People should eat fewer baked beans as the flatulence they produce contributes to global warming, a minister has suggested.
A Labour peer raised the issue during questions in the House of Lords earlier today, saying that Britons eat more baked beans than any other country and raising concerns over “smelly emissions”.
Climate change minister Baroness Verma responded by urging the public to ‘moderate’ their behaviour on this ‘important’ issue.
Labour’s Viscount Simon asked: “In a programme some months ago on the BBC, it was stated that this country has the largest production and consumption of baked beans in the world.
“Can the noble Baroness say whether this affects the calculation of global warming by the Government as a result of the smelly emission resulting therefrom?”
Baroness Verma described the Viscount’s question as “so different”, but said that he raised “an important point” and appeared to suggest that people should moderate their consumption of the product.
Baked beans are especially popular in the UK and Ireland, where they are a staple part of the traditional full English breakfast. In Britain, they are commonly made by stewing beans in a tomato and sugar sauce, and are notorious for their ability to induce flatulence.
The Green lobby have long been concerned about methane emissions from cows possibly contributing to global warming, but few have so far focused on human emissions.