§ 15. Lieut.-Colonel Liptonasked the Minister of Food the average age of eggs now being sold in retail shops.
§ Lieut.-Colonel LiptonIs not the Parliamentary Secretary aware that all the eggs now being sold in retail shops go through the Ministry of Food's packing stations? Surely he must be in a position to know that many of the eggs are a little too old to preserve and that many housewives will be deceived and disappointed?
Dr. HillThe error the hon. and gallant Gentleman makes is to think that they are the Ministry of Food's packing stations. They never were, and they are not today. I am sorry that the hon. and gallant Gentleman is now to be deprived of his favourite series of questions on the age of eggs.
§ Lieut.-Colonel LiptonWill the Parliamentary Secretary make clear to what extent the Government are responsible for eggs now being sold in grocers shops which bear the stamp of the packing stations?
Dr. HillThe grading standards are the same as in the past. The Government's responsibility is to secure that the price paid to producers for eggs does not fall below the floor price which has been announced.
§ 17. Mrs. Mannasked the Minister of Food if he will take steps to control the price of eggs bought in bulk during the flush period for preserving.
§ Mrs. MannIs the hon. Gentleman aware that his right hon. and gallant Friend told the House last week that he wanted to encourage housewives to preserve eggs at this season, and that housewives find that eggs for preserving cost 50 to 70 per cent. more than ordinary eggs?
Dr. HllFollowing decontrol, the prices of both Grade A and Grade B eggs are less than they were immediately before decontrol and less than they were at the corresponding time the previous year, despite the disappearance of the subsidy.
§ Brigadier Prior-PalmerIs it not a fact that one can buy eggs at 3½d. each at this moment if they are bought by the dozen?
§ Mrs. MannDoes the hon. Gentleman know that eggs for preserving are not the usual eggs and that they must be a day old or not much more?