APA News
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Lancashire APA laboratory plays it's part in securing a successful prosecution of takeway owner.
04 December 2019
A Lancaster takeaway has been fined £15,000 for breaching food hygiene regulations after a customer found a 3cm long screw inside an onion bhaji. By examination of the bhaji using low power microscopy, Bharatha Reddy, Public Analyst for Lancashire County Scientific Services, was able to observe a tapered screw which was clearly visible and presented securely lodged into the side of the bhaji. Further microscopical examination identified slithers of cooked onion epithelium tightly twisted around the thread of the screw and that the contents of the cross head consisted mostly of partially cooked gram flour batter. The imprint left in the bhaji perfectly matched the size and dimensions of the screw. From this, Bharathi was able to conclude that the screw became associated with the bhaji during the production process and more specifically at the mixing bowl stage.
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Food Standards Scotland looks at Laboratories
20 November 2019
At its Board meeting on the 20th November, the Board of Food Standards Scotland (FSS) received an information and discussion paper on the future capacity and capability of official food and feed control laboratories. This follows the publication of summaries of a review and paper that was considered by the Food Standards Agency Board in September.
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95 Years Ago
10 October 2019
If you have been listening to the radio in Aberdeen in 1924 you might have tuned into the 2BD Aberdeen Station. On the afternoon of 10th October you would have heard Aberdeen’s Public Analyst and Agricultural Analyst Dr J F Tocher speaking on a fairly dry subject, that of the law relating to the sale of fertilizers and feeding stuffs.
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FSA Board to consider a Vision for Food and Feed Laboratories
17 September 2019
The Food Standards Agency Board is to consider a report on a recent review at its meeting in Belfast on Wednesday. The Paper acknowledges that the Agency “is responsible for ensuring the UK has sufficient laboratory capacity and capability to deliver official controls on feed and food safety and standards”. The Board is asked to endorse the evidence-based vision for a future, more integrated and sustainable UK official food and feed laboratory system and provide strategic direction on the proposed approach to address the key issues identified and move towards implementation of a new UK official food and feed laboratory system.
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The draft programme for the 2019 APA conference has been announced today
13 September 2019
The draft programme for the 2019 APA conference has been announced today. The conference will be held in Glasgow between 31 October – 1 November 2019. The venue will be the Doubletree by Hilton Glasgow Central, 36 Cambridge Street, Glasgow
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Man fined over £100,000 over tooth whitening strips
06 September 2019
In 2017 and 2018, the Lancashire Public Analyst lab tested teeth whitening strips for hydrogen peroxide content, which were found to be in excess of the permitted levels with 100 times the legal amount of bleaching agent allowed. The business importing and selling the products was Ableton Ltd, the director which is Francis Reed, who had previously sold the same product under the company Franwood Ltd. On 21st March 2019, Mr Reed entered "guilty" pleas to a number of offences under the Cosmetic Products Regulations 2013 and the Trade Marks Act 1994, at Liverpool Crown Court. He was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, suspended for 2 years, and 150 hours unpaid work. On 13th June, a Confiscation Order was made under the Proceeds of Crime Act, of £97,930 payable within 28 days and costs of £14,834 were awarded.
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