HC Deb 26 January 1972 vol 829 cc474-5W
Mr. Arthur Lewis

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) whether he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT a list of the 38 foods where there has been a decline in take-up during the past 12 months; and whether in each instance he will give the price increase in these items during the past 12 months;

(2) whether he will give details of the average increase in food costs during the past 12 months, and to what extent this was due to the 50 per cent. rise in the cost of butter, the 30 per cent. rise in the price of fish, 20 per cent. rise in the price of beef and 22 per cent. rise in the price of milk; and to what extent there has been a fall-off in the take-up of foods in general and these foods in particular;

(3) to what extent he has information to show that price rises were the cause of the fall-off in the take-up of basic foodstuffs during 1971.

Mr. Prior

The latest information from the National Food Survey on recorded household food consumption per head (which relates to the third quarter of 1971) was published in "Trade and Industry" Vol. 5 No. 13 on 30th December, 1971. Changes in consumption cannot be co-related with price changes. In fact, of the 32 items for which decreases in consumption were recorded, as compared with the corresponding quarter of 1970, many were minor changes within the normal range of sampling variation, and others were offset by increases in consumption of the remaining 20 items.

The latest available information about the Food Index as a whole and the average prices of the principal individual commodities is published monthly in the Department of Employment Gazette. While I do not necessarily accept the hon. Member's figures for individual commodities, the reduction in the available supplies of butter, fish and beef was reflected in a decline in their consumption and a rise in their prices; there was an increase in the consumption of milk. I should point out that the Survey results show that the intake of nutrients remained above the recommended levels for all income groups.