Lose ‘lbs’ not ‘£s’
Posted by Andrew Wadge on 01 February 2010 in General interest
Despite the absurdity of Hannah Sutter’s proclamation in Saturday’s Daily Mail, that government advice to ‘exercise more and eat fewer calories’ is making people fat, I felt I had to respond.
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Your views matter
Posted by Andrew Wadge on 27 January 2010 in Supporting consumer choice
When we’re gathering evidence to develop new policies, we understand how important the public’s views are in contributing to this. I was therefore interested to read the latest annual report of British Social Attitudes, which was published by the National Centre for Social Research yesterday.
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Mad, bad and dangerous to eat… What next?
Posted by Andrew Wadge on 19 January 2010 in General interest
As I sat eating my toast yesterday morning while listening to the radio and scanning the paper, I was somewhat concerned by the stories being thrown around on food and health – one calling for a ban on butter and the other for a ban on trans fats. My concern was less about the science being reported to justify such bans and more about what I would be able to spread on my toast in future if we banned all foods that were perceived by some to be ‘mad, bad and dangerous to eat’!
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Food on the box
Posted by Andrew Wadge on 08 January 2010 in General interest
Hats off to the BBC for two excellent programmes on food last night, which compliment the Government's food strategy 2030 published this week. Jimmy Doherty's investigation into farming in Brazil tackled the issues of how you use science to help increase food production in a way that's sustainable and good for consumers, farmers and the environment. The sight of fleets of combine harvesters across endless prairies harvesting soybeans, followed immediately by a phalanx of seed drillers planting the next crop may not be everyone's idea of farming, but feeding a growing population will take innovation, and Doherty was able to move beyond the tired old argument that intensive farming is always bad. I will certainly be watching the next three episodes.
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Peering at nano-foods
Posted by Andrew Wadge on 08 January 2010 in Science, safety and health
I welcome the report from the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee into nanotechnology, which was chaired by Lord Krebs, a former Chair of the Agency. New and emerging technologies can bring about risks as well as benefits for consumers, so what we need is open debate, not dogma. Our priority in the FSA is protecting consumer interests, so I fully support the need to develop a research capability in the UK so that we can assess the potential effects of nanomaterials on health; we're working with other research funding bodies to co-ordinate the necessary research.
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Joining up on science
Posted by Andrew Wadge on 07 January 2010 in Science in Government
For the new year, I've made a resolution not to comment on the proliferation of fad diets and detoxes surrounding us in the media (I think we can use our common sense on this). Instead I want to look forward to 2030 and the UK Cross-Government Strategy for Food Research and Innovation, which was launched on Tuesday by the Government Chief Scientific Adviser.
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BA Festival of Science
