§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the research funded or commissioned by his Department in the past 10 years regarding dioxins in foodstuffs; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MacleanA list of the research in question is given in the table. The aim of this work has been to develop reliable analytical methods for the measurement of low levels of dioxins in food. The best of the procedures that have been identified so far have recently been used to survey the levels of dioxins entering the food chain in urban and rural food production areas. Some preliminary results from this work were described in the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Lancashire, West (Mr. Hind) on 26 June,Official Report, col. 500.
73W
Duration Title Location 1 March 1991 to 1 September 1991 Development of immunoaffinity columns for dioxin analysis Biocode Ltd.
§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his Department's policy in respect of testing milk for dioxins.
§ Mr. MacleanMilk is a good medium for checking on the presence of airborne contaminants in the food chain and is, therefore, being used to build up a picture of dioxin levels in various rural and urban food production areas. Some preliminary results from this work were described in the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Lancashire West, (Mr. Hind) on 26 June,Official Report, column 500.
§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the farms which supplied milk within 0.1 picogramme of his Department's safety level for dioxins.
§ Mr. MacleanSome preliminary results from a study of dioxin levels in milk from urban and rural areas were described in the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Lancashire West, (Mr. Hind) on 26 June,Official Report, column 500. It is not the normal practice, however, to name businesses from which samples have been taken for surveillance purposes.