HC Deb 20 February 1946 vol 419 c1153
56. Mrs. Ayrton Gould

asked the Minister of Food whether, in view of the reduction in the domestic fat rations, he will give an assurance that whatever dried eggs are imported into this country from the Dominions shall be added to domestic rations and not allocated to catering establishments.

Sir B. Smith

I would refer my hon. Friend to the statement about the supplies of dried egg which I made in the House on 6th February.

Mrs. Ayrton Gould

Is the Minister of Food aware that in allocating dried egg to restaurants and confectioners he is preventing the poorest housewives, who cannot afford the money to go to restaurants or the time to queue up, from getting dried egg; and that if he were to supply them in -bulk to the grocers, the dried egg could be weighed out into bags and sold in small quantities to the housewives, who would see that it did not go bad?

Sir B. Smith

No, Sir. The dried egg is allocated to the baking and the catering trades on the basis of 75 per cent, of their prewar requirements. If I were to take it from them at this moment there would be no cakes or pastry for anyone in the country.