§ Rev. Ian PaisleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans her Department has to introduce food safety regulations to enforce the indication of peanut extract contents on food labelling. [17014]
1047W
§ Mrs. BrowningI have been asked to reply.
The European Community's scientific committee for food is currently considering recommendations concerning which allergens occurring in food have sufficiently serious consequences for consumer health to justify their always being listed on a food label. We expect the EC Commission to make proposals for revised rules following receipt of the scientific opinion and we expect that peanuts will be included.
In the meantime, my officials have held discussions with industry and consumer representatives and have established awareness of the problem across all sectors of the industry. As a result, many food manufacturers are now labelling their products voluntarily and some have examined the reformulation of products. We have also sponsored research to determine whether and how far groundnut oils may be contributing to the problems.