§ Mr. Colvinasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if any prosecutions are pending under the Food and Drugs Act 1955 regarding the distribution and sale of contaminated Meysan brand natural grapefruit juice and orange juice products;
(2) if he is satisfied that all measures have been taken by his Department to prevent the further distribution and sale of contaminated Meysan brand natural grapefruit juice and orange juice; and what is his estimate of the number of cases of these unfit products still in circulation.
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§ Sir George YoungIt is important to distinguish the cans to which I assume my hon. Friend is referring, and which were produced up to 1978, from cans produced more recently.
Doubts about the safety of some cans of the earlier production were brought to the attention of the Department by officers of the Bristol city council. At the request of the Department's officials current importers agreed to send to local authorities a copy of an advertisement being placed by them in the national press with a view to the location and recovery of any stocks. The Department's officials also arranged for the situation to be drawn to the attention of local authorities by means of the weekly communicable disease report, published by the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre.
I can give no precise estimate of the number of cans which might be in circulation, but I do not believe the quantity to be significant.
I am not aware of any prosecutions pending under section 8 of the Food and Drugs Act 1955.