Today's News
17 October 2012
"Patients should be treated with dignity and respect. They have the right to expect food that is of high quality and healthy – and that it has been prepared in a clean kitchen."
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt on new standards for patients to expect from hospital food – Healthcare Today – 16 October 2012
Find out more about the Soil Association’s work to improve hospital food
Boots censured for misleading organic claims
Boots has been rapped by the advertising watchdog for making misleading claims about a range of organic baby products on its website. The online ad for ‘Little Me Organics Oh So Gentle Hair and Body Wash’ claimed the product was organic, despite only containing 5% organic ingredients.
Marketing Week (17 Oct)
Find out more about organic beauty product with our guide to organic beauty product labelling
New standards for hospital food
The Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has announced new standards for patients to expect from NHS hospital food. A list of standards which apply to food quality, nutrition and choice will be supported by a patient-led assessment system. Age UK, Hospital Caterers Association, Royal College of Nursing, Soil Association, British Association of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, Patients Association and the British Dietetic Association have all supported the new principles.
Healthcare Today (16 Oct)
Find out more about the Soil Association’s work to improve hospital food
Sainsbury’s to phase out Red Tractor logo
Retailer Sainsbury’s is to ditch the Red Tractor logo from its products blaming the move on consumer confusion over package labelling. The retailer confirmed that it would begin removing the logo from beef pork and lamb before widening the initiative to include its other product lines.
Farmers Weekly (16 Oct)
Eco Audit: Will the badger cull work?
There is fierce debate about whether the scientific evidence supports the policy of using a badger cull to reduce bovine tuberculosis. Leo Hickman, with your help, investigates. Post your views below, email leo.hickman@guardian.co.uk or tweet @LeoHickman.
The Guardian (17 Oct)
Badger cull opponents granted first Commons debate
The imminent pilot cull of badgers in Gloucestershire and Somerset could face being voted down by MPs next week after opponents were granted the first Commons debate on the issue. Campaigners called for the cull, which could start any day, to be suspended until after the debate. Ministers approved the cull of up to 100,000 animals in an attempt to curb the growing problem of tuberculosis in cattle. In 2011, 26,000 cattle were slaughtered and bovine TB measures cost taxpayers £90m.
The Guardian (16 Oct)
Read the Soil Association’s position on the badger cull
Livestock exports to resume from Ramsgate
The High Court has ordered the port of Ramsgate to lift a ban on livestock exports from the UK to continental Europe. A High Court injunction means the port must remain open to the trade pending a judicial review into the council’s decision to suspend animal movements last month.
Farmers Weekly ( 17 Oct)
Ad blitz drains support for California GMO-labelling plan
An intense advertising blitz, funded by Monsanto Co and others, has eroded support for a California ballot proposal that would require U.S. food makers to disclose when their products contain genetically modified organisms. If California voters approve the measure on November 6, it would be the first time U.S. food makers have to label products that contain GMOs, or ingredients whose DNA has been manipulated by scientists.
MSNBC News (11 Oct)
Farming Today
MPs will have their say on the badger cull. A Commons debate has been timetabled for next week. The European Commission is expected to announce a cap today on the amount of food crops being used in biofuel. And, another casualty of the wet summer, a poor maize crop, is leaving many dairy farmers worrying about the cost of feeding their cows over the winter.
BBC Radio 4, listen again (17 Oct)
And finally…Telegraph readers’ pictures of autumn colour
The Telegraph (17 Oct)
