§ Mr. Moreasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether, with a view to eliminating the risk of the spread of foot-and-mouth disease from causes associated with swill feeding, he will consult the Service Ministers with a view to making regulations to enforce the proper sterlisation of all waste food at Service establishments before collection; and if he will make a statement on the proposals which he has in mind to eliminate the risk of the spread of disease from these causes.
Mr. VaneThe Diseases of Animals (Waste Foods) Order, 1957, prohibits the feeding of unboiled waste food to animals and poultry and also provides for the boiling in licensed plants of waste foods collected by one person from the premises of another. It would not in general be practicable to require all waste food to be sterilised at the source, and since service establishments represent only a very small part of the sources of supply of swill, I do not think that regulations on the lines suggested would serve a useful purpose. My Department maintain close contact with the Services and through our publicity campaign on the safe handling of waste foods we continually stress the rules to be observed by both handlers and feeders of swill to minimise the risk of the spread of diseases.