HC Deb 06 December 1989 vol 163 cc239-40W
Mr. Michael

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what actions were taken by his Department to establish the causes of food poisoning in Wales between the publication of the annual notification rate for 1985 and April 1989;

(2) what steps were taken by his Department between the publication of the 1985 returns for notification of reported cases of food poisoning in Wales and April 1989 to establish whether rises in the number of cases were linked to changes in food handling in the home;

(3) what steps were taken by his Department between the publication of the 1985 returns for notification of reported cases of food poisoning in Wales and April 1989 to establish whether rises in the number of cases were linked to changes in food production;

(4) what steps were taken by his Department between the publication of the 1985 returns for notification of reported cases of food poisoning in Wales and April 1989 to establish whether rises in the number of cases were linked to changes in agriculture;

(5) what steps were taken by his Department between the publication of the 1985 returns for notification of reported cases of food poisoning in Wales and April 1989 to establish whether rises in the number of cases were linked to changes in food technology;

(6) what steps were taken by his Department between the publication of the 1985 returns for notification of reported cases of food poisoning in Wales and April 1989 to establish whether rises in the number of cases were linked to changes in food distribution;

(7) what steps were taken by his Department between the publication of the 1985 returns for notification of reported cases of food poisoning in Wales and April 1989 to establish whether rises in the number of cases were linked to changes in retailing practices;

(8) what steps were taken by his Department between the publication of the 1985 returns for notification of reported cases of food poisoning in Wales and April 1989 to establish whether rises in the number of cases were linked to changes in catering.

Mr. Grist

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave on 30 November at column342. The notifications to the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys and the analyses by the communicable disease surveillance centre will not necessarily indicate the point in the food chain where contamination might have occurred.

The purpose of the Food Safety Bill is to strengthen food law and improve controls across the whole of the food chain in order to minimise the incidence of food poisoning.