HC Deb 27 July 1964 vol 699 cc191-2W
81. Mrs. Butler

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will list the chemical preservatives, colours, and other processing agents which are exempted from being named on the list of ingredients on the label of manufactured foodstuffs;

(2) what manufactured foodstuffs are altogether exempted from being provided with a label stating the chemical additives contained therein.

Mr. Scott-Hopkins

The First Schedule to the Labelling of Food Order, 1953, sets out the foods which, when pre-packed for sale, are exempted from being provided with a label stating their ingredients. The list is as follows:

FOODS EXEMPTED FROM THE REQUIREMENT TO DECLARE INGREDIENTS ON THEIR LABELS WHEN PRE-PACKED FOR SALE

Baking Powder.

  • Beer (brewed in the U.K.)
  • Biscuits.
  • Blancmange Powder.
  • Bread.
  • Butter.
  • Cakes.
  • Chocolate and Chocolate Confectionery.
  • Cheese (including processed cheese).
  • Coffee Essence (Liquid).
  • Coffee and Chicory Essence (Liquid).
  • Colourings.
  • Condensed Milk.
  • Compound Cooking Fat.
  • Curry Powder.
  • Custard Powder.
  • Dried Milk.
  • Edible Gelatine.
  • Fish Cakes.
  • Fish Paste.
  • Flavouring Essence.
  • Flour.
  • Flour Confectionery.
  • Flour, Self-raising.
  • Fruit, Canned (Home Produced).
  • Fruit, Fresh.
  • Golden Raising Powder.
  • Ice Cream.
  • Margarine.
  • Meat Paste.
  • Meat Puddings (other than canned).
    • 192
  • Meat Pies.
  • Mustard.
  • Preserves (Jam, Marmalade, Mincemeat and Fruit Curd).
  • Saccharin Tablets.
  • Salad Cream and Mayonnaise.
  • Sauces (mixed Fruit, Worcester and similarthin sauces).
  • Sausages (wrapped and banded).
  • Skimmed Milk with added non-milk fat.
  • Soft Drinks.
  • Spa Waters, seltzer waters, potash water and lithia water.
  • Spices.
  • Suet, Block.
  • Suet, Shredded.
  • Sugar.
  • Sugar Confectionery.
  • Toffee Apples.
  • Vegetables, Vegetable salad in Mayonnaise and macaroni and spaghetti in tomato sauce, Canned (Home Produced).
  • Vegetables, Fresh (except Potatoes).
  • Whole Cooked Beetroots.

Other pre-packed foods are required to bear a label stating their ingredients, but colourings, emulsifying salts, flavourings and some preservatives may be described on the label by such general names instead of by a precise designation.

The Food Standards Committee has just completed a review of the labelling of food and its report will be published shortly.

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