Andrew Wadge FSA - Out and about

Ocean’s Twelve or GMOs?

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:15:26 +0100

Recently a number of FSA colleagues attended the 1st Global Conference on GMO Analysis held at the Villa Erba Conference Centre in Cernobbio, Como, Italy. Some of you might well recognise Villa Erba because it was one of the locations used when filming Ocean’s Twelve starring George Clooney, a well known resident of the Como area, along with other Hollywood notables. Although my colleagues were sadly unable to mingle with the glitterati of the movie world they were fortunate enough to attend this inaugural conference along with over 600 other experts on GMO analysis from over 90 countries. This conference was the first time the principle world experts on GMO analysis have been able to meet at a single location and engage in scientific dialogue on issues relating to this complex area of analysis. Methods of choice for GMO analysis continue to be those based upon Real Time Polymerised Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) techniques and it is clear that further work needs to be undertaken by the analytical community in relation to sampling strategies used for the detection of GMOs from farm to fork.

Food safety in Shanghai

Wed, 28 May 2008 14:38:44 +0100

I spent part of last week in Shanghai advising on food safety issues in advance of the World Expo 2010, which will be held in that city. This was my first visit to China, so as well as providing a good opportunity to catch up with food safety experts from the World Health Organization, the US Food and Drug Administration, Australia, Japan and China, it also gave me a flavour of life in that part of the world and I was welcomed by some charming and enthusiastic students of food science from Shanghai Ocean University. Ensuring food safety during the World Expo will be a huge challenge. Seventy million visitors are expected to visit the site between May and October – the hottest time of the year. And it is not just the safety of food sold at the event that will help determine its success – or otherwise – but also food sold throughout the city.

Myths and superstition

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 15:01:50 +0000

As a postscript to yesterday’s ‘Science or Belief’ posting, I attended a lecture by Professor Alan Sokal last night, organised by Sense about Science. Prof Sokal wrote a spoof article 'Transgressing the boundaries: Towards a transformative hermeneutics of quantum gravity', which was published in a journal called 'Social Text' in 1996. It caused outrage among those who hold the view that the truth or falsity of a statement is relative to an individual or a social group. Sokal argues that science then becomes comparable to other ways of viewing reality, such as religion, myths, or astrology.

Made in Brussels?

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 17:16:56 +0000

I’m in Brussels today, which is an appropriate place for me to blog about a story running in today’s papers that claims the EU wants to scrap food labels saying 'Made in Britain'. The basis of these articles seems to be a European Commission consultative document produced in 2004, which has since been scrapped.

The media’s reporting of science has been a topic for discussion on this blog, following the World Cancer Research Fund report earlier this month, and today’s coverage highlights the importance of getting accurate information into the public domain.

Social Science in Leeds Castle

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 09:49:01 +0000

Last week I was touring various parts of the UK– on Tuesday I was at our office in Aberdeen, talking to scientists about Continuing Professional Development. On Thursday I was at Leeds Castle in Kent with the Agency’s Chair and Deputy Chair and the Chairs of our independent Scientific Advisory Committees (SACs) for our annual event. It is a chance for the Chairs to share experiences of providing scientific advice to the Agency, carry out horizon scanning activities as well as sharing best practices.

Science in Belfast

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 12:09:54 +0100

I’m blogging from Belfast, where I attended yesterday’s open Board meeting and presented my first annual report as Chief Scientist, and the Research and Survey Programmes Annual Report.

The Chief Scientist’s report outlines how we use science in the Agency and includes some interesting historical data in the Changing Times, Changing Risks section, including developments in food technology since 1800.

Seafood in Dublin

Fri, 28 Sep 2007 11:56:59 +0100

I attended the World Seafood Congress in Dublin earlier this week and gave a presentation on the risks and benefits of fish consumption.

I drew heavily upon the advice of our independent experts on nutrition and toxicology. They weighed up the evidence on the developmental benefits to the fetus and infant, and cardiovascular benefits to adults, of consuming long chain omega 3 fatty acids in oily fish, against the developmental risks to the fetus of mercury and dioxins.

Recognising achievement

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 11:53:04 +0100

I spent last night with Aretha Franklin, Sherpa Tenzing, Sherlock Holmes, Steve Redgrave, Bob Geldof and Marie Curie. Well, the Agency equivalents of them - winners, in fact of the FSA's first staff awards. There was some healthy cynicism from staff when we launched the scheme, and not too many groans when the different categories were given the quirky names listed above.

I've blogged in the past about my interest in organisational development, and the work I led to develop the FSA's vision of Safe Food and Healthy Eating for All. That's why I volunteered to be a judge. The awards were all about recognising teamwork (the Steve Redgraves), communication with a passion (the Arethas), motivation and leadership (the Bobs) and the best use of evidence and information (the Sherlocks).

Foodomics...?

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 14:10:58 +0100

I attended – and chaired a session – at a meeting of scientists in Cambridge yesterday to discuss 'Foodomics? Why we eat, What we eat and What’s Next on the Menu'. It was a fascinating day, starting with an overview from Susan Jebb from the MRC Human Nutrition Research, who argued that the big issue in food is obesity. She pointed out that in evolutionary terms, we have been more concerned with hunger than satiety and that our response to the former is much greater than to the latter. Somehow we can always fit in that extra portion!

Back to the laboratory

Fri, 08 Jun 2007 15:42:27 +0100

I visited LGC this morning and was really impressed with their extensive analytical chemistry facilities. They provide analytical services for a wide range of customers - the FSA included.

The state-of-the-art 'time of flight' spectrometers are a little different from my day and can now measure contaminants or residues at much lower levels. We all want data as soon as possible to make decisions affecting food safety, but even more important is that it is accurate, as unnecessary food recalls can be expensive for food businesses and damaging to consumer confidence.

Science in the Cotswolds

Fri, 08 Jun 2007 09:51:04 +0100

I spent the day in the Cotswolds on Wednesday,- at one of the world's largest food research organisations - the Campden & Chorleywood Food Research Association (CCFRA).

The CCFRA hosts an open day once a year for its members, partly as a shop window for its services (which include some cutting edge research into food safety, authenticity and product development).

But the day is just a much about having a family get-togther. At least that's what it feels like. And the chance to get back into the lab again is always fun.

Everyone pitches in. All the CCFRA staff get involved in the arrangements, and the food company members stump up with the refreshments, from the biscuits with morning coffee to the mints after lunch. For some reason, I found it more reassuring to have my poached salmon served by a food chemist, rather than someone fresh out of the microbiology lab.

Earlier in the day I heard our Chair, Dame Deirdre Hutton, deliver Campden's prestigious annual lecture.

Incidentally...

Fri, 25 May 2007 10:43:14 +0100

We’ve been thinking a lot recently about how to handle and prevent food incidents. This is when we’re given information that requires us to intervene because the safety or quality of food could be threatened in some way.

Last year we dealt with 1300 incidents. More recent ones we’ve handled include a recall of cakes and biscuits because they may contain bits of plastic, and a fish product sold in a small number of specialist shops with a label that said ‘keep in a cool dry place’ when it should have been frozen.

Taking a local approach

Tue, 08 May 2007 14:51:22 +0100

Had a great meeting just outside Nottingham last week with around 80 local food business representatives, and was joined by Rob Howard, the Agency's regional co-ordinator for the East Midlands. I talked about science quite a bit, but the audience were also interested in our role as a regulator, our work on salt and front-of-pack labelling and our handling of food incidents.

We're actually doing some workshops with local businesses on incident prevention at the moment, so I updated the audience on that. It's good to get out and about and talk about science in the context of our work as a regulator. There was a good discussion of the issues after I'd finished speaking, which included how we communicate with the media. I'd been keen to do more events of this kind around the country as I find it really valuable.

Horizon scanning

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 11:42:40 +0000

The feedback we have received from the food incident prevention and horizon scanning workshop held last week has been very positive, and I am grateful for the time and effort put into the event from all the speakers. A key theme from the event was that there is no single network or information source that will allow us to identify the shape of the future. But we must intelligently collect information from a variety of sources, analyse it in a less narrow way than we do at the moment, to identify the possible impacts on food safety, and then, crucially, share this information.

Emerging risks

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 17:10:40 +0000

Next week the Agency is hosting a workshop in London on food incident prevention and horizon scanning, in co-operation with EFSA - the European Food Safety Authority.

We're expecting 150 people from more than 20 countries to attend the event, which takes place on 5-6 March. I'm pleased it's taking place as it's very timely for us.

The topics under discussion are relevant to our revised strategic plan targets, but it also marks a first step towards delivering EFSA’s strategy on scientific co-operation.