrets, the abundance of E recordings did show poor
    21        cleaning and, thus, poor hygiene.
    22
    23        So far as paragraph B, suggesting that the OVS in cases of
    24        poor hygiene and poor cleaning should have stopped the
    25        plant from functioning, as I said earlier, I did not have
    26        access to these results and I was in the process of
    27        establishing a swabbing procedure at the plant, because
    28        I thought that no such procedure existed.
    29
    30   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Pause there.
    31        A.  That is a reason why no action was taken on my behalf.
    32        Point C, again in paragraph number 6, Mr. Bone suggested no
    33        statements were made by the Environmental Health Officers
    34        in Kingswood Borough Council as to the hygiene at Jarrets.
    35        As I told you in my previous evidence, I had two separate
    36        meetings with the Environmental Health officers in
    37        Kingswood before I started my appointment at Jarrets.
    38        I was told that they considered Jarrets a problem plant.
    39        They wanted to have an experienced OVS like myself working
    40        there to set things straight.  These are, as far as I can
    41        remember, direct words of the senior Environmental Health
    42        officer at Kingswood Borough Council.  Whether they told
    43        about their concerns with Jarrets, I have no knowledge of.
    44
    45        Then the next area that I would want to touch is the plant
    46        layout and procedures.
    47
    48   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Where are you?
    49        A.  Paragraph number 8 on page 5.
    50 
    51   Q.   If you just give the page and paragraph, it is helpful. 
    52        5, paragraph 8, yes. 
    53        A.  Mr. Bone here goes through the slaughter procedures at
    54        Jarrets.  I do not know whether -- perhaps if I go through
    55        the statement first and then we look at the map afterwards,
    56        the relevant changes that have been made to the map that
    57        was presented when I first gave evidence.
    58
    59        Mr. Bone says here: "The plan differs from that previously
    60        produced in court to which Mrs. Hovi has referred", and he
 
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