asked the Minister of Food whether he is aware of the great difficulty of feeding children between the ages of two and five, in view of the fact that this age group receives no priority eggs and only a 4d. fresh meat ration per week; and having regard to the high price and shortage of other suitable food, whether he will now make arrangements to issue children of this age group, who do not benefit from school meals, with extra cheese, or extend the allocation of priority eggs up to the age of five when the full meat ration becomes available.

The priority supply of eggs for children between the ages of six months and two years is three per week. We expect the average allocation for other consumers, including children over the age of two years, to reach this rate during the present month and to remain as high or higher for several months ahead.