Michael Gove has insisted Scots will still be able to buy their favourite pasta shapes in the event of a no deal Brexit.
The Tory cabinet member told MSPs that buying penne or linguine would not be "too much of a problem" even if the UK fails to agree terms with the EU before the December 31 deadline.
Gove was forced to make the admission after another Tory minister caused confusion said customers may not get the “shape of pasta” they like amid concerns of food shortages caused by Brexit.
Scottish MP David Duguid was mocked on Sunday when he told the BBC: “You may not get the specific shape of pasta you like, but there will not be the kind of shortages that I think has been reported.”
Appearing before the Scottish Parliament's Europe committee today, Gove insisted the UK's food supply system was "resilient".
"I'm confident that with all the steps we have taken, and all of the steps industry has take, that we will have a resilient food supply chain operating excellently up to the end of the transition period and into the New Year," he said.
But committee convener Joanne McAlpine asked Gove why his colleague David Duguid "doesn't share that confidence".
The Tory MP said: "I think the point (Duguid) was making was that we all recognise that earlier this year because of Covid restrictions there were some interruptions to food supplies and he was drawing a parallel with that.
"But it is important to say that when it comes to ambient goods like pasta, I don't think there will be too much of a problem in people getting their penne and linguine."
Gove was also quizzed on the likelihood of Boris Johnson being able to secure a deal with Brussels before Hogmanay.
He said the fishing industry - which is centred around Scotland's north-east coast - was one of three areas of difference between the two negotiating sides.
"I personally am hopeful we will secure an agreement but, as the Prime Minister has pointed out, we need to be ready for every eventuality."
Gove appeared before MSPs after it was revealed the Kent lorry park designed to relieve queues of up trucks taking goods across the Channel will not be ready for Brexit customs controls from January 1.
The site was bought by UK ministers and is due to act as a holding pen for lorries queueing to get into Dover.
