HC Deb 27 October 1965 vol 718 cc71-2W
Mr. Godber

asked the Minister of Health if, before authorising the release for sale to the public of corned beef from the same consignment as that which gave rise to the Aberdeen typhoid epidemic, he will ensure that it carries a distinctive mark to enable any purchaser to distinguish it from other supplies.

Mr. Loughlin

I am informed that all the relevant tins from the establishment associated by the Committee of Inquiry with the outbreak have left the country. The question of marking them therefore does not arise.

As to the other stocks which have been withheld from the home market on the advice of the Government, my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has said that the Government have informed the trade that they do not propose to release their own stocks of the meat in question; and that the Government have already been informed by the major importers that they for their part will not dispose of their stocks on the home market for human consumption. Other private stockholders are considering their position in the light of these two decisions.