Written question asked by David Lidington (Conservative) on Wednesday, 23 October 2002, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 5 November 2002. It was answered by Hazel Blears (Labour) on Tuesday, 5 November 2002 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average time taken to test a consignment of imported poultry meat for the presence of nitrofurans has been in the last year for which figures are available. - Including figures.

Answer: Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average time taken to test a consignment of imported poultry meat for the presence of nitrofurans has been in the last year for which figures are available. [77825] Ms Blears: Information provided by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Northern Ireland (DARDNI), who carry out the testing of poultrymeat from Thailand for nitrofurans, shows the average turnaround time, from 22 May when the first results were reported to 25 October 2002, to be eight days from receipt of sample. 90 per cent. of samples within this time period were analysed within the agreed 10 day turnaround time. There are no figures available for the turnaround time for the testing for nitrofurans in Brazilian poultrymeat as testing has only recently commenced.

Secondary information