asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will introduce regulations requiring all canned food not subject to the infant food maximum of 0·2 mg per kg of lead to be labelled as unfit for consumption by infants and young children, in order to reduce the lead intake from food of young children.

No. Whilst it is right that canned foods described by manufacturers as being specially prepared for infants or young children should have to comply with very strict lead limits it does not follow that other canned foods with higher statutory limits are unfit for them to eat. I therefore consider that a requirement to label such foods as unfit for consumption by infants and young children would be misleading.