§ 115. Sir Richard Glynasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he is satisfied that the present regulations give him power adequately to control factory farms and to ensure that they are conducted humanely, and that the food produced by these intensive methods does not contain traces of drugs which could eventually prove harmful; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. John MackieThe question of whether standards ought to be set to safeguard the welfare of intensively kept farm livestock is being examined by the technical Committee under the chairmanship of Professor F. W. Rogers Brambell. We expect to receive the Committee's report in the autumn.
As far as drugs are concerned, the Netherthorpe Committee reported in 1962 that no hazard to human health arose from the use of antibiotics in feeding 134W stuffs; other uses of antibiotics in animal husbandry are subject to veterinary prescription. Other drugs used in intensive husbandry, whether as additives to feeding stuffs or otherwise, are submitted for clearance under the Veterinary Products Safety Precautions Scheme and instructions given by the Committee which scrutinises each drug as to any precautions necessary in the interests of human health.