Horsemeat Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Lord Grantchester
Main Page: Lord Grantchester (Labour - Excepted Hereditary)Department Debates - View all Lord Grantchester's debates with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(11 years, 8 months ago)
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Lord Grantchester
My Lords, I declare my interest as a dairy farmer with experience of the food chain. In today’s industrial food chains, the situation that broke three weeks ago was never going to be the actions of one rogue supplier. Three weeks ago, my honourable friend the shadow environment Secretary of State, Mary Creagh, called on the Secretary of State to ensure that all horsemeat intended for human consumption is tested for substances harmful to human health such as bute. Why did the noble Lord’s department not order full testing and stipulate that horsemeat should be released only when it is clear from bute? Given that the evidence of what has gone on is destroyed when products are withdrawn from the shelves, will the FSA now take overall control of all product testing?