§ Mr. RiddickTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proposals his Department has to introduce regulations requiring food manufacturers to carry out laboratory tests on all plastic food containers.
§ Mr. SoamesThe Department has no such plans. All food contact plastics must comply with regulations which lay down certain compositional and other technical requirements. These controls exist to ensure that food safety is not compromised by the migration of chemicals from packaging into food. Food manufacturers need to ensure that contact materials meet the regulations, but they are not required to undertake laboratory tests on every container.