Our lead scientist also writes the 'Hygiene Mythbuster' column for Cleaning Matters magazine. In this article he looks at why washing machine odours are on the increase...Do you ever worry about germs in your gusset? Or bacteria in your budgie smugglers?A recent study in America showed pretty much all new - yes, new - clothes are [...]
‘Food Crime Confidential’ - a reporting facility where food crime can be reported safely and in confidence - has now been launched by the National Food Crime Unit (NFCU). This is the unit set up by the Government in response to the probe into the recent horse meat scandal. This reporting facility allows anyone with suspicions about food crime to report them safely and in [...]
An electronic sensor that can be used to quickly detect and classify bacteria for diagnostic and food safety has passed a key hurdle by distinguishing between dead and living bacterial cells. Conventional lab techniques need samples be cultured for hours or days to grow enough of the bacteria for identification and analysis. This new approach might be used to create [...]
In the week Nigel Farage suggested the demise of the UK pharmaceutical industry might be a good thing because it would "help the 'good people' in the alternative medicine industry", it has been announced we are likely to see Zika in Europe this summer. Surprisingly it isn't the scientifically and medically-illiterate Mr Farage making this claim, it's proper science from [...]
A team based in the UK and led by an academic from Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry has carried out a review investigating the health benefit of contact with the natural environment. This is being widely reported as finding a link between contact with the environment and health. But that's not really [...]
Bosses at a filthy pub have been ordered to pay over £30,000 after inspectors found rat droppings in their storerooms. This discovery prompted the closure of The Grapes Inn to protect the public. The shocking state of the pub kitchen came after food inspectors found everything from out-of-date food to leaky fridges. On its website the pub claims to be “providing proper [...]
According to a report in the journal Analytical Chemistry scientists have developed a simple, paper-based test that could help detect pathogens on food before they reach supermarket shelves, restaurants - and, indeed, us. Current testing for pathogens in food requires complicated equipment and highly-trained staff and is far too complex and unwieldy to be practical in large-scale food manufacturing. The researchers have developed a [...]
Louise Snell was merrily carving and picking at the roasted bird in readiness for dinner time. Who wouldn't? But when she discovered the inside of the bird was fluorescent green it all soon came back up again. The chicken that made Mrs Snell so ill reeked of chemicals but in a heart warming gesture that truly represents [...]
A Manchester Halal butcher has been given a £15,000 fine after being caught selling ‘Halal lamb mince' which was, in fact, laced with cheap beef. Master Halal Meat butchers of Ayres Road, Old Trafford, was found guilty of two counts of food fraud at Trafford Magistrates' Court. The discovery was made after Trafford Council EHOs sampled produce from a [...]
Public Health England are linking a number of norovirus cases to a pub in Northamptonshire after sixty customers and staff reported being unwell. A number of diners at Hobson's Choice pub and restaurant in Pegasus Court, Kettering, reported symptoms of sickness and diarrhoea.The pub shut for inspections but is now open again with Public Health England (PHE) bosses [...]