§ Mr. LuffTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has sought from the Public Health Laboratory Service about the European Commission's proposal to withdraw authorisation of zinc bacitracin as a veterinary medicine; and if he will make a statement. [64028]
§ Ms Jowell[holding answer 15 December 1998]: The view of the Public Health Laboratory Service has not been sought on the proposal to ban zinc bacitracin as a growth promoter. Both the Veterinary Products Committee and the Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food have provided advice to Government taking into account the public health concerns surrounding growth promoters, including zinc bacitracin.
563W
§ Mr. LuffTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the public health implications of a change by poultry producers from the use of zinc bacitracin to avilamycin; and if he will make a statement. [64029]
§ Ms Jowell[holding answer 15 December 1998]: A working group of the Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food is considering the question of microbial antibiotic resistance in relation to food safety. In advance of its report, the Committee has advised Ministers that the use as growth promoters of antimicrobials where there is a medical equivalent in current or planned use should be phased out at the earliest opportunity. For growth promoters where there is currently no medical equivalent or where medical use is rare, the advice was that there is currently insufficient information available to justify an immediate ban. The use of substances like avilamycin should therefore be kept under review and if any evidence becomes available of medical equivalents being developed then their use as growth promoters should be phased out.