UK Parliament / Open data

Horsemeat (Food Fraud)

Proceeding contribution from Owen Paterson (Conservative) in the House of Commons on Monday, 11 February 2013. It occurred during Ministerial statement on Horsemeat (Food Fraud).

I would like to reassure the hon. Gentleman that this is a case of mis-labelling and fraud; it is not a case of food safety. The noble Lord Rooker said today that, sadly, 20,000 people go to hospital because of a food-related complaint and, tragically, something like 500 die, yet he does not know of a single individual whose health has been affected by the importation of these products. I think hon. Members must get this in perspective. The hon. Gentleman mentioned bute, but I draw his attention to today’s advice from the chief medical officer, who said:

“It’s understandable that people will be concerned, but it is important to emphasise that even if bute is found to be present at low levels, there is a very low risk indeed that it would cause any harm to health”.

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
558 c622 
Session
2012-13
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
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