New evidence on E. coli
There was an interesting development in the science around E. coli O157 reported last week. An article in the British Medical Journal showed that E. coli O157 infection can lead to an increased risk of...
View ArticleIt’s just a gut feeling
I spotted another development in the science around E.coli O157 in the news last week. As part of an EU project, researchers have found that E.coli O157 has an advantage over other bacteria because it...
View ArticleFood safety – everyone’s talking about it
Obviously, staff here at the Agency have been much focused on the E.coli outbreak in Germany over the past fortnight. But it serves to remind us yet again of the importance of good food hygiene...
View ArticleIs there a clue in the code?
When investigating food poisoning outbreaks every avenue is worth following in order to build a detailed knowledge base, and gain insights into its source. There are dozens of scientists, from...
View ArticleAre we technologically backward? I'd like to think not!
I believe that in the UK and Europe we are at the forefront of technological development, so I take offence to the EU being portrayed, in the Wall Street Journal, as backward and having ‘long fought...
View ArticleReal fun-guys!
It turns out mushroom researchers have a sense of humour and have named a new species of mushroom Spongiforma squarepantsii after the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants.If only bacterial taxonomy...
View ArticleE.coli is Archers' target
As a lifelong follower of The Archers, BBC Radio’s very, very long running rural soap opera, I have been enjoying the current storyline about food hygiene. Pat and Tony (Archer!) run a very ‘right-on’...
View ArticleThink you know how to wash your hands?
A new study publicised today shows that it’s not only our hands that are dirtier than they should be, but also the everyday things we touch and use regularly, like our mobile phones.We’re talking...
View ArticleLet's make a risk-based resolution
'What a weak barrier is truth when it stands in the way of any hypothesis'.Mary Wollstonecraft I came across this quotation in my Christmas reading and it seems as apt now as it was in the 1790s. It...
View ArticleBreaking out
Across the pond, cantaloupes, pine nuts, romaine lettuce and sprouts caused serious outbreaks of illness in 2011, according to a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in...
View ArticleBurgers: rare or well done?
Following my previous post about the dangers of eating raw pork, people have been asking whether it’s safe to eat burgers rare, or cooked with a ‘pink blush’ in the middle.The advice being given in...
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