Off-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...
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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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...
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