§ Mr. BurdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received on the implications of the research by Aberdeen university in 1995 into dietary nitrate intake for the public health consequences of European Commission directives on nitrates in water supplies. [25024]
§ Mr. HoramThe Department has received an inquiry from one correspondent and two letters from hon. Members on behalf of another correspondent.
§ Mr. CashTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the latest research on the reasons why babies up to the age of three months are unable to be affected by infantile methaemoglobinaemia from nitrates in diet. [25239]
§ Mr. CashTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 5 December,Official Report, column 177, what assessment he has made of the latest research into the effect of nitrates in diet and water (a) at, (b) below and (c) in excess of natural levels on human health. [25240]
§ Mr. HoramNitrate in diet and water is not known to be beneficial to health. It is a recognised contributory factor in the causation of infantile methaemoglobinaemia. The addition of nitrate to foods specially prepared for babies and young children is prohibited under the Preservatives in Food Regulations 1989. Concentrations in drinking-water are restricted under the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 1989. After consideration of the toxicological data, most recently in 1995, the Food and Agriculture Organisation/World Health Organisation's joint expert committee on food additives and contaminants, and the European Commission's scientific committee for food, each proposed an acceptable daily intake of up to 3.7 mg of nitrate per kg body weight. This ADI is unchanged from 1992, when it was endorsed by the departmental expert Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment.