§ 12. Mr. de Freitasasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many prosecutions there were in each of the years 1957, 1956 and 1955 in respect of the quality of contents of ice cream on sale to the public.
§ Mr. John HareI regret that the information is not available.
§ 13. Mr. de Freitasasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the most recent estimate of the proportion of ice cream on sale to the public which contains no real cream.
§ Mr. John HareIce cream manufacturers are not required to make returns of output. I regret, therefore, that information on which to base a reliable estimate is not available.
§ Mr. de FreitasIn view of the fact that so many foreign countries find it 655 quite easy to insist that ice cream on sale to the public is not made of vegetable fats, will the right hon. Gentleman consider amending the regulations so that the consumers and dairy farmers of this country may be similarly protected and ice cream may, in fact, be made out of milk cream?
§ Mr. HareI appreciate the hon. Member's point, but I must point out that during the last seventeen years the public has been buying something which it knows as ice cream, and I do not think that many of them have been under the impression that this in fact contained dairy products—and I think that to change the name arbitrarily would not be very sensible.
Mr. T. WilliamsSurely the right hon. Gentleman must be aware that the average consumer of ice cream is of a very juvenile age and does not, therefore, make inquiries whether the so-called cream is of vegetable origin or dairy produce? Does not he think it is now time for us to ascertain the exact figures in relation to ice cream?
§ Mr. HareThere are two separate parts to that question. I do not agree with the right hon. Gentleman that the consumption of ice cream is confined merely to the young; the middle-aged and elderly have a considerable liking for it. I know that he and I, and many other hon. Members, share the same wish to increase the use of dairy produce in ice cream, but the sensible and right way to do this is to push the sale of dairy ice cream, and considerable progress is being made in that direction.
§ Mr. DoughtyIs my right hon. Friend aware that very large quantities of this article—whatever its name may be—are sold and that it is high time, in these days of plenty, that we should not be forced back to the situation where substitutes can be put into what should be the real article?