The Commission has given the UK government until today (30 May) to provide further information

Date: 30/05/1996

on the research which has led to a scare over the safety of powdered baby milk. Commission officials stressed that the only information they had was from the British press, and that it was their duty under the so-called “rapid exchange of information system for foodstuffs” to furnish other member states with all available data. Scientific research has suggested abnormally high levels of 'phthalates' - chemicals which are believed to affect fertility - in several brands. The UK food ministry has so far refused to reveal which brands might be affected.