§ Mr. TredinnickTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many of the papers relating to vitamin B6 which were considered by the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment he has evaluated; and on what dates he read each paper. [33514]
§ Mr. RookerI have not evaluated any of the papers relating to vitamin B6 which were considered by the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT), nor am I qualified to do so. However, since I announced the Government's decision to introduce controls on dietary supplements containing vitamin B6 I have read both the papers on the safety of vitamin B6 that were prepared for the COT by its Secretariat, together with a selection of the scientific studies to which these refer.
It is the COT's role to evaluate the scientific evidence on toxicity of chemicals in food and to advise the Government on such matters. The Government have every confidence in the rigour with which the COT reviewed the data on the safety of vitamin B6, and the decision to introduce controls on dietary supplements containing this vitamin was taken in the light of the very clear recommendations of the COT and the Food Advisory Committee.