HL Deb 27 January 1998 vol 585 cc22-3WA
The Countess of Mar

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is their response to the recent letter to the Chairman of the Committee on Toxicity, signed by the 47 Members of the House of Commons, questioning the validity of the Committee's recommendations on the safety of Vitamin B6 and urging a further review of the science. [HL233]

The Minister of State, Department of Health (Baroness Jay of Paddington)

The Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) has considered the safety of Vitamin B6 on two separate occasions and we are confident that it has reviewed all the relevant papers on toxicity of Vitamin B6 as well as those unpublished papers supplied by interested parties.

The Government have every confidence in the rigour with which the COT reviewed the data and we have no plans to ask the COT to consider the issue for a third time.