§ 62. Sir I. Fraserasked the Minister of Food if he will allocate more butter or margarine to those who pot and preserve shrimps and other fish.
§ Dr. SummerskillNo, Sir. We are giving the highest allowance possible to all food manufacturers and processors, and we cannot increase the rate of allocation to any specific class of manufacturer at present.
§ Sir I. FraserIn view of the shortage of meat, would not the right hon. Lady agree that this would be a valuable way of getting food of a high protein value, such as Morecambe shrimps, and will she undertake to reconsider this question?
§ Dr. SummerskillI am very sympathetic, but I must remind the hon. Gentleman that it needs half a pound of margarine for every quart of shrimps.
§ 63. Air-Commodore Harveyasked the Minister of Food if, in view of the reduced meat ration, he will increase the fat allocation to enable larger quantities of fish to be cooked in the home.
§ Dr. SummerskillThe total fats ration has been increased twice during the past 15 months and is now higher than it has ever been since January, 1942. Naturally we shall increase it again as soon as we can, but at the moment this is not possible.
§ Air-Commodore HarveyWhen the right hon. Lady talks about the fat ration, does she realise the necessity and desirability for the people to eat more fish, and that unless they get the fats with which to cook it, they cannot do so because they cannot live on steamed fish? Will she look into the matter?
§ Dr. SummerskillI can assure the hon. and gallant Gentleman that we are looking for fats everywhere.