Evil E numbers?
Posted by Andrew Wadge on 26 August 2010 in Science, safety and health
‘Additive-Free’ has, misleadingly, become synonymous with ‘healthy’, thanks to the clever marketing people who work in the food industry. Quite why you would want to advertise what is not in the food you are trying to sell is beyond me, but perhaps that’s why I’m a scientist not a marketing man!
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Food poisoning is no yolk
Posted by Andrew Wadge on 24 August 2010 in Science, safety and health
The US is currently dealing with one of its biggest food recalls ever – with half a billion eggs from just two farms being recalled over fears they could be contaminated with the food poisoning bug salmonella. For me, not only does this highlight the huge scale of food production in the US, but also the importance of traceability of food when dealing with an incident of this scale. There’s a lot we can all learn from these incidents and it’s a good opportunity for us to consider the systems we have in place in the UK and how we might deal with a similar problem.
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Don't do it yourself diagnostics
Posted by Andrew Wadge on 10 August 2010 in Science, safety and health
I know that it can be extremely worrying for parents when they suspect their child has a food allergy, but wrongly diagnosing someone with a food allergy could also have a serious negative effect on their health. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has just published for comment a draft clinical practice guideline on food allergy in children and young people – which, I hope, will mean greater consistency in the way children are diagnosed with food allergies and how their allergies are then managed.
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Brave new world
Posted by Andrew Wadge on 06 August 2010 in Science, safety and health
You won’t have missed the reports in the media this week about ‘cloned meat and milk’ entering the food chain. This is because a small number of animals have been raised in the UK from embryos that were produced from a cloned cow in the United States. It is these animals, the genetic offspring of the cloned cow, that are the focus of the Agency's investigation.
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A goal without a plan is just a wish
Posted by Andrew Wadge on 22 July 2010 in Science, safety and health
Regular readers of this blog will now be familiar with the high priority we attach to reducing levels of campylobacter in chicken – the biggest cause of food poisoning in the UK. We know there are measures that can be taken by producers and retailers that will reduce contamination and are working with them to ensure these happen. But we also recognise that there are still many uncertainties, so I am delighted that a new research strategy on campylobacter has just been published.
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Kicking out campylobacter
Posted by Terrence Collis on 09 July 2010 in Science, safety and health
In Andrew’s absence this week, I’d like to hijack the blog and draw your attention to a new research initiative. We are commissioning a range of new research to tackle the food bug campylobacter, which causes about 300,000 cases of food poisoning a year. It is the biggest cause of food poisoning in the UK and this is why we are making it our top food safety priority for the next five years. Our aim is to better understand the science around campylobacter and more easily identify solutions for reducing the worrying levels of the bacteria on raw chicken.
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BA Festival of Science
