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

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health threat that is becoming critically important in many aspects of society. AMR is the evolution of microbes to become resistant to the drugs we use to control them – often this refers to bacteria becoming immune to the effects of antibiotics, but it can have a much broader definition (such as fungi becoming resistant to fungicides). Read more

As the UK Government starts to slowly lift lockdown measures, at Fera we understand and recognise the importance of our role in continuing in providing responsive support services to all of our clients and partners, working nationally and internationally. Read more

As consumers, we have the right to know what is in the food we buy and where our food is coming from. Yet today’s food chain is of unprecedented complexity and span, presenting greater risks in relation to safety and authenticity. So clear and correct labelling of food and drink products is vital. Read more

As multiple altruistic businesses sought to assist in the fight against the COVID-19 global pandemic by diverting workforces to produce hand sanitisers concerns have been raised about the effectiveness but more alarmingly the safety of some of these products. Read more