§ Mr. Whiteheadasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will introduce a special series of advertisements aimed at children, warning them of the need to scrutinise oranges carefully before eating.
§ Mr. MoyleThe need for care in order to avoid eating any mercury which may be present in an orange has received widespread coverage in the media over the past fortnight. I do not consider that anything would be gained by pursuing my hon. Friend's suggestion, particularly bearing in mind that I am advised that the consumption of metallic mercury in the quantities present in those oranges which have been found to be contaminated represents no significant hazard to health.
§ Mr. Whiteheadasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will introduce further spot checks at the ports of entry, further to ensure that oranges poisoned by mercury injection are not introduced for sale in Great Britain bearing in mind that four such oranges have been discovered.
§ Mr. MoyleI regret my hon. Friend's use of the term "poisoned oranges". As was made clear in the statement issued by my Department on 1st February, and subsequently, the contamination which has occurred does not represent a significant hazard to health.
Control measures at the ports are the responsibility of port health authorities. These authorities are aware of the situation and are exercising increased vigilance. It is, however, far from clear that contaminaiton—which in any case appears to be on an extremely small scale—is being effected prior to the importation of the oranges in question.