Adulterated Wine (Hansard, 27 February 1992)

§ Mr. Maclean

My Department learnt on 11 February that some imported Italian wines had been illegally contaminated.

AS soon as the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food became aware of the potential problem, Ministry officials drew together United Kingdom trade interests and the Italian authorities to discuss the illegal addition of methylisothiocyanate to those Italian wines. Meetings of all parties concerned were held last week and again this week. A list of all producers known to have been using this chemical has been obtained from the Italian Government and we have identified nine importers in the United Kingdom. They have all been notified of the need to implement a full recall of suspect wines and to submit samples for analysis and have co-operated fully with my Department. Details of those wines have also been sent to local authorities and to environmental health officers to enable them to check that no stock remains on sale, including at minor outlets, hotels and restaurants. Territorial departments and the port health authorities have been similarly notified. In addition we have asked the trade to put in hand immediate testing of all Italian wines to confirm that no other supplies are affected. Independent checking is also being undertaken by the Ministry. We have asked for all test data to be sent to us for incorporation into a comprehensive data base and those results will be made available to the public. Should any further cases of contamination be discovered, immediate steps will be taken to ensure that affected supplies are immediately withdrawn from sale.

Our officials have expressed serious concern to the Italian authorities about this incident and are engaged in further discussions to clarify the extent of the problem, how it arose and what steps are being taken in Italy to ensure that no further adulterated wine is placed on the market.