§ Mr. VazTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what methods other than irradiation of improving food hygiene his Department has investigated; and if he will make a statement.
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§ Mr. RyderMy Department has considered every stage in the food production chain from the farm to the table and has introduced a comprehensive range of measures to protect all aspects of the safety of food. The bulk of these were listed by my hon. Friend the Member for Calder Valley (Mr. Thompson) in a reply to the hon. Member for South Shields (Dr. Clark) on 3 March 1989 at columns373–74.
§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he has received any representations from the British Poultry Federation concerning the irradiation of foodstuffs; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. RyderThe British Poultry Federation has put forward a number of points about irradiation in the poultry sector, but these do not relate to the effectiveness of the process in killing salmonella, campylobacter and listeria in poultry products.
§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what consultations he has had with representatives of the poultry industry concerning the irradiation of foodstuffs.
§ Mr. RyderConsultations are not appropriate with representatives of any particular product sector at this stage, but will take place when detailed proposals are being considered.
§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list all those sectors of the food industry which have made recent representations to him opposing the irradiation of foodstuffs.
§ Mr. RyderThe only sector of the food industry from which I have recently received representations opposing the irradiation of foodstuffs are the interests covered by the British Poultry Federation. Other organisations have commented on aspects of this matter at an earlier stage.