September 2008

As a Tottenham Hotspur supporter, Saturdays have been pretty grim of late. But Ben Goldacre's Bad Science article in Saturday's Guardian always provides some light relief.  Apart from cheering me up, what really excites me about these articles – and all the related blogs on good/bad science – is the way that Ben manages to make the science understandable, and the fact that there is a real interest and engagement in science.  Take his articles on fish oils, or the response to the FSA-funded work on food colours and behavioural effects in children.  It is fantastic to see public debate on complex issues of study designs and interpretation of what the science should mean for policy development.  This is our bread and butter in the Agency – but getting enthusiastic public engagement is a real step forward.  Science thrives on the basis of open criticism of ideas and studies. Indeed, it would not progress without it. 

Sadly, as mentioned last week, I was unable to deliver the opening address to the New Zealand Food Safety Authority's (NZFSA) Annual Conference, held in Rotorua New Zealand on 18 and 19 September. The theme of the conference was 'Safe Food is Your Business'. As well as providing delegates with an opportunity to learn about the rules that govern the import and export of foods, there were interesting discussions of the picture of foodborne illness in NZ.  Like us, the Kiwis have a 4Cs campaign – 'Clean, Cook, Cover, Chill' – and are working with their food services sector to promote food hygiene. They have been able to build on our 'Safer Food Better Business' initiative and in turn we're learning from their work developing 'Campylobacter in Poultry Strategy 2007-2010'.

The scale of the problem in China caused by adulteration of baby milk with melamine is appalling.  I struggle to comprehend how people can knowingly put the lives of so many babies at risk by adding this substance to milk.

I spoke about the regulation of the food industry on the Today programme and BBC Radio Scotland yesterday morning.  Of course it would be naive to assume that criminals will not attempt to target the food industry here and we know, through attempts to sell counterfeit vodka containing dangerous levels of methanol, that they will.  However, there are, fortunately, big differences between China and the UK and in many ways what is currently happening in China mirrors what we saw in the UK 150 years ago, when adulteration and poisoning from food was commonplace.  That led to the introduction of strict regulations and food standards, placing legal responsibilities on businesses to supply safe food and the establishment of a comprehensive inspection system through local Environmental Health Officers.  So the regulation of food safety in the UK is of a high standard, but we also need to recognise that for well-established businesses in the UK it is simply not in their interests to have their reputation tarnished by contamination incidents.

Drs David Atkins and Julie Norman, who run my Chief Scientist Team, are down under visiting colleagues in the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA). I welcome the regular meetings that we have with colleagues from other food safety authorities. They provide an important means of sharing experiences, learning from each other and being prepared for the next food safety challenge. 

With NZFSA we share a common dependence on science and evidence as the basis for our work. You might want to look at their website to see some of the great work they're doing. It's also interesting to see how we are sharing experiences too – in New Zealand they have had a very wet winter and so NZFSA has been giving advice on how to keep food safe after flooding. Mind you, the NZ contingency planning also has to provide advice on what to do after an earthquake, and I hope this is one area where the UK will not have to draw on their expertise! 

The 13 September issue of New Scientist is almost a special food edition and is well worth a read for those interested in food and health.  First, we have the question of rare forms of BSE – bovine amyloidic spongiform encephalopathy or BASE – which has been found in Italian cows and shown to be infective to monkeys.  We don't really know yet the significance of these findings – for example, are examples of spontaneous CJD caused by BASE? – but the key measure of food safety is removal of Specified Risk Material (SRM) so, as the Chairman of the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee says, the health implications are minimal.

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 good news: that the major Salmonella Saintpaul incident was officially declared over whilst I was there. In total, more than 1200 people were made sick, many of whom were admitted to hospital, and, in the case of two elderly people, the poisoning was thought to contribute to their early deaths.  Although the tomato industry was initially implicated – and took a large financial hit – the source was eventually linked to Jalapeno peppers.

Today’s Independent contains an interesting article which serves as a cautionary tale to all of us. The article tells the tale of an unfortunate family who suffered a nasty dose of food poisoning as a result of eating dried beans that weren’t cooked properly.

Beans contain natural toxins called lectins (also known as phytohaemagglutinins) and other harmful compounds called protease inhibitors. The highest concentrations are found in kidney beans, especially red kidney beans. Protease inhibitors reduce the digestibility of protein, and lectins severely inhibit absorption of nutrients by the body. As few as four or five raw beans can cause severe stomachache, vomiting and diarrhoea – these very nasty symptoms are exactly what Vicky Jones and her family suffered, leading to an ambulance being called out and the poisons unit being contacted.  Thankfully all three of them made a full recovery overnight but this tale of misadventure should remind us all that cooking instructions, like use-by dates, are there for a reason and are to be ignored at our peril.

Food has an important part to play in many religions and for the Islamic religion never more so than this September as Muslims celebrate Ramadan. Ramadan is the month of fast for Muslims and began on 1 September here in the UK. Fasting is the complete abstinence from food and drink between dawn and sunset.

If you or someone you know is fasting at the moment, it’s important to make sure that the food eaten within the non-fasting hours is providing all the necessary nutritional content. To help, the Department of Health has teamed up with Communities in Action to produce a Ramadan health guide which provides information on nutrition and how to stay healthy when fasting.

Yesterday, as some of you will know, I launched my second annual report as the Agency’s Chief Scientist – at the BA Festival for the Advancement of Science in Liverpool.  It was great to see the enthusiasm of a live audience responding to our presentation – and I was delighted that a further 500 people joined in online, voting and emailing questions.  The event included presentations by some of the Agency’s scientists as well as interactive events involving the live audience and those on the web. 

I read today that Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families Ed Balls launched Real Meals – Simple Cooking Made Easy, a free cook book for 11 year olds, which contains 32 recipes to help promote cooking skills for secondary school children in England. In the Food Standards Agency, we have always felt that there needed to be more cooking for secondary school children and young people and we are delighted that this has moved a step further forward.

The ultimate aim for secondary aged children and young people will be that they have the skills and knowledge to choose, cook and eat safe, healthy food. This is something that the Agency has invested considerable effort to help deliver through the food competency framework, which provides the building blocks for the knowledge and skills that children and young people need to develop in order to live independent lives, as well as through the many cooking clubs and schemes we have contributed to over the years.