§ Mr. GalbraithTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the research into food products being conducted by York university, with particular reference to fruit pastilles. [16318]
§ Mrs. BrowningThe research project is part of the LINK food processing sciences research programme. LINK projects are jointly funded by industry and Government. The academic contribution to this project is provided by York university and the Cranfield institute of technology with a consortium of food companies providing the industrial contribution. Half of the resources for the project are provided by the industrial consortium with the remainder coming from Government. The project is directed at developing a fundamental understanding of the behaviour of mixtures of biopolymers, such as protein and starch. Fruit pastilles are a convenient and simple model system for use in part of the study.