§ Mr. Beresford Craddockasked the Minister of Food what undertakings he has received on the types of flour which will he produced when controls on cereals are removed; and how far these undertakings will preserve the present nutritional contribution of flour to the national diet.
§ Major Lloyd GeorgeAs stated in the White Paper the removal of cereal controls will involve the removal of the present restrictions on the types of flour which may be produced. National flour of the present 80 per cent. extraction will, however, continue to be produced and loaves made from this flour will be available at a subsidised price wherever bread is sold. Such flour, as well as flours of higher extraction, contains the three so-called "token" nutrients, i.e., iron, vitamin B,, and nicotinic acid, in quantities which conform to the levels recommended in 1945 after a most careful inquiry by the Conference on the Post-War Loaf (Cmd. 6701). Flours of lower extraction than 80 per cent. lose a proportion of these three "token" nutrients in the course of the further refining process. Provision will therefore be made by Order for the restoration of these nutrients to the levels recommended by the Conference, and for the inclusion of the calcium carbonate which is already added to National flour. My medical and scientific advisers, after reviewing the amounts of these various nutrients in the present diet, are satisfied that such measures will ensure the maintenance of existing nutritional standards; but should any future investigations indicate the desirability of further supplementation, I shall naturally be prepared to reconsider the matter.