§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will place the results of his Ministry's tests on the presence of the ethylene biodithiocarbonate fungicides and ethylene thiourea in various foods in the Library.
§ Mr. GummerThe Government's working party on pesticide residues carries out a programme of tests on food for pesticide residues, which has included these substances. The results are published: the latest report covering 1985–88 came out on 13 March 1989.
Very recently the results of tests for residues of these substances in a range of foodstuffs have been published by Friends of the Earth and Parents for Safe Food. These were carried out by an independent analyst and showed that the majority of the produce had negligible or no detectable residues. A few samples showed levels which, while giving no cause for concern, on health grounds were above predicted levels. With the agreement of the sponsors MAFF will be repeating these tests, both on the samples used by their analyst and on further samples. The results will be placed in the Library of the House, and published.