§ Mr. Ron DaviesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Caerphilly of 13 January,Official Report, column 795, (1) how many (a) feed processing plants and (b) feed processing plants producing chicken food there were in each of the years from 1984 to 1988;
(2) if he will give (a) the number of inspections per feed processing plant and (b) the number of cases, by plant and by sample, where resampling revealed salmonella contamination in each of the years from 1984 to 1988.
§ Mr. Donald ThompsonThe number of plants in Great Britain can vary from year to year as new ones opened and others closed down. Furthermore, not all operate on a continual basis.
The total numbers of protein processing plants producing animal protein for incorporation into animal feedingstuffs, known to have been operational in each year from 1984 to 1988 were:
Number 1984 109 1985 112 1986 102 1987 86 11988 85 1 Provisional. The numbers visited and sampled during the year, and the numbers of batches inspected each year were:
Number of plants visited Number of batches inspected 1984 107 251 1985 106 224 1986 99 212 1987 84 185 11988 74 157 1 Provisional. The number of cases where re-sampling revealed salmonella contamination in each of the years from 1984 to 1988 were:
429W
1st sample 2nd sample 1984 10 2 1985 13 3 1986 13 5 1987 6 1 11988 4 0 1 Provisional. Notes:
- 1. 1988 figures are provisional and may understate the final level because there is a delay between inspection and the final recording of results.
- 2. In continuous production plants a batch comprises a series of samples collected over a five days production. The number of samples taken each day is proportional to the output.