§ 13. Mrs. Joyce Butlerasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received asking him to make regulations to prohibit the sale of unsterilised bone meal to the public.
§ Mr. StrangNone, but my Department is co-operating with the Department of Health and Social Security in a review of present sterilisation and voluntary labelling arrangements.
§ Mrs. ButlerI thank my hon. Friend for that reply. Is he aware that many shoppers are concerned that unsterilised bone meal is widely on sale in retail units which also sell food? It is also on sale at self-service garden centres where children may come into contact with it. In view of the danger of anthrax from using bone meal, and because of the death last year from this source, will my hon. Friend look at the regulations dealing with the retail sale of bone meal and, in particular, consider whether he can tighten them?
§ Mr. StrangI understand and sympathise with my hon. Friend's deep concern and interest in these matters. I assure her that I shall bring to the attention of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Services the points she has made, so that they are taken into account in the context of the current review.