In recent years, the media has highlighted multiple examples of food being contaminated by what we call ‘food contact materials’ (FCMs). This definition includes packaging or any materials that can come into contact with food during its life cycle. Examples of contamination include bisphenol A and phthalates from plastic packaging and containers, primary aromatic amines from nylon kitchenware and formaldehyde from melamine kitchenware. Read more

Fera has been at the forefront of raising awareness on the frailty of African plant health and biosecurity and the gains to be achieved in building national capacity. Read more

Grapevines can be affected by one or more GTDs at the same time, for example two of the common diseases on young vines (less than five years old) known as Petri Disease and Black foot can both result in overall stunting, delayed bud break, shortened internodes, yellowing or chlorotic foliage with brown or necrotic margins and wilting of leaves or entire shoots. Read more

During July and August 2020 UK plant health authorities became aware through social media of members of the public in the UK receiving packets of seed which had not been ordered by them. Read more

The SFN recently hosted a virtual sandpit. During the event, Sandpit participants develop ideas for collaborative projects in response to food-related challenges and present their proposals to each other. Read more

Mass spectrometry (MS) in many different formats has been an essential tool for chemical and biological analysis for over 100 years, enabling vital breakthrough discoveries in fields ranging from nuclear research through to identifying novel biomarkers of cancer. Read more

Contaminants and metals can occur naturally or as a result of human intervention. Whilst metals are part of our every-day life and some can even play an essential part to our health and well-being the same cannot be said for contaminants. Read more

What happens when you combine a world class agri-food lab, an internationally recognised kitemark and Scottish honey - a Scottish honey set to take on its global rivals. Read more

A substantial portion of food and drink packaging in current use is based on materials derived from petroleum feedstock, i.e. plastics. These fossil-carbon based materials have been developed to protect the packaged foodstuff from the external environment and so confer many of the necessary barrier properties. These are desirable attributes in the cause of minimizing food waste for economic, societal and environmental benefits. Read more

At the outset of Covid, panic food buying saw our vegetable shelves emptied sending many of us to our local garden centres to buy seed. A combination of ‘Digging for Britain’ and the Good life. The lockdown then closed our garden centres and seed, as with all things, mostly became available to the public via the internet. Overnight, as UK garden centres and supply chains endeavoured to make themselves accessible to their customers online, the UK public awoke to the fact that they could browse and purchase online seed, even plants, from a myriad of alternative suppliers across the world. Read more