The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men…

Posted by Andrew Wadge on May 19th 2008 in Science, safety and health

With apologies to Robert Burns, I am delighted to broadcast that not all of man’s schemes ‘gang aft agley’ (often go awry).  Regular Wadge bloggers will no doubt be aware of my desire that policy decisions should as far as possible be scientifically justified and based on sound evidence.  Therefore, it is satisfying to be able to announce the introduction of new high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methodology into the Agency’s monitoring programme for the detection of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxins in mussels.  This will account for around 80% of all PSP toxin tests in the UK monitoring programmes.  We plan to be able to test other shellfish species by HPLC by the end of the year, or shortly thereafter.

This new HPLC advance is the result of many years’ research and trialling to ensure that any new methodology is at least as good at protecting public health as what it’s replacing.  And that’s because PSP toxins are potentially life threatening.

Until the beginning of May, our testing method for detecting the PSP toxins was based on a mouse bioassay (MBA).  However, for a long time we have been striving to reduce reliance on mice and to introduce a more technically acceptable approach to the tests.  This has proved surprisingly difficult, not least because it has been extremely hard to procure the purified toxin standards needed to validate new methodology.  Also, trying to extract the minute amounts of toxins that may be present in mussels, while at the same time minimising substances that interfere with their detection, has not been easy.

But, at last, our team of dedicated scientists has succeeded in isolating 14 toxin analogues sufficiently to enable them to be detected quantitatively by HPLC.  This not only provides a more consistent measurement base but yields far more information in terms of the toxin profiles of each sample compared with the MBA.  This is a tremendous step forward both for our monitoring programme and for animal welfare.  And it is also satisfying that we are the first country in the European Union to introduce this methodology into a statutory monitoring programme.  So, unlike Robert Burns who rescued just one mouse, our commitment to sound science and its application will result in saving many thousands!

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summer food

Posted by Miss Gemma Watford (not verified) on 08/07/2008 - 14:16

I think all hotels abroad should be able to serve what constitutes a typical mediterranean diet, Planty of the foolowing food groups
Carbohydrates - slow release
Protein- lean meat and fish, pulses etc
Fruit and vegetables - all varieties
Dairy products -low fat where possible i.e.
semi-skimmed milk, low fat cheeses and yoghurt etc

The same rule should also apply to leisure centres, airport buildings and in flight meals. I think that it is an unecessary and expensive to provide high calorie and high saturated fat meals, when healthy food would leave you feeling much more full of energy, and is better for you anyway. We have enougn obesity so lets take action now. Failing this we should be allowed to take pieces of fruit, fresh or dried and nuts as healthy snack options.