§ Jackie BallardTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has to restrict the usage of nuts and nut oils in foodstuffs,(a) in general and (b) in cases where the product is specifically marketed at young children. [96532]
§ Ms QuinYoung children may exhibit allergies to a range of foods such as milk, eggs, and peanuts (allergies to other nuts are much less common in childhood), but as these are among the foods that provide good nutrition for the majority of children it would be counterproductive to restrict these for children in general. The mainstay of policy on potentially severe allergens such as peanuts and 'tree nuts' (hazel nuts, Brazil nuts, etc.) has been to encourage better awareness of the problem, and in order to safeguard against exposure to foods that may cause reactions.
Nut oils are not normally used in foods for young children and experiments funded by the Ministry have shown that the refined oils that are used in food manufacture are very unlikely to cause a problem even for allergic individuals.