Day 217 - 09 02 96 - Page 17
DAY 217
MRS. HOVI, Examined:
1 pithing.
2
3 MR. MORRIS: Mr. Bone says, in the middle of
4 paragraph 21: "There is no risk of contamination from
5 pithing, because the pithing rod passes through the bone
6 cavity in the head and into the spinal column. It does not
7 touch any flesh." Is there any comment on that?
8 A. That is a point -- I was just going to come to that --
9 that is a point that has been disputed recently, and
10 pithing is probably going to come under serious
11 consideration at all abattoirs since the last report on it.
12
13 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What do you say about that?
14 A. Yes, of course it introduces bacteria inside the
15 carcass.
16
17 Q. How does it do that?
18 A. It enters the spinal cavity. It goes into the spinal
19 cavity about this length, about 40 centimetres, and the
20 spinal cavity is then exposed when the carcass is split by
21 the carcass saw, and any dirt that is inside the spinal
22 cavity will then be spread by the carcass or all over the
23 carcass.
24
25 That is where the concern about spinal cords and BSE has
26 come from. The carcass saw is a very powerful machine.
27 Any other contamination that is within the spinal cavity is
28 obviously of some concern.
29
30 Q. Yes.
31 A. So that was the story of the pithing rod. As far as
32 paragraphs 22 and 23 are concerned, it was recognised even
33 in the Ministry of Agriculture inspectors' reports that
34 there was a shortage of sterilizers, and the sterilizers
35 were not used by the slaughtermen the way they should be
36 used because of the distance that they would have to walk
37 and because of the speed of the line that was operated at
38 Jarrets.
39
40 MR. MORRIS: Can I ask a question about these inspection
41 reports, Ministry of Agriculture inspection reports? Where
42 were those documents kept?
43 A. I would -- I know that there would be a copy at the
44 OVS's office at Jarrets. There would be a copy -- at the
45 time I was working for Jarrets, the Local Authority was
46 responsible for the meat inspection and they would,
47 obviously, the Environmental Health office would have one
48 copy. The Ministry of Agriculture would obviously keep
49 their own copy and one copy would be sent to Jarrets
50 themselves.
51
52 Q. But Mr. Bone would have access to that kind of material?
53 A. I would imagine, yes. Paragraph 24, we have already
54 dealt with that issue. Paragraph 25, we have dealt with
55 the situation with the hide chain sterilizer.
56
57 MR. MORRIS: The hide chain is the same as the hide puller?
58 A. Hide puller, yes.
59
60 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You have dealt with that.
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