‘orrible things you find in your food

The other day, I purchased pork & apple burgers from the local farmers’ market. The first 3 went down a treat, shared between myself, my daughter and my husband. But suddenly in the 4th one, my husband discovered a squashed piece of metal. Knowing his history of cracked  dental fillings I was all for persuading…
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‘Green exercise’ good for mental health

Here at CABI Headquarters where 'Hand picked' bloggers are based, we are fortunate to be surrounded by trees and fields. So whenever the sun shines at lunchtime (which does happen sometimes, even in England), many of us drag ourselves away from our desks and computers and are able to enjoy a walk in the English…
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Are you eating more eggs?

It seems that many of us in the UK could be! According to the British Egg Information Service there has been a rise in egg sales of around 5% this year and, over Easter, sales rocketed to their highest levels for more than 20 years. So what is responsible for the rising popularity of eggs?…
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Wendie Norris

I came to CABI in 2002, by a very convoluted route! A BSc Biochemistry from Sheffield University, research assistantships at Cambridge and then with Unilever, Bedford, followed by a PhD Kings College London on cell adhesion receptors (integrins to those in the know). Then postdocs in developmental biology at Oxford University and with ICRF, Oxford…
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Digital native or information alien?

Special report from IAALD 2010: Are young people really the digital jugglers we’ve been led to believe? We’ve grown accustomed to seeing many young people as multi-tasking wiz kids who operate freely in technology rich space on the internet, free to interact with who they choose, and able to conjure relevant information at the drop of…
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A personal choice: smoking tobacco or your kid’s health?

Staff at Liverpool’s  Alder Hey Children’s Hospital claimed in a BBC Panorama programme,  (Spoilt Rotten? BBC One, Tuesday, 13 April ) that it was costing them over ÂŁ1 million annually  to treat preventable diseases in children.  I picked up on this report via Radio 4: my ears pricked up as I had a pretty good…
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Model building in Bournemouth saves lives

NO, not sandcastles, although if it could be said to improve your health then the 2010 annual meeting of UKPHA* (“Confronting the Public Health Crisis”) would have offered it in Bournemouth (alongside Nordic walking, Tai chi, handclapping exercises (I kid you not!) cycling and vegetarian food (see my colleague's blog  Wot no conference bag?). NO what…
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Wot no conference bag?

Leading by example is important in public health. How can you convince someone to change if you haven’t tried yourself? UKPHA was leading by example by reducing its carbon footprint this week in Bournemouth. Bag making workshop at UKPHA. (photo courtesy Wendie Norris)
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Vitamin D and flu

Since my recent post on the growing health claims for vitamin D (see: Bring on the sunshine!), the 'sunshine vitamin' has continued to appear in the headlines. Of note is a study from Japan (just published in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition)1 suggesting that the risk of children contracting influenza A may be reduced if…
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Bring on the sunshine!

I have recently come across a number of interesting articles highlighting the health benefits of maintaining sufficient/high levels of vitamin D. The headlines grabbing my attention include: UK experts calling for milk to be fortified to halt a rise in rickets; high levels of vitamin D can reduce heart disease and diabetes in the middle…
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