Mr. Alan W. WilliamsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will reconsider the decision to terminate an annual grant of £113,000 to Dr. Geoff Mead at the Institute of Food Research in Bristol to fund work on the control of salmonella.
§ Mr. RyderI have been asked to reply.
The decision to terminate the work on the manipulation of microbial flora of the gut of young chickens was taken following an extensive review of Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food commissioned research in microbiology. It was decided that the work was ready for industry to develop.
A small number of companies have participated in collaborative trials with the institute of food research, Bristol and it is to be hoped that they will be interested in taking this work further. This will not constitute a reduction in Government support on microbiological research, such as in salmonella. The funding is to be diverted to other important parts of our extensive programme of research into microbiological food safety. A working party is currently considering what further research is needed on salmonella and I will consider this advice carefully.