§ Mr. McCrindleasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will seek to define the acceptable level of mercury in dog fish or rock salmon;
(2) if he will require landings of rock salmon from British boats to be subject to a test of mercury level;
(3) if he is satisfied that there is an adequate number of testing stations for checking of mercury level of landings of rock salmon.
§ Mr. StrangI am satisfied that the present arrangements for ensuring that food, including fish, does not have unacceptable levels of mercury are adequate. The Food Additives and Contaminants Committee, an independent body of experts which advises Ministers on these matters, considered mercury in food in 1973. The Committee found that the190W level of mercury in most foods was very low and that the amount of mercury in the total diet was not such as to constitute a health hazard. It recommended, therefore, that statutory limits for mercury in food were not necessary, but that total diet studies should continue and the enforcement authorities should continue to ensure that fish, or other food, exported to this country, containing levels of mercury unacceptable in the country of origin, should not find its way on to the United Kingdom market. The Committee recently considered the matter again and saw no reason to depart from its earlier recommendations.
Responsibility for ensuring that fish is fit for human consumption rests with the local food and drugs authorities and the air and port health authorities, who have power under the Food and Drugs Act 1955 to take samples and have them analysed. The food and drug authorities are required to appoint public analysts for these purposes, and I am satisfied that the numbers and facilities they enjoy are adequate. In addition, the Ministry has for a number of years been monitoring a wide variety of foods, including fish, for contaminants, including mercury.