§ Sir E. Graham-Littleasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether he will reconsider the refusal by his Scientific Advisers Division to supply a small quantity of wheat germ to a registered practitioner who wished to use it in his practice, an instance of which has been privately furnished to him; whether this request was considered by any qualified medical practitioner in actual practice; what is the present disposal by the Ministry of wheat germ abstracted from wheat grain; what proprietary articles are supplied with this germ and upon what method of selection?
§ Mr. MabaneThe request for wheat germ to which my hon. Friend refers was 1229W submitted to the Food Rationing (Special Diets) Advisory Committee of the 'Medical Research Council. This Committee, after consultation with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, advised that there was no reason why the request should be granted. In view of this advice, my Noble Friend is not prepared to reconsider the case unless new evidence is forthcoming. In regard to the second part of the Question, the request was considered by qualified medical practitioners in actual practice. In regard to the third and fourth parts of the Question wheat germ is not extracted from National flour. As regards the comparatively small quantity of germ obtained from the milling of certain speciality flours, I would refer my hon. Friend to the answers given to him on 9th June, 1942, 30th June, 1942, and 16th July, 1942.