Healthier Eating (Hansard, 18 April 1990)

§ Dr. David Clark
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) how much he has spent on research into healthier eating(a) within his Department and (b) to outside organisations for (i) 1989–90 and (ii) 1990–91; and if he will make a statement;
(2) how much money he intends to spend in the promotion of a healthier diet in 1990–91; and if he will make a statement;
(3) how much money was spent by his Department in the promotion of a healthier diet in 1989–90; and if he will make a statement;
(4) what assessment he has made of the efficacy of the publicity efforts of his Department to promote a healthier diet; and if he will make a statement;
(5) whether he will launch a nationwide campaign to encourage a healthier diet, using leaflets for widespread distribution, and other promotional methods; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Maclean
My Department, the Department of Health and the Health Education Authority are now in the final stages of preparing a booklet setting out a simple set of dietary guidelines intended to help consumers choose an overall balanced diet. The guidelines are targeted in the first instance at those giving dietary advice, for example, health professional teachers and the media, but will apply to the general public. It is intended to adapt them for other specific audiences such as school children, the elderly and pregnant women.
In addition to this specific initiative my Department monitors the nutritional quality of the household diet through the national food survey and provides essential information on the nutrient content of particular foods. We have produced the "Manual of Nutrition" which describes all the important nutrients, their roles in the body and the foods that provide them. We commissioned jointly with the Department of Health the "Dietary and Nutritional Survey of British Adults" which will be published shortly. We also recognise the importance of food labels in providing information and have pressed for EC legislation which would require more nutritional information to be shown. Our free booklet "Look at the Label" on understanding food labels explains the significance of the nutritional declarations which are increasingly being made on food labels and relates them to dietary advice.
The directly attributable cost of the guidelines to my Department was about £14,000 in 1989–90 and a further £20,000 has been allocated for 1990–91. The total cost of work to promote a healthy and nutritious diet cannot be separately identified, but the cost of "Dietary and Nutritional Survey of British Adults" was over £1 million.
In 1989–90 my Department spent £900,000 on research into applied nutrition and £200,000 on monitoring nutrients in food. This work was contracted with outside organisations. It represents only part of my Department's total research expenditure (£8.6 million) on food safety and hygiene which is carried out so that consumers may have a safe and nutritious food supply from which they may choose a healthy diet. Figures for 1990–91 are not yet available.

§ Mr. Matthew Taylor
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his policy in950W respect of those research projects which have been identified as near market which subsequently fail to attract industrial support; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Curry
Near-market research that does not attract industry support will have to cease. Work that is close to commercial application should be funded by industry, which is the direct beneficiary and best able to judge priorities for this work. Public expenditure is better redeployed on basic science, strategic research and research aimed at benefiting and protecting the community at large.

§ Mr. Matthew Taylor
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Taunton (Mr. Nicholson) on 9 February,Official Report, column 824, which projects have so far attracted near-market funding; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Curry
The projects listed in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Taunton (Mr. Nicholson) on 9 February 1990 will be funded by my Department until their completion. This will be by 31 March 1991 or earlier as appropriate. The areas being researched by these projects have been identified as near market, that is, suitable for industrial funding. I am pleased to be able to say that the Meat and Livestock Commission (MLC) will be funding from 1990–91 onwards a programme of research that will cover many of these areas of research.