§ Mr. Peter Freemanasked the Minister of Food how many animals of each variety were condemned by his inspectors as unfit for human consumption in 1948; for what reasons; and what percentage these figures represent of the total number of animals inspected in each case.
§ Mr. StracheyThe responsibility for the inspection of meat for human consumption rests with the local health authorities. Records are not yet available for the complete year 1948 of the number of animals condemned, but the figures for the nine months 1st January, 1948, to 30th September, 1948, are as follow:
Number of animals condemned Percentage of number slaughtered Cattle … 22,134 2.20 Calves … 10341 1.25 Sheep and Lambs … 10,550 0.35 Pigs … 3,944 0.58 A summary of the reasons for condemnation of animals at each of the Ministry's 600 slaughterhouses is not available and could not be prepared without a considerable amount of work.