Category Archives: Food safety

Block on GM rice ‘has cost millions of lives and led to child blindness’

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Eco groups and global treaty blamed for delay in supply of vitamin-A enriched Golden Rice

Stifling international regulations have been blamed for delaying the approval of a food that could have helped save millions of lives this century. The claim is made in a new investigation of the controversy surrounding the development of Golden Rice by a team of international scientists.

Golden Rice is a form of normal white rice that has been genetically modified to provide vitamin A to counter blindness and other diseases in children in the developing world. It was developed two decades ago but is still struggling to gain approval in most nations.

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Hancock pledges hospital food overhaul after listeria deaths

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Factory production of sandwiches linked to five cases is halted as health secretary demands action

Health secretary Matt Hancock has ordered a “root and branch” review of NHS food after two more patient deaths were linked last week to a listeria outbreak. The new deaths bring the number of suspected fatalities to five and doctors have warned that further cases could occur.

Hancock said he was “incredibly concerned” after it emerged the patients were suspected of dying as a result of eating pre-packaged sandwiches and salads linked by the same supplier, The Good Food Chain.

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Revealed: no need to add cancer-risk nitrites to ham

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Confidential meat industry report shows additives do not prevent food poisoning

A bombshell internal report written for the British meat industry reveals nitrites do not protect against botulism – the chief reason ham and bacon manufacturers say they use the chemicals.

The study, conducted for the British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) by the scientific consultancy Campden, and marked “confidential”, examines the growth of the toxin Clostridium botulinum in the processing of bacon and ham.

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US ambassador to UK under fire over defence of chlorinated chicken

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Critics say process Woody Johnson called ‘no-brainer’ is ‘harmful’ to nation’s health

The US ambassador to Britain, Woody Johnson, has come under fire from a leading food critic, a farming union and trade justice campaigners over his push to open up the UK to American farmers post-Brexit.

Jay Rayner, the BBC presenter, Observer columnist and MasterChef critic, said the UK should tell Johnson where he can stick chlorinated chicken, the US’s preferred approach for protecting consumers from pathogens such as salmonella and campylobacter.

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Woman dies after eating at Michelin-starred restaurant

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Spanish authorities say 28 others suffered food poisoning after dining at Riff in Valencia

One woman has died and 28 people have suffered food poisoning after eating at a Michelin-starred restaurant in the eastern Spanish city of Valencia.

The 46-year-old woman, who has not been named, became ill after having a meal at the Riff restaurant with her husband and son. She died in the early hours of Sunday. Her husband and son are recovering.

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