§ Mr. Ieuan Wyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (I) what detailed studies have been undertaken into the toxicity of the alkaloids found in comfrey of which she 33W is aware; and which were taken into account by the committee on toxicity when compiling its recent report on the toxicity of comfrey;
(2) if she will list those pyrrolizidine alkaloids which were found by the committee on toxicity to be present in comfrey and which gave rise to its recent recommendation that comfrey tablets and capsules should be banned; and if she will indicate, in the case of each of those pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which are known to be toxic at the levels found in these products and which are not.
§ Mr. SackvilleI refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Taunton (Mr. Nicholson) on 19 April at columns5–6.
Copies of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food's analysis of comfrey products, and of the advice of the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment, which includes the key studies it considered, are available in the Library.