HC Deb 01 December 1927 vol 211 cc684-5
21. Brigadier-General WARNER

asked the President of the Board of Education under whose direction and at what places is research work being carried out in connection with the cold storage of fruit; has it been found that fruit preserved in cold storage is susceptible to any special diseases; and is it proposed to publish information as to the recent results of the investigations made as to the most suitable temperature for the storage of certain varieties of fruit?

The PRESIDENT of the BOARD of EDUCATION (Lord Eustace Percy)

Research in connection with the cold storage of fruit is carried out in Great Britain by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. The research is planned and supervised by the Food Investigation Board and its committees, and is directed by Sir W. B. Hardy, F.R.S., Director of Food Investigation; it is conducted mainly at the Low Temperature Research Station, Cambridge, and also at the National Physical Laboratory, the Imperial College of Science and Technology, South Kensington, and the Horticultural Research Institute, Long Ashton. It has been found that fruit in cold storage is susceptible to special diseases, and a special report, entitled "Functional Diseases of Apples in Cold Storage," has been published by His Majesty's Stationery Office. As and when information is available as to the temperatures suitable for the storage of fruit, it is published by His Majesty's Stationery Office either in the Annual Reports of the Food Investigation Board or in one of the series of Food Investigation Special Reports.

Mr. HARDIE

Is the fruit washed before it is put into cold storage; and, if not, what is the effect of intense cold upon arsenic still retained in the skin of an apple?

Lord E. PERCY

I must ask for notice of that question.

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