§ Mr. Teddy TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children have been injured or killed by consuming synthetic foodstuffs for use in dolls' houses in each of the past five years; and if he was consulted over the EEC directive on the issue.
§ Mr. Forth[holding answer 16 March 1989]: I have been asked to reply.
None. This fact, coupled with the fact that they are usually so small as to be unlikely to mislead a young child into thinking that they are food, has enabled me to exempt them from the proposed regulations, which I announced in a written answer on 14 March to my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Burton (Mr. Lawrence) at column 128.
Governments of all member states were, of course, consulted during the preparation of the EC Dangerous Imitations Directive which the Council of Ministers adopted on 25 June 1987. It rightly outlaws products which imitate food or drink and thereby pose a hazard to the public. Products which do not pose a hazard are not banned by the directive.