Oily fish, research and prison food
The media picked up on the difficult issue of advice on oily fish in the Associate Parliamentary Food and Health Forum report this week, but I was more pleased to see the large number of references to FSA nutrition research findings in the report.
The Agency has always prided itself on being evidence-based in its decision making and continues to strive to achieve the highest standards in this area.
As such I’m really pleased with the Forum’s comments about the older people and omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (OPAL) study. The report notes: ‘We were impressed by the thoroughness of the [OPAL] research protocol and suggest it could act as a model for other large-scale randomised control trials…’
While the basis of the protocol for the research was that of the researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, staff at the Agency have also contributed to the development of the research protocol to ensure it met our needs to fill the gap in the evidence base. This is the approach to commissioning research that is adopted across the Agency and its aim is to ensure that the evidence produced is meaningful.
I was also interested in the conclusion made by the Forum in relation to the possibility of introducing nutrient-based standards for meals in prisons, similar to those introduced for schools, but based on recommended daily intakes for adults. My interest here is that the Agency has already published guidance for those who serve food in major institutions that achieves just this aim. In fact we’ve been talking to those responsible for prison food for some time and are currently developing additional menu suggestions to add to those already available on our website that reflect the catering approach within prisons.
This guidance utilises the evidence provided by national surveys such as the National Diet and Nutrition Survey and the Low Income Diet and Nutrition Survey and provides nutrient and food based guidance that will allow caterers provide food that meets dietary requirements but at the same time addressed excesses and insufficiencies in the diet. It will be interesting to see whether this practical application of the evidence base will be able to help people meet Government recommendations in practice. Got any comments? Have your say on the blog.
