§ Mr. PickthallTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement about the spread of American ragwort; what measures are being employed to check the spread; what incidents of damage to livestock have been reported to her Department in the past 12 months; and what research has been conducted into the possible passage of ragwort toxins into the food chain. [131871]
§ Alun MichaelWe have not been able to find a reference to American Ragwort in the literature, and without the Latin name, cannot identify the plant species concerned. Research on possible human exposure to ragwort toxins through the contamination of milk and honey was conducted by the then Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in the 1990s. Further, in 1994 the MAFF Working Party on Naturally Occurring Toxicants in Food considered the evidence for human exposure to ragwort toxins through contamination of food and concluded that exposure via these routes is unlikely to pose a risk to health.