§ VISCOUNT BLEDISLOEasked Her Majesty's Government what is the present daily consumption of liquid milk per head of population in Great Britain and what it was in 1939; what is deemed to be the optimum minimum per caput consumption in the interests of national well-being; and how many additional gallons of home produced milk would be needed annually to reach this optimum minimum; also, how Britain's per caput milk consumption compares with that of Scandinavian countries.
§ VISCOUNT WOOLTONPre-war daily consumption of liquid milk was about two-fifths of a pint per head. To-day it is about two-thirds of a pint. The optimum average daily consumption of liquid milk cannot be estimated in isolation from the consumption of all milk products or the national diet generally or, more particularly, from the diet of certain groups whose need for milk is below or above average.
Comparisons of British and Scandinavian milk consumption in 1952–53 are given below:—
NORWAY—
1.1 pints per head per day
SWEDEN—
1.1 pints per head per day
DENMARK—
0.8 pints per head per day
UNITED KINGDOM—
0.7 pints per head per day
House adjourned at seven minutes past six o'clock.