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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! 

Like in the UK, the credit crunch is big news and there are growing concerns about the price of food. Unlike the UK, there is a popular history of taking food from the wild and NZFSA has issued advice to help hunters and gatherers keep and consume this food safely. As a committed city dweller, I don't spend much time hunting down my food (although I have been known to pick the odd mushroom and blackberry), but I’m sure some of you do enjoy wild food, which is why we advise on safe foraging and cooking. 

David and Julie are giving the keynote talk at NZFSA's conference. They have been asked to talk about the UK FSA's use of science to this international audience. Look out for their report on my blog later this week.