HC Deb 12 March 1941 vol 369 c1281
General Sir George Jeffreys

asked the Minister 'of Agriculture how many days' meat ration for the country is represented by the animals slaughtered since the start of the war for actual or potential infection by foot-and-mouth disease; and whether, if slaughter is still insisted on in the case of infected animals, it can, in the interests of food, be restricted in the case of those animals which are not actually diseased?

The Minister of Agriculture (Mr. R. S. Hudson)

The total number of animals slaughtered on account of foot-and-mouth disease since the outbreak of war represents less than one day's meat ration for the whole of the country. The majority of the carcases were salvaged for human consumption. The number of carcases actually destroyed represents so small a quantity as not to be calculable in terms of a day's meat ration.