§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they gave Miss Dorothy Carter any warning before prosecuting her for the production and sale of excellent marmalade from a special recipe requiring a lesser quantity of sugar than that laid down by Ministry of Food regulations.]
§ THE JOINT PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES (LORD CARRINGTON)My Lords, responsibility for enforcing legal standards of composition for food rests with the local food and drugs authority. Before instituting the proceedings on September 3 last, the East Sussex County Council had warned Miss Carter in 1950, 1951 and again in 1952 that her preserves did not conform to the requirements of the Food Standards (Preserves) Order, 1944. The requirements of the legal standard were 1065 also explained to Miss Carter in a letter which the Ministry of Food sent her on May 8, 1950
LORD HAWKEMy Lords, in thanking the noble Lord for his reply, may I ask if he will convey to his right honourable friend that the general public would be greatly reassured if they knew that the Minister personally gave attention to these matters before any prosecution was launched?
§ LORD CARRINGTONMy Lords, I will draw my right honourable friend's attention to what my noble friend has said.