Andrew Wadge FSA - Science in Government

Government’s Food Strategy for the 21st Century

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 11:06:31 +0100

A new Government report, Food Matters – Towards a Strategy for the 21st Century, published earlier this week by the Cabinet Office, sets out its vision for a new food policy framework. The report is the result of a ten month Strategy Unit project commissioned by the Prime Minister to look at food issues in the UK. It draws together evidence about long-term trends in food production and consumption, and how food safety and nutrition impact on the health of the UK.

Once more unto the breach, dear friends

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 17:23:51 +0100

How do we as scientists deal with a media that reports science in shock headlines – and do we need to police ourselves when some in our profession find it expedient to publish in the tabloids rather than journals such as Nature, for example?

Those were some of the questions being asked in the Agency yesterday evening when scientists and fellow travellers gathered to hear Professor Colin Blakemore present the inaugural Chief Scientist’s Lecture. Colin is chair of the Agency’s General Advisory Committee on Science and I was pleased to welcome him to speak to a packed room on communication of science over the past 15 years – and who the public trust to do that communication.

Stats sense

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 10:36:38 +0100

It may have passed you by, but in among the nation’s April fools last week came the biggest shake-up in the British statistical system in half a century. The distinctly non-foolish UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) came into existence on 1 April – an independent body, with powers and the obligation to promote, improve, and safeguard official statistics across the UK. UKSA will follow a model close to that of the Food Standards Agency, being run by a multidisciplinary board, independent of Government Ministers.

CPD pilot launch for FSA scientists

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 11:50:50 +0100

Getting young people into science is a constant refrain in the media, yet retaining people who have chosen scientific careers is no less important. So I was really pleased to launch a pilot for a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) scheme for scientists in the Agency. I encourage all scientists in the Agency to develop their scientific skills and expertise I believe this is a good opportunity for them as well as the organisation.

I am looking forward to working with the Institute of Food Science & Technology, which is going to run the pilot. IFST are the professional body representing food scientists and bring experience of working on CPD schemes with other organisations. The pilot will run for a year until April 2009 and then we hope to make this available to all scientists in the Agency.

Where do you get your evidence?

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:13:59 +0000

I often blog about evidence. One of the things that we are planning over the coming months is how to make our evidence more accessible. We already publish all of our research findings in the Agency Information Centre and summarise them on our website, but we are planning to take this one step further in the autumn.

We are looking for an organisation to establish and host an open access repository on our behalf. When this repository goes live you will be able to access all of our research final reports from your pc. Whether your interest is nutrition or nanotechnology, you will be able to see the evidence and judge for yourself.

Food allergy and intolerance research

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 15:42:57 +0000

I called in on the review of our food allergy and intolerance research programme yesterday. We carry out formal reviews of our research programmes every five years, where we ask a panel of independent experts help us evaluate the success of the programme against the stated aims and objectives. I used to head the division that funded this work, so it was interesting for me to see how it's getting on. I was impressed with the progress we have made on estimating the prevalence of food allergy and intolerance in the UK using different cohort groups. Reported adverse reactions to foods are common, but diagnosed rates using skin prick tests and double blind placebo controlled methods are much lower (eg, about 1.5% for peanut allergy in young children), although in population terms this is a significant number. The work done on gaining a better understanding of the immunological aspects of food allergy, such as the role of peanut-specific T cell responses and the role of IgG, was also impressive.

Oily fish, research and prison food

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 14:30:07 +0000

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.

Anecdotal evidence and aspartame

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 10:51:19 +0000

As a scientist, I see some sources of evidence as being more powerful than others. For example, published evidence from a double blind, cross-over study, done to best practice and challenged through peer review carries more weight than anecdotal evidence.

Nonetheless, all evidence is important and none is discounted when the Agency carries out a risk assessment, though it may be weighted according to its source. I have been interested to learn that the National Council of Women of Great Britain discussed the use of anecdotal evidence at its Annual Conference in October this year and adopted a motion to 'urge HMG to acknowledge the importance of anecdotal evidence in decision-making and put in place a system to seek, listen to, record, challenge and if proven act upon anecdotal evidence.

Having reproducible evidence and challenging through peer review are fundamental to the scientific process, but the Agency is not only about science. When we develop advice and make policies -the risk management part of the business - the Agency takes into account a far wider evidence base (individual liberty, regulatory constraints, economic and social consequences and consumers’ appetite for risk). This second stage is distinct from the scientific process of advocacy and challenge that generates the risk assessment; it's an iterative, consultative process which leads to our Board reaching and making a judgement accountably and in public.

I see anecdotal evidence as a trigger for more rigorous scientific studies which will provide reproducible evidence for an independent analysis of the risks.

Omics technologies

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 11:32:47 +0000

Colleagues in the Agency recently held a workshop on the application of ‘omics technologies (examples are transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics) to food related research, bringing together scientists and policymakers from across the Agency, EU institutions and scientists in other government departments to discuss the use of these techniques.

Over the past few years these techniques have started to be developed to enhance the safety assessment of GM foods, and we are now seeing them being used in other areas of Agency research, such as food authenticity, chemical safety and nutrition.

Unsafe food still making people sick

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 16:12:17 +0000

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is celebrating its fifth birthday and, as part of its celebration, hosted a Scientific Forum on 'From Safe Food to Healthy Diets’ in Brussels earlier this week. It was a great opportunity to meet many of Europe’s top food scientists and regulators.

A year of Agency science

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 16:34:19 +0000

Last night I was at the Royal Society of Chemistry to launch my first Annual Report as FSA Chief Scientist. I was pleased to see so many people from across the scientific community and I would like to extend my thanks to all of you who attended.

My aim is for the Annual Report to be an authoritative reference for our scientific work on food and health. Examples of how science has influenced policies are included and I have given particular emphasis to our work to reduce foodborne illness and salt intakes. In future years, the report will plot trends in food-related illness and feature in more detail some specific aspects of our work.

Scientists behaving badly

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 14:45:10 +0100

Last week one of my colleagues supported Sir David King at the BA (British Association for the Advancement of Science) Festival of Science in York when he spoke about the Universal Ethical Code for Scientists. After an early round of radio interviews on this important initiative, Sir David led a series of presentations from scientific bodies and institutions, including the FSA, on how the use of the code impacts on the work that we do.

During his presentation, Sir David cited the case of the high profile fall from grace of the cell biologist Hwang Woo-Suk in South Korea last year. Dr Hwang claimed to have created human embryonic stem cells by cloning, but it was later found that these claims were fraudulent and the scientific papers describing the work were retracted.

Back from Scotland

Tue, 04 Sep 2007 13:55:47 +0100

I’m back in the office today after reporting on science in the Agency to the Scottish Food Advisory Committee, followed by some annual leave on the Isle of Bute.

I was exposed to a new Scottish culinary trend (frozen grapes with cheese, anyone?) and then attended the wedding of a colleague who leads on the Agency’s consumer policy work.

Unfairness can be taken to heart

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 16:47:41 +0100

Some of my colleagues are guinea pigs in an important study of stress and health led by Professor Sir Michael Marmot at University College London. They are part of the 10,308 civil servants who volunteered for the study 22 years ago. The study has contributed enormously to understanding how the conditions in which people live and work affect their health.

Most of the group are office-based employees, from mandarins to messengers, and include a number of FSA colleagues. As Chief Scientist, I am head of profession for the (almost) half of the Agency's team who are scientists. It's my job to support the recruitment and retention of high-calibre scientists to the FSA, guide their training and professional development, and champion their work. In this role, I know how important it is to gain recognition for their excellent scientific work so that they feel valued and appreciated.

Food science and the media

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:08:12 +0100

I’ve spent most of today going through all the emails that came in while I was on leave. One, from Clare Cheney, Director General of the Provision Trade Federation, asks if the FSA could formulate advice, informed by internal or independent external opinion, on the latest food stories running in the media.

To be honest, it was one of those emails I wished had reached me via the blog. I really want the food industry to engage with this resource and to see its potential for open debate, in the way that Peter Melchett did when he posted the Soil Association’s views about my blog on organic tomatoes. I replied to him, and to others, yesterday.