HC Deb 28 January 2000 vol 343 cc383-4W
Mr. Wigley

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent measures his Department has taken to maximise the procurement of domestically produced meat for the armed forces. [107129]

Mr. Kilfoyle

The supply of food to our Armed Forces is contracted out to "3663" (formerly trading as Booker Foodservice). They are required to seek best market prices and, in doing so, to give full consideration to British products. As a result our contractor is currently sourcing all beef for consumption by our UK-based service personnel from British intervention stocks. In addition, 100 per cent. of our pork and some 50 per cent. of our bacon and gammon is being sourced in the UK. Our contractor has so far been unable to identify competitively priced sources of British lamb but continues to keep this under active review.