Vol. 426 No. 1
181 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health whether apple juice containing high levels of a toxic chemical patulin, which can cause cancer and birth defects, was on sale in this country; if the British Department of Agriculture notified him or any other Department of the situation in the UK; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Although I have no immediate reason for believing that a serious problem exists, health boards have been asked to sample and analyse apple juice on sale in this country. Officials of my Department have also met with representatives of Irish producers to ensure that their quality controls are such as to reduce patulin to the lowest levels possible.
The recent publicity refers to a small study carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) in the spring of 1992 on the occurrence of patulin in apple juice on the UK retail market.
Arising from media reports, my Department has been in contact with the UK Department of Health. The authorities there have stated that consumers are not being advised to avoid or reduce their consumption of any particular apple products.
Patulin is one of a group of chemicals called mycotoxins and is particularly associated with moulds, such as brown rot in apples. Healthy sound fruit is unlikely to contain patulin at detectable levels.
The study carried out by MAFF was part of an on-going surveillance. It is understood that the results of the study will be published next month in a paper entitled "Mycotoxins Third Report".
