HC Deb 06 June 1989 vol 154 c14W
Mr. Malcolm Bruce

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Derby, North (Mr. Knight) on 25 May,Official Report, column 1111, whether he will also make it his policy to require milk treated with bovine somatotropin to be labelled before going on sale to the general public.

Mr. Ryder

No. I fully recognise the need for consumers to be given adequate information to enable them to make an informed choice. However, the BST hormone occurs naturally in milk and it is not possible to distinguish between the natural hormone in the milk and that induced by the treatment of the cow with BST, since the detectable levels of the hormone in the milk are within the same range in both cases.