§ Sir E. Graham-Littleasked the Minister of Food the present composition of the national loaf, with special reference to the measure of extraction in the flour supplied, the proportion of that flour derived from home grown wheat and imported wheat, respectively, and the extraneous items incorporated not derived from wheat; and what proportion of the flour used has been treated with agene, which has been shown recently by animal experiments to be noxious to life.
§ Mr. StracheyThe national loaf is at present composed of wheat flour of 85 per cent. extraction. The proportion of the flour derived from home grown wheat is approximately 25 per cent. The remainder is derived from imported wheat. Imported white flour is mixed to the 85 per cent. extraction flour in mills in 47W England and Wales at the rate of 5 per cent. of the output and in Scotland and Northern Ireland at the rate of 10 per cent. 14 ozs. of creta preparata are added to each 280 lb. sack of flour. The proportion of the flour used which has been treated with agene is approximately 90 per cent. This substance has been used by millers as an improver for more than 20 years, and there is no evidence to show that it is harmful to human beings. My Department is studying the implications of the work recently published showing its effect on dogs.