§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give the results for the tests he has carried out on the presence of sulphadimidine in different types of livestock carcases for 1989; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. GummerThe Department has an action level based on advice from the Veterinary Products Committee and endorsed by the Department of Health's Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products774W and the Environment. This level incorporates a very significant safety margin. Its purpose is to ensure that if monitored residue levels rise above it, we can take appropriate action even though there may well be no danger to human health. My Department carries out a regular residue sampling programme and in 1989 tests were carried out on 1,142 pig carcases in Great Britain. A total of 94 per cent. of these were below the action level and in the 6 per cent. which were not we carried out follow-up visits to all the farmers concerned to ensure that corrective measures were taken.
§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what analysis he carried out on livestock carcases for the presence of sulphadimidine; where the samples are taken; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. GummerKidneys are taken from pigs at randomly selected slaughterhouses and tested for sulphadimidine as part of the residue sampling programme under EC directive 86/469. A thin layer chromatographic procedure is used to screen the samples at the central veterinary laboratory, Weybridge and the level of residues present is determined by high-performance liquid chromatography.
§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what safe level for the presence of sulphadimidine in tissues of meat products is prescribed by his Department; whether the level was recommended by an advisory committee; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. GummerOur approach is not to rely simply on a "safe level". Instead, we set a maximum residue level, which is very much more stringent. Exceeding this level would not normally represent any danger to human health, but it provides an immediate trigger for follow-up official action. The action level for sulphadimidine is 0.1mg/kg. This level was originally set by the Veterinary Products Committee and has twice been endorsed by the Department of Health's Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT). COT advised that this level offered a considerable safety margin for consumers of products from treated animals.