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Dept for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

Answer

Mr. Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to her answer to the hon. Member for East Surrey (Mr. Ainsworth) of 29 October 2001, Official Report, columns 543-44W, what proportion of (a) vegetables, (b) fruit, (c) cereal products and (d) meat products available for consumption in the United Kingdom was sampled for pesticide residues in (i) 1998, (ii) 1999, (iii) 2000 and (iv) 2001 to date. [17300] Mr. Morley: [holding answer 23 November 2001]: Details of the samples analysed under the Pesticide Residues Committee surveillance programme are contained in the following reports: 1998: Working Party on Pesticide Residues (WPPR) Annual Report: PB 4546A and B. 1999: Working Party on Pesticide Residues (WPPR) Annual Report: PB 5181 A and B. 2000 Pesticide Residues Committee (PRC) Annual Report. 2001: the results for the first quarter were published in August this year. They are available on the PRC website, at www.pesticides.gov.uk/committees/PRC/prc.htm. The WPPR and PRC reports are also available on this website and copies are being placed in the Library of the House. It is not possible to relate the samples collected to the proportion of UK foodstuffs consumed since the size of the consignment to which the test result relates is not recorded. The safety of any pesticide residue in a foodstuff depends not only on its concentration in that foodstuff but also on the consumption of that food by different groups of consumers. Potential intakes of the same residues from other foodstuffs also have to be taken into account. Consumer risk assessments are conducted in relation to all samples tested where a residue is found exceeding the relevant MRL. Full details of all samples containing residues above the MRL and those where a consumer risk assessment indicated that intakes for certain consumer groups could exceed acceptable levels are contained in the annual report of the Pesticide Residues Committee (PRC) for 2000, copies of which are available in the Library of the House, and in the first PRC quarterly report for the year 2001. Copies of these reports are available on the PRC website at www.pesticides.gov.uk/committees/PRC/ prc.htm. It is not possible to express these findings as a proportion of UK foodstuffs consumed since the size of the consignment to which the test samples relate is not recorded.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

375 c852-3W; 17300

Session

2001-02

Subjects

Cereals Contamination Food Fruit Pesticides Meat products Testing Residues Vegetables

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk