Maggie Thatcher is used to describe which elementary particle?
When I came across a research article entitled ‘Consumer preferences regarding food-related risk-benefit messages’ it grabbed my attention. Naively, I thought it would provide some useful insights into...
View ArticleBreaking out
Across the pond, cantaloupes, pine nuts, romaine lettuce and sprouts caused serious outbreaks of illness in 2011, according to a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in...
View ArticleMiracle materials
Graphene, the new ‘miracle material’, shows promise for use as a simple water purifier (and for distilling alcohol apparently). If you haven’t come across it before, graphene is a form of carbon and...
View ArticleLook before you book
Dirty premises, grubby hands and weird things turning up in food – these are common complaints that we hear on our helpline. These general concerns are reflected in our latest public attitudes tracker,...
View ArticleHit US drama about listeria...
I caught the end of a trailer on More4, which seemed to suggest the American legal drama ‘The Good Wife’ was running a storyline on listeria. I don’t suppose anyone can shed any light on what the...
View ArticleBack to the freezer
The news this morning that Sainsbury’s, in partnership with Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), want food relabelled so that it can be frozen up until its 'use by' date, not just on the day of...
View ArticleAll that glisters is not gold (or edible)
Being an evidence-based organisation, I’m sure you’ll be pleased to know that we look at our web metrics at regular intervals to find out what you’re looking for on the site and look at how we can make...
View ArticleFood for the future
A £200,000 burger could help save the world – science fiction or science fact?You probably saw the media coverage in the past few days about the laboratory-grown meat. Dr Mark Post, head of physiology...
View ArticleTV fame for food inspectors
Ever wondered about the work that takes place on the ground to ensure your food is safe? Well now’s your chance to find out. I’m pleased to see that food safety has made it onto prime time TV. BBC1’s...
View ArticleIs there a kernel of truth in those health claims?
I stumbled across a book purporting to have the cure to cancer – if only things were that simple! Fortunately I’m not the type of person that’s easily drawn in, but I was still intrigued to discover...
View ArticleUnknown unknowns!
‘There are known knowns, known unknowns… [and] unknown unknowns – things we do not know we don't know.’I can’t remember previously hearing former US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld quoted at an...
View ArticleUnder pressure
We know that how food businesses manage risk is influenced by a whole host of internal and external pressures, such as food regulations, consumers, insurance, media and also by pressures within the...
View ArticleDon't make light of listeria
For most of us, a bout of food poisoning – though extremely unpleasant – is inconvenient rather than life threatening. But those with suppressed immune systems, whether due to illness, chronic disease,...
View ArticleGlittergate
‘Thou shall commit adultery’– what a different world it would be if we were to follow the 10 commandments of the Wicked Bible. This typo in the 1631 edition of the Bible is still a classic example of...
View ArticleDon't economise on food safety
The topic of rising food prices seems to have been in the headlines almost daily for the past few years, but the recent change in tone shows that these increases are now hitting the consumer. Today’s...
View ArticleThey're always best served washed
After reading that the chances of James Bond dodging the 4,662 bullets fired at him during his film career and surviving is a miniscule 0.954662 I came to the conclusion that the storylines might not...
View ArticleOpen says me
The big news in the move towards making publicly-funded research open and free, is the recruitment of Wikipedia co-founder, Jimmy Wales. He is tasked with helping the Government deliver its commitment...
View ArticleThe horror of the unwashed hands
Some of the public safety films I saw on TV as a child had such a profound effect on me that they’re still as vivid now and they were then – electrocution, stranger danger and the perils of crossing...
View ArticleThe laws of probability
What do racehorse handicappers, bridge players and weather forecasters have in common? Well apparently, they have very high risk intelligence. Although not directly related to safety, I found the...
View ArticleSo long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye
Given his youthful looks, I’m sure you’ll be surprised to hear that Terrence Collis is retiring today, and I couldn’t let the moment pass without thanking him for his contribution to the blog. We shall...
View ArticleMake every week Food Safety Week
Before Food Safety Week draws to a close I wanted to take the opportunity to get in one final reminder that it’s good to save money and avoid unnecessary food waste but not to economise with food...
View ArticleGastronomic perfection or hepatitis?
How do we get away from celebrity chefs and ‘foodies’ extolling the virtues of unsafe food hygiene practices? Yesterday’s Metro had a whole page dedicated to pork, with the frustrating advice from...
View ArticlePolicy on trial
How do we know whether a government policy really works? There’s a lot of expertise across government in evaluating policy or policy ideas. Recently, however, the Cabinet Office has been looking at...
View ArticleIs opening up data a Pandora’s box?
The Agency’s commitment to openness is one of our key values, so I was eager to read The Royal Society’s new report, Science as an open enterprise. The report highlights the need to grapple with the...
View ArticleBurgers: rare or well done?
Following my previous post about the dangers of eating raw pork, people have been asking whether it’s safe to eat burgers rare, or cooked with a ‘pink blush’ in the middle.The advice being given in...
View ArticleHigher, faster – and into the unknown
If you feel that this blog has been notable by its absence over the past few weeks, you would be correct. Like millions of other citizens I’ve been devoting my spare time to the study of aero-dynamics,...
View ArticleJK Rowling has competition: my annual report’s been published
JK Rowling may have just published another bestseller, but it’s a bit short on science content. If you’re interested in science, in particular science at the Food Standards Agency, why not take a look...
View ArticleWe need more Foxes and less foxiness
Many congratulations to Fiona Fox and her dedicated team of scientists at the Science Media Centre (SMC), which held its 10th anniversary at the Science Museum in London last night. Several speakers at...
View ArticleGM milk: are we going to bottle it?
We know that allergies can be a terrible blight on children’s lives, so I was interested to read that two to three percent of infants in developed countries are allergic to the proteins found in cows’...
View ArticleOff-target on lead-shot game
Rose Prince, in the Daily Telegraph, has chewed over FSA advice to frequent consumers of lead-shot game and come up with an un-digestible response. She says that ‘only an idiot would deliberately...
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