§ 2.48 p.m.
§ Lord GainfordMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any guidance is being prepared for the public on the importance of a healthy diet.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Security (Baroness Trumpington)Yes, my Lords. We expect guidance from the Joint Advisory Committee on Nutrition Education to be available later this year.
§ Lord GainfordMy Lords, arising out of that reply, for which I thank my noble friend the Minister, will Her Majesty's Government encourage the producers of food wherever it is practical to state the calorific value on labels on their cans and products?
§ Baroness TrumpingtonMy Lords, in answer to my noble friend, last month, following a request by food industry representatives, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food circulated consultation guidelines for a voluntary scheme which would indicate calorific values.
§ Lord ShinwellMy Lords, if I may ask for information, can the noble Baroness tell us whether, when the Government decide what is a healthy diet, we can be assured that everybody in the country is going to get it?
§ Baroness TrumpingtonMy Lords, the noble Lord's supplementary question is very wide. We cannot ensure anything in a free country where people can make their own choices.
§ Lord AnnanMy Lords, would not the noble Baroness agree that there is no lack of guidance and that every newspaper and every magazine has guidance on the question of diet? Would not the noble Baroness agree that the difficulty for certain Members of your Lordships' House, such as myself, is how to follow it?
§ Baroness TrumpingtonMy Lords, I have been thinking that there must be a reason why I should be working at a place called the Elephant. I agree with the noble Lord.
§ The Earl of RadnorMy Lords, on a more serious note, is my noble friend aware that there are great differences within the medical world on diet and that any precipitous action taken on the lines of the Question originally asked could do damage to certain sections of the farming industry and should not be undertaken lightly at all? Is she further aware that a little of what you fancy does you good?
§ Baroness TrumpingtonMy Lords, I should have thought that I was the living example of that.
Lord Wallace of CoslanyMy Lords, can the noble Baroness say whether the Government might consider stressing the value of home-grown vegetables and, in addition to that, give a little more positive effort in the provision of allotment gardens?
§ Baroness TrumpingtonMy Lords, the noble Lord is well known for the interest he takes in the growing of vegetables. I am sure that he produces excellent quality.
§ Lord ReaMy Lords, can the noble Baroness give us a few more details as to the progress of the food-labelling recommendations by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food which she mentioned in her first reply?
§ Baroness TrumpingtonMy Lords, the guidelines which I mentioned would complement the proposed statutory requirement for fat-content labelling. The Government are considering whether to prescribe by regulation a standard format for the voluntary information so as to avoid the possible confusion among consumers that differing formats might cause.