Horsemeat (Supermarket Products) Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Cathy Jamieson
Main Page: Cathy Jamieson (Labour (Co-op) - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)Department Debates - View all Cathy Jamieson's debates with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Horsemeat (Supermarket Products)
Cathy Jamieson Excerpts(11 years, 4 months ago)
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Mr Heath
The Under-Secretary of State for Health, my hon. Friend the Member for Broxtowe (Anna Soubry), who has responsibility for the FSA, has apologised, because she is abroad today. That is why she is not here. Yes, we clearly want these matters to be prosecuted and dealt with with appropriate severity, and we will continue our dialogue with the Irish authorities to ensure that whatever they do is consonant with that.
Cathy Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab/Co-op)
I do not eat meat, but the majority of my constituents do, and I think that looking on today they will be surprised and disappointed by the tone of the Minister’s comments suggesting that those of us standing up for consumers are somehow talking down the food industry. Will he revisit the proposed cuts to the FSA’s budget to ensure that meat hygiene inspections are not compromised?
Mr Heath
As I have explained many times, the FSA is a responsibility of the Department of Health, but I have no reason to suppose that its activities will be compromised by future budgetary constraints. I am absolutely clear—let me repeat this—that we ought to be very concerned about this matter on behalf of consumers in this country, but we also ought to recognise that it does not mean that food across the country sold by all retailers is suspect. It is not, and that is the point that I am trying to make. At such times, consumers need to be reassured that systems are in place—systems that, in fact, caught this cross-contamination in this case.