§ 51. Mr. Heathcoat Amoryasked the Minister of Food whether he is aware of the unsatisfactory quality of much of the meat now being distributed to butchers in the county of Devon, resulting in both hardship and waste; and what action he proposes to take.
§ Dr. SummerskillThe quality of meat at present being distributed to butchers in Devon is not below that for the country as a whole, and I cannot agree that much of the meat is not of satisfactory quality.
Mr. AmoryDoes the hon. Lady realise that some of this meat is absolutely unfit for human consumption, and in view of the relatively poor quality of the meat, does she not feel that it is a shocking waste of hard-earned foreign currency to spend it on the importation of low quality meat?
§ Dr. SummerskillI think that the difficulty is that the people of Devon have been used to very high-quality home-produced meat and now they are having to share in the imported meat. So far as 456 the second part of the Question is concerned, I would like the hon. Member to know that recently an official of the Ministry has been in Devon, and other places, and has contacted 90 per cent. of the chairmen of retail buying committees, none of whom has made any grave complaint.