WE ARE WHAT WE EAT

[Stanley]

Sounds like a no-brainer. Why are they dragging their feet?

[Stanley]

Some of you may remember DEFRA running a research programme on shellfish fishing in the NE after unexplained deaths of large numbers of animals. The fishermen said they thought it was due to chemicals released during dredging in the Tees estuary both for maintenance but also for the new freeport being built there. Therese Coffey said this was not the case and said it may be an new and unknown infection. However, now the deaths have spread to the prawn fishery and the fishing industry has asked for further research.
Over the last few days it is obvious that Coffey has been dragged kicking and screaming to the bar again and has announced that there will be another investigation.
There is a suspicion that one factor has been the avoidance of any blame that could affect the new freeport which is a Sunak project. There are a lot of awkward question marks over what is happening and what is happening to the money. Mainly being conducted by Private Eye. It looks as though we are going to hear much more about this.....

[Tizer]

I edited a monthly food safety update for about 20 years from the 1990s to early 2000s but we still are faced with food contamination and food fraud...
`Consumers were possibly at risk from contaminated meat, says FSA' LINK

This is the critical part copied from the BBC article...

Deputy editor Abi Kay told Today: "Most concerningly, two employees said the paperwork which would pick up bacteria like listeria and e-coli, was falsified. "That is no joke, listeria and e-coli can kill people." Ms Kay also explained how the alleged fraud worked by buying a "relatively small volume of British meat" from an approved supplier. "Then they would use the traceability information from this delivery for all the products it made in that week with the majority coming in from elsewhere in the world. "One source even said they were 100% confident that all the retailers the company it supplied had been victims of country-of-origin fraud."
Farmers Weekly believed this was not a one-off and claimed to have evidence this went much further than the one business currently under investigation and raised questions about the audit process. "In this factory when the auditors visited, they would show up unannounced, but they had a certain amount of time between signing in to the premises and being allowed onto the factory floor. "In that short space of time a text message would go out and all the staff would move any suspect products onto lorries, the loading bay or a trolley and push it round one side of the factory while auditors and management were on the other. "That is how ridiculous this is," she added.

Ms Miles admitted the FSA needed to look at the audit process and whether it could be "tightened up". President of the National Farmers' Union Minette Batters said the allegations were "absolutely deplorable".

[Stanley]

I am sure that your fears are well founded Peter. We see little signs that the same old malpractices are still occurring but get no firm evidence in the form of prosecutions. This is of course largely down to the fact that the budget for Local Authority Food inspection services has been slashed to the bone as has funding for the investigative arms of DEFRA.
The sensible thing to do is to fully fund these safeguarding operations and this would have another major benefit. With adequately resourced supervision the feeding of boiled food waste to pigs could be allowed again opening up a valuable source of prime animal feeding again. The reason the system broke down and allowed Foot and Mouth was because the inspection routines had been reduced until they were a joke, some feeders never getting a visit at all. Anyone who has had anything to do with well managed pig swill feeding can tell you it is a wonderful resource and we pay money to incinerate it now.
Another flow of food waste that needs very close inspection is the rendering of food waste to make 'protein derivatives' which are a large part of the pet food industry. In the past there has been leakage from these flows into the human food chain and as sure as God made little fishes it will happen again. Remember the Turkey meat scandal? Question is, in the present inspection climate would we even notice it?
In the days when I was working on industrial boilers I saw instances of what I called the miracle processes where stuff like 13 year old vegetable oil went in through one door and 'baker's shortening' with a sell by date of 6 months on went out of the other door and out of date cheese became 'Mozzarella' for take away pizzas.

[Tizer]

I notice that nowhere in that BBC article was there a mention of Environmental Health Officers. I would have expected them to be involved. Perhaps we need to bring back the `Inspector of Nuisances' role?

The first inspector of nuisances appointed by a UK local authority health committee was Thomas Fresh in Liverpool in 1844. Both the Nuisances Removal and Diseases Prevention Act 1855 and the Metropolis Management Act 1855 defined such an office but with the title of 'Sanitary Inspector'. In local authorities that had established a board of health, the title was 'Inspector of Nuisances'. Eventually, the title was standardised across all UK local authorities as 'Sanitary Inspector'. An Act of Parliament in 1956 later changed the title to 'Public Health Inspector'. Similar offices were established across the British Empire and Commonwealth. The nearest modern equivalent of this position in the UK is an 'Environmental Health Officer'. This title being adopted by local authorities on the recommendation of Central Government after the Local Government Act 1972. (Taken from Wikipedia)

See also: LINK

[Stanley]

It was 'The Nuisance Man' that used to send letters to the management if you were making excessive smoke. We called him that as late as the 1970s.

[Stanley]

In 1978 the term was Environmental Health Officer.
PS. In case you're wondering why the address of the Secretary of James Nutter was in Halifax it's because the mill had been bought for scrapping by an entity funded from the sub-continent who were buying out possible future competitors in the weaving industry and scrapping them. They made money out of that deal and eliminated possible future competition.

[Stanley]

Yes, I am going to bang on about food again.... Have a look at THIS BBC report on the drought in Barcelona. This is part of the same system of climate change that has been blamed for the shortage of imported vegetables from Spain and Morocco.
Spain's extensive use of water for agriculture - accounting for 80% of all water use - is another exacerbating factor. The local government has reduced water use for farming by 40%. This new limit is an extra problem for farmers in the Barcelona area like Agustín García Segovia, president of the El Prat agricultural co-operative, who have already been struggling with the lack of rain and unseasonably high temperatures. "If we can't plant as many crops, there will be less product and there will be shortages," he said, standing in a field of artichokes that he is cultivating. "There will be shortages of products both in Spain and abroad," he added. "And this will also be made felt in price rises."
This is only one small section of the article. Well worth reading and thinking about. This is going to affect our food supplies (It already is actually but will get much worse).
Meanwhile our supermarkets and DEFRA swan along as if nothing was happening and in the course of managing our agricultural systems and food prices they starve our farmers of economic funding when we should be subsidising them to produce food.
Yes, I'm crying wolf. I leave you to decide whether I am deluded or not.

[Stanley]

More and more evidence is surfacing that shows the food supply chain has broken down. The example at the moment is apple growers who have seen the retail price rise by 17% but none of that increased revenue has come back to them and farms have started grubbing orchards out as they can't make money.
This is happening because the government is allowing the supermarkets to run a cheap food policy for them instead of managing the food chain themselves which is what is needed. The supermarkets use the excuse of protecting the customers to hold producer prices down. The result of this is that the quantity coming to market drops and the prices rise. This mechanism is starting to operate in the egg industry but it is too slow and we lose egg producers who don't go back because they don't trust the market.
The government has to stop leaving important matters like managing the food chain to commercial interests because they will never protect the producers, it is in their interest to drive food prices down.
So what they say, we can import cheaper. They are beginning to see this practice breaking down, the recent scare over salad crops from Mediterranean regions is a precursor of things to come. If, by the time we wake up to the danger we have lost our home producers, we are in trouble.
Time to act!

[Stanley]

See THIS for Ann Widdicombe's view on poverty.
The former Tory MP said hard-pressed families should not “do the cheese sandwich” on a BBC politics show discussing the cost-of-living crisis. Widdecombe is a former Strictly Come Dancing contestant who has also represented the Brexit Party in the European parliament, and now backs the Reform Party. The cost of a homemade cheese sandwich rose by one-third to 40p last year, BBC research suggests. Politics Live presenter Jo Coburn asked: “What do you say to consumers who literally can’t afford to pay for even some of the basics if they have gone up the way that cheese sandwich has, with all its ingredients?” She replied: “Well then you don’t do the cheese sandwich ... because we have been decades without inflation we have come to regard it as some sort of given right that our food doesn’t go up.”
I admit to being baffled. I can't imagine what is going on in her head. If she can't find any sympathy or compassion for people who can't afford the basics of life she should keep quiet.

[plaques]

Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill completes passage through Parliament
Bill.
I believe that one of the major objections to the Bill going through the House of Lords was the 'Food Standards law. This has now been dropped from the objections and changes to this law can now be made by Executive order without going through Parliament. Lowering standards may help importers to supply cheaper meat but will add extra 'Red Tape' to the exporters. Who knows what changes will be made that will degrade our food standards to a point where Frankenstein foods and insect protein become the norm.

[Stanley]

I've been watching some Youtube videos of people setting up camp in heavy rain and they all have one thing in common, when it comes to 'cooking a meal' all they are doing is reconstituting dehydrated, extremely processed 'foods'. There is nothing natural.
This is the loophole through which your 'Frankenstein Foods' will get into our system Ken. I fear it is closer than we think because the politicians have demonstrated that they know nothing about farming and food production. They didn't even mention it in the changes to agricultural subsidies and the use of good productive land to grow trees for Carbon Credits is an abomination as it sterilises the land for at least a century. We still import almost half of our food in a world that is getting less and less productive. I know I am seen as an old pessimist but I can still see food rationing coming down the track towards us.....

[Tizer]

Somewhere I heard about a man driving down a country road where a few years ago trees had been planted close together along the edge of the farmland for a mile of so, presumably benefiting someone financially in carbon credits etc. Now when he drives by it's just a continuing line of those plastic spiral tree guards - and no live trees.

[PanBiker]

We have three fields reasonably local at Elslack road end, completely planted with thousands of whips a few years ago. Very few show any signs of growth. They are all planted about 3 feet apart, how the hell is that supposed to work?

On the other side of the coin, the conker (horse chestnut) tree that our Dan planted in a pot in the back yard when he was bout 8 years old which we transplanted to the Clarion a few years ago is 30ft high now.

[Tizer]

At the village house we lived in for 20 years there was a big garden but it had few trees when we bought it. We planted many native and some ornamental trees and created about 20 metres of mixed native hedging. Judging from Google Earth it's all still thriving.

[Sue]

At the village house we lived in for 20 years there was a big garden but it had few trees when we bought it. We planted many native and some ornamental trees and created about 20 metres of mixed native hedging. Judging from Google Earth it's all still thriving.

That is what we have done in France. The field ( at least 5000 sq metres) was bare when we went. We put natural hedging all round, planted about 50 fruit trees and about 25 natural assorted trees. We also now have several self seeded oaks. The trees are buzzing with birds of all sorts. I am still trying to establish wild flowers that come back each year. We have managed ox eyed daisies, wild geraniums and wild garlic plus a host of others that have arrived by themselves that I cannot name, but they are all lost in the vast space. Work in progress. It was our aim when we bought the place to create a balanced natural ecosystem , however I am sure it will be all ripped out when we sell. It doesn’t seem to be a priority of the locals in France.

[Tizer]

That's great Sue. You'll be interested to read about this project in North Wales where they are regenerating and expanding temperate rain forest by collecting local acorns etc and growing them up. Interestingly they are also planting black poplar to replace ash which has disappeared due to ash die back disease. LINK

[Stanley]

How lovely to hear such encouraging stories from people trying to make a difference. But then realising that their efforts are being swamped because of policies brought in by politicians with money on the brain who are pandering to the big energy interests that fund them.
Mark my words, all these policies will come to a screeching halt when food shortages start to hit. Then they'll find that you can't just turn food production on and off like a tap. But then it will be too late. Total idiocy!

[plaques]

A bit of nonsense.
Has anybody noticed that eggs are not truly egg shaped? When opening my soft boiled eggs I've always been a 'big endian' (Gulliver's Travels) I do this for the practical reason that its easier to dip my little soldiers in at the big end. Now eggs are almost symmetrical with both ends being nearly the same size. So there in lies the dilemma which is the big end? I don't suppose these egg producers and I'm not blaming the hens for this but I do wonder if they realise how stressful it is for simple souls being faced with a Mensa problem before breakfast?

[Tripps]

I won't keep on doing this - promise - but here's the expert view. Must say it took longer than usual to reply, and it's a short one.

Summary - 'Search me guv ' . . .

Q. has the shape of hens eggs changed recently Are they rounder rather than 'egg shaped'?

As an AI language model, I don't have access to real-time information or the ability to observe physical objects. Therefore, I can only provide information based on my training up until September 2021.

As of my knowledge cutoff, there haven't been any significant reports or scientific findings indicating a recent change in the shape of hen's eggs. The shape of hen's eggs is generally ovoid or elliptical, with slight variations depending on the breed of the hen. While individual eggs can vary in shape, there hasn't been any widespread or noticeable change reported. If there have been any recent developments or studies related to changes in the shape of hen's eggs, it would be best to refer to updated scientific research or consult with experts in the field for the most accurate information.

[Tizer]

I suppose that means `ask the eggheads' but I don't know if AI chat bots have a sense of humour. So I asked the free online chatbot ( LINK ) and got this answer:

Chatbots can be programmed to have a sense of humor and deliver funny responses. However, their humor is typically based on pre-programmed jokes or clever responses rather than genuine understanding or appreciation of humor. Ultimately, the extent of a chatbot's humor depends on how it was designed and programmed by its developers.

I take that to be a no!

[Stanley]

Or in other words, it all depends on the level of sense of humour in the software engineers.
My solution Ken is cut your soldiers narrower.

[Tizer]

I read about this in The Times on Saturday. Below is all I can copy from their web page because of the paywall. Steve Barclay is trying to make the excuse that he wants to avoid raising people's food bills. The investment companies can see through the ruse and know that improving people's health will improve the UK economy...

`Junk food league tables about-turn condemned by investors'
A 9pm watershed on advertising junk food has been put back beyond the election by ministers who say they want to avoid increasing bills amid the cost of living crisis
Investment giants are demanding that big food companies be forced to reveal how much junk food they sell as they condemn ministers for another obesity about-turn. Fund managers controlling £6 trillion worth of investment say they are “disappointed” that ministers are not pushing ahead with measures that would have allowed a league table of companies selling the most sugar, salt and fat.
In a letter to The Times, companies such as Legal & General say investors need such comparisons in order to make decisions about the risk of buying into companies reliant on selling unhealthy food to an increasingly sceptical public.
The intervention reflects a widening split among companies over government inaction on obesity, with retailers and investors frustrated, while manufacturers resist proposed laws.

[Stanley]

The bottom line is that the junk food manufacturers and retailers are making too much money to fear sanctions from the 'business party'. The flow of profit and tax money is far more important than people's health.

[Tizer]

`Aspartame advice unchanged despite cancer question' BBC
I've just seen the above BBC new story and it prompted me to search back and find what I wrote on this thread in January 2016 (LINK
I've been trying some soft drinks and juices and was surprised to find that some of those that are described as `light' still contain a lot of sugar. But I was appalled to see that some of those that are `full sugar' also contain artificial sweeteners such as sucralose and aspartame! What's the point of putting sweeteners in a sugary drink that's already cloyingly sweet? No wonder people are addicted to sweetness, we can't get away from it.

Looking at present ingredients in soft drinks aspartame seems to have given way to other sweeteners such as sucralose and acesulfame but they are still putting these in `full sugar' versions and not just `diet versions'. I'm sure it's just to give maximum sweetness. If Tesco do it then all the other supermarket companies will do the same to avoid losing `market share'.