The European Food Standards Agency (EFSA) has announced that it has begun work on a new assessment looking at the risk of antimicrobial resistant bacteria spreading during animal transport.

The European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety requested the assessment be carried out and it will focus on the risk of resistant zoonotic bacteria spreading among poultry, pigs and cattle during transport to other farms or to slaughterhouses.

When antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs in zoonotic bacteria, it is known to compromise the effective treatment of infectious diseases in humans.

Marta Hugas, EFSA’s Chief Scientist, said: “Resistance to antimicrobials is an urgent public health threat, and evidence-based advice is critical to developing policy and legislation to meet this challenge.

“This new mandate – which focuses on the possible implications for human health –  illustrates once again the growing convergence between animal and human health and the need for a One Health approach by assessors and policymakers.”

As well as investigating the factors that can cause the spread of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria through transport, EFSA will also review preventive measures and control options, and identify data needs to support further analysis of the issue. The final scientific opinion is expected to be finalised by September 2022.

On October 11^th the French Government announced that it will ban the sale of nearly all fruit and vegetables in plastic packaging from 1^st January 2022 in an effort to reduce plastic waste in the country.

The ban will be extended to all fruit and vegetables by June 2026, allowing time for “alternative solutions” to plastic wrappings to be found.

The list contains around 30 fruits and vegetables including leeks, courgettes, aubergines, peppers, cucumbers, potatoes, carrots, round tomatoes, onions, turnips, cabbages and cauliflowers. Fruits include apples, pears, oranges, kiwis, and lemons, must also be sold in reusable or recyclable packaging.

The government said it expects to prevent the use of more than one billion plastic packages a year with the new regulation.

You can read more here

A new initiative has been launched in the UK to support the delivery of collaborative scientific research into the transmission of coronaviruses from animals to humans.

The International Coronavirus Network (UK-ICN) adopts the WHO’s One Health approach, bringing together multiple sectors to further understanding of the animal-human interface, and ultimately achieve better public health outcomes.

The UK-ICN has been awarded £500,000 over four years to support their work which will bring together researchers and partners from the fields of virology, pathogenesis, genotypic markers of phenotype, transmission, and immunity. Drawing on a range of expertise from different sectors, such as public health, animal health and the environment the research aims to further the understanding of seasonality, transmission, ecology and evolution and ultimately help us prepare better for future outbreaks of animal and human coronaviruses.

You can read more about the initiative here

The International Development Committee held a one-off oral evidence session on nutrition, with evidence from development policy experts, ahead of the third Nutrition for Growth Summit in December. The session focused on the impact of malnutrition in childhood, what can be done to improve global nutrition levels, and the impact of climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic on nutrition and food security.

To watch the session, can click here.

A red meat allergy, also known as Alpha-Gal Syndrome (AGS), is an allergy to meat from mammals such as beef, lamb, pork and goat.

AGS was first reported in 2002 in the United States and the condition is most often caused by a lone star tick bite. Since the first report, a number of other AGS cases have been recorded in multiple countries involving six different tick species.

The tick bite transmits a sugar molecule called alpha-gal into the person’s body and on some occasions, this triggers an immune system reaction to produce immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies, the allergen binds to IgE antibodies and causes cells to release histamine. The person could end up with mild to severe reaction, resulting in an allergy to red meat and other mammal products, including gelatin, cow’s milk, and milk products.

Doctors don’t yet know why some people develop alpha-gal syndrome after exposure to these tick bites and others don’t. It is also important to remember that not all allergies to red meat are caused by tick bites, but if the person has been bitten by ticks and later finds they can no longer tolerate red meat, the bites may have been the cause.

To find out more about this, please click here.

The Government has announced that they will be launching a new app to help people make positive changes to their diet and physical activity next year.

From January 2022, a pilot will see users wearing a wrist device that can generate personal health recommendations, such as increasing their step count, eating more fruit and vegetables and decreasing portion sizes.

Users will collect points for these healthy behaviours which will unlock rewards, which could include gym passes, clothes or food vouchers and discounts for shops, cinema or theme park tickets.

HeadUp has been chosen to deliver the new scheme, with £3 million also coming from the Department of Health and Social Care to provide incentives.

Evidence suggests that financial incentives can improve rates of physical activity and inspire healthier eating so HeadUp will work with a range of organisations to provide rewards such as vouchers, merchandise, discounts and gift cards.

The government is committed to helping people lead healthier, happier lives by making it easier for people to make healthy choices.

The Health Incentives Scheme was announced as part of a £100 million package of government support to help those living with obesity to move closer towards a healthier weight and give them the tools they need to maintain this.

The pilot will launch in January 2022 and will run for 6 months in a defined location in England to be announced in due course.

To read more about the pilot, click here.