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Misconceptions about frozen food are contributing to the seven million tonnes of waste thrown out by UK households every year, the Food Standards Agency says.

Of the 1,500 people it surveyed, 43% wrongly thought food could only be frozen on the day it was bought, suggesting confusion over food safety. 

Some 38% incorrectly said food could become unsafe to eat in the freezer. In fact, "the freezer is like a pause button", the FSA's Steve Wearne said.

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As a member of the Commercial Development team, work closely with academic staff to commercialise the outcomes of the University’s research within the Faculty of Medicine, Health & Life Sciences including a focus supporting the Institute of Health Sciences (HIS), Institute for Global Food Security (IGFS) and other related areas of activity. 

  • Job title Commercialisation Manager (MHLS)
  • Job reference 16/104673
  • Date posted 06/06/2016
  • Application closing date 04/07/2016
  • Salary£38,896 - £50,702 per annum (including contribution points)
  • Job Details

For more info or to apply please click here

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Twelve food businesses, including five takeaways and the kitchen of a pre-school in Dublin were closed last month over breaches of food safety legislation.


The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) published the May closure orders served by HSE environmental health officers on Tuesday.


Such orders are served where it is deemed that there is, or there is likely to be, a grave and immediate danger to public health at or in the premises.

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Campylobacter rates in fresh chickens sold in the UK are continuing to fall due to the number of retailers removing neck skin. Neck skins of whole birds sold in retail are now heavily trimmed, removing the area of highest campylobacter contamination.

The latest data from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) for January to March 2016 showed that 9.3% of chickens tested positive for the highest level of contamination. This was down from 21.8% for the three months from December 2014 to February 2015.

Campylobacter was present on 50% of the 1,009 chicken samples tested, down from 71% in the equivalent quarter of the previous year.

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Police Crack Down on Toxic Food

The wheels of justice turn slowly, but stomachs will churn rapidly over the toxic and counterfeit food products that police agencies have seized recently in 57 countries.

Care for an appetizer? How about 154 pounds of chicken intestines soaked in formalin, a prohibited food additive, that were seized in Indonesia?

Or perhaps some Italian olives that were painted with copper sulfate solutions to make them look greener, or sugar that was cut with fertilizer in Sudan? And don’t even ask about the illicit alcohol concocted in Greece, Britain or Burundi.

Criminals make millions of dollars a year peddling such products, and worse, to unwitting or reckless buyers, according to the international police agencies Interpol and Europol.

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A "reckless" restaurant owner has been jailed for six years for the manslaughter of a customer who had an allergic reaction to a curry.

Paul Wilson, 38, suffered a severe anaphylactic shock in January 2014 after eating a takeaway containing peanuts from the Indian Garden in Easingwold, North Yorkshire. Mohammed Zaman, 52, was found guilty at Teesside Crown Court. 

The court heard he cut corners by using cheaper ingredients containing peanuts.

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Are you a scientist with experience in chemical risk assessment? Do you want to make a difference to European food safety? Then apply to join the European Food Safety Authority’s two Scientific Panels dealing with food ingredients and packaging and be part of Europe’s network of top food safety scientists.

The successful applicants will become members of the Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources Added to Food (ANS) or the Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavourings and Processing Aids (CEF) from 1 July 2017.

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The Quaker Oats Co., a subsidiary of PepsiCo Inc., announced a voluntary recall of a small quantity of Quaker Quinoa Granola Bars after an ingredient supplier was found to have distributed sunflower kernels that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes (L.mono).

There had not been any confirmed illnesses reported in connection to the recalled product as of the posting of the recall notice.

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