Egg expertise
Eggs have been big news recently. Defra investigated alleged mislabelling, and we did a survey of salmonella in non-UK eggs. It's no change to the Agency's advice about cooking and storage.The survey...
View ArticleTraffic light labelling
You may have seen reports in the media this morning about 'front-of-pack labelling' for fat, sugar and salt in food. The Agency welcomes this move by the food manufacturers and retailers as we know...
View ArticleBorn to be wild
My first ever foray into blogging in November last year was about food fraud, and I'm talking about it again today, living proof that what comes around goes around, I suppose. There's been lots of...
View ArticleTaking a local approach
Had a great meeting just outside Nottingham last week with around 80 local food business representatives, and was joined by Rob Howard, the Agency's regional co-ordinator for the East Midlands. I...
View ArticleNon-sterile foods
I was interested to read about a small but important Agency study examining consumer and healthcare professionals understanding of the term 'non-sterile', and their attitudes towards labelling and...
View ArticleSalt, labels and portion sizes
The latest survey by local authorities claims there's been an overall decline in salt content of processed foods by 11% since 2005.Any reduction in salt levels is a welcome development, but there is...
View ArticleChallenging 'dodgy science'
I'm heading off to Belfast shortly for the Agency's open Board meeting, where I'll be presenting my Annual Report as Chief Scientist, but before I do so, I wanted to comment on last week's 'There goes...
View ArticleImported food
About half the food on sale in the UK comes from abroad, and a new Agency booklet for local authorities on imported food regulation shows the importance of using sampling and scientific analysis to...
View ArticleThe Foresight saga
I'm back in the office for a day after a busy week in Aberdeen and meeting scientific advisory committee colleagues, but I wanted to blog about obesity before the weekend as it's been very much in the...
View ArticleWaste not, want not
A new campaign to reduce food waste is being launched today by WRAP (the Waste and Resources Action Programme), a Government-backed campaign that aims to get us all to reduce the amount of waste we...
View ArticleMade in Brussels?
I'm in Brussels today, which is an appropriate place for me to blog about a story running in today's papers that claims the EU wants to scrap food labels saying 'Made in Britain'. The basis of these...
View ArticleBreast still best
Last week the Agency and Department of Health set out changes to the law which relate to the promotion, labelling and composition of baby milk.The new law will ensure that mothers are not discouraged...
View ArticleDefending food on Newsnight
I enjoyed taking part in a fairly good-humoured knockabout with Michael Pollan, Julian Hunt (from the Food and Drink Federation), and Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight on Tuesday to discuss Michael's book In...
View ArticleScience or belief
Last night's Horizon programme on BBC2 raised some very interesting points about some of the health claims made by the food industry. Friendly bacteria, so-called superfoods, and the organics industry...
View ArticleIn a big country
Having landed back in the UK after a couple of weeks touring and hiking in the fantastic canyon lands of southern Utah, Colorado and Arizona, I have a few reflections on eating in the US. First, the...
View ArticleSourcing our bacon
Pig products have been trotting across the news lately. Last week, Channel 4's Dispatches looked at what goes into a cheap supermarket sausage and this week Jamie Oliver has pledged to save British...
View ArticleGreen light for single food label system
You may have read in the papers recently that, according to Which? research, the most popular brands of cereal have high levels of sugar. Many of these are targeted at children and beg the question:...
View ArticleOnce more with feeling....
There seems to be some confusion about labels on food. So just to be clear: Use By means......use by; and Best Before means....best before. As I've blogged before, the Use By is the important one to...
View ArticleWhen calorie counting doesn't add up
I enjoyed the article in this week's New Scientist, which highlighted the lack of precision in calorie labelling. Essentially, not all calories are equal since the complexity and texture of the food...
View ArticleAllergen labelling: time to think outside the box
I’m really pleased that conversations are taking place on social media about the changes that are soon to be made to food allergen labelling rules, and I’d like to clarify one or two points on which...
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