§ 5. Mr. Doddsasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement giving details of the response of producers and manufacturers to his invitation to give their point of view on the recommendation of the Preservatives Sub-Committee of the Food Standards Committee to ban certain colouring substances in foods.
§ The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mr. Heathcoat Amory)Comments have been received from nearly 30 different interests, including local authority and professional organisations as well as representatives of producers and manufacturers. In general they relate to the criteria for assessing the suitability of colours for use in food, specifications of purity, labelling provisions and the need for additional colours. As I have already informed the hon. Member, there has also been some objection to the principle of a restricted list of colours.
§ Mr. DoddsDoes not the report of the Sub-Committee indicate that there is far too much arsenic in the coal-tar dyes used in food? Unless the Minister takes some action to eliminate it, we shall soon be pickled in chemicals.
Mr. AmoryI am sure the hon. Gentleman will agree that, having given the Food Standards Committee and its Sub-Committee certain responsibilities, I must certainly give them a chance of carrying them out and wait for the Sub-Committee to report to me.