HC Deb 14 March 1990 vol 169 c242W
Mr. Matthew Taylor

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 28 February,Official Report, column 242, if he will introduce legislation to replace the legal term "flavour" with the term "artificial flavour" to assist consumers seeking to avoid the use of artificial flavourings.

Mr. Maclean

No. I believe that the term "artificial flavour" instead of "flavour" would not necessarily help consumers and might be misleading. While the term "strawberry flavour," for example, indicates that the flavour does not come wholly or mainly from strawberries, some of it may come from strawberries and the rest might come from other natural flavourings. The European Commission is, however, expected to make proposals on the labelling of flavourings in food and I shall be pressing for terminology which enables consumers to make an informed choice.