§ Mr. Ron DaviesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many reports he received during June from laboratories conducting microbiological testing for salmonella of samples from hens where no growth was found.
§ Mr. MacleanFull details of tests carried out in June are not available, but, from the reports received, the proportion of samples in which no microbial growth was reported was in the region of 5 per cent. The tests in question are designed to establish whether salmonella is present and will not necessarily show growth of other bacteria even when these are present.
§ Mr. Ron DaviesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he has any evidence of the abuse of the competitive exclusion product for salmonella developed by the Bristol Food Research Institute; and if he has any proposals to regulate its use.
§ Mr. MacleanWe have no such evidence. If such a product were to be sold or supplied for a medicinal purpose, a licence would be required to be issued under the Medicines Act 1968. No such licence is currently in force for the product to which the hon. Member refers.
§ Mr. Ron DaviesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many poultry flocks with over 100 laying hens are registered in each of the counties of England and Wales; and how many of these have notified him of the results of testing for salmonella between(a) 1 January and 21 March and (b) 1 April and 30 June.
§ Mr. MacleanUp to 27 June a total of 2,435 laying flocks have been registered in England and Wales. The details in the table refer to animal health offices, where registrations are dealt with, rather than counties.
Registered persons are required to notify my Department with the results of tests for salmonella at 12-weekly intervals, commencing with the date after 2 April on which they first receive reports of any such tests. This information is being received and collated at the present time.
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Registered laying flocks in England and Wales Local Animal Health Office Laying flocks registered England Beverley 49 Bury St. Edmunds 62 Carlisle 50 Chelmsford 118 Crewe 99 Dorchester 43 Exeter 97 Gloucester 53 Guildford 92 Huntingdon 50 Leamington Spa 65 Leeds 146 Leicester 32 Lincoln 107 Maidstone 140 Newcastle 86 Northallerton 114 Norwich 125 Nottingham 128 Oxford 133 Preston 139 Shrewsbury 58
Local Animal Health Office Laying flocks registered Stafford 83 Taunton 48 Trowbridge 37 Truro 57 Winchester 69 Worcester 59 Wales Caernarvon 10 Cardiff 8 Carmarthen 38 Llandrindod Wells 17 Ruthin 23