§ Mr. GregoryTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if the policy concerning recommended amounts of nutrients, as set out in the report by the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy in 1979, paragraphs 13 to 16, remains Her Majesty's Government's policy; and if he will make it his policy to maintain it by ensuring that such recommended amounts are the minimum necessary to ensure that the majority of the population has adequate nutrition;
(2) what consideration has been given by his Department to the use of dietary reference values as a means of providing information to the public about the daily intake of nutrients.
§ Mr. DorrellI have been asked to reply.
Since 1987, the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy to which the Government look for expert advice on diet and nutrition has been engaged in a review of the recommended daily amounts—RDAs—for food energy and nutrients set in 1979. Until its conclusions are published the 1979 RDAs remain current. Its report is currently being finalised, and we hope that it will be ready for publication in May or June. Once the report is published I shall arrange for copies to be placed in the Library.