§ Commander BELLAIRSasked the Minister of Health the proportion of preservatives in the Soviet Russian fruit pulp sent to this country; and whether the Ministry is considering the prohibition of all imports of a deleterious character?
Mr. CHAMBERLAINThe proportion of sulphur dioxide preservative allowed in fruit pulp under the Preservatives Regulations, which apply equally to imported and home-produced fruit, is 3,000 parts per million in cherries, 2,000 in strawberries and raspberries and 1,500 in other fruit. My Department has not received any reports showing that these limits have been exceeded in any samples of Russian pulp imported into this country. As regards the second part of the question, I may say that while under the Imported Food Regulations the importation of certain objectionable articles is specifically prohibited, those regulations also contain general provisions for the seizure and destruction of any articles of food which are found to be diseased, unsound, unwholesome or unfit for human consumption.