As the BBC reported this morning, the winter vomiting bug Norovirus has been found in three-quarters of British oysters, according to a report commissioned by the Food Standards Agency (FSA). While the figures in this report seem shocking, the FSA is making no changes to its current advice, warning consumers to be aware of the dangers of eating raw seafood and advising the most vulnerable groups to avoid it entirely.
This decision not to change consumer advice comes because, as the FSA’s chief scientist Dr Andrew Wadge notes, this is not a new food safety risk. Oysters are not more or less dangerous than they were last week or last year, and while the FSA has identified the presence of this virus in the majority of oysters, they cannot yet tell if this is the infectious form of the bug, nor what levels of presence could be deemed safe.
To most oyster lovers – of which I am unashamedly one – the finding that raw seafood can make you sick will not come as news, nor will it put us off. Continue reading
The family has been living in Cookham, Berkshire since the late 1600s but it wasn’t until 1901 that they started farming and not until 1957 that they got into the turkey business. What began as a new project for the just out of school Tom Copas is now the primary family business, whose turkeys are sold at quality stockists throughout the UK as well as at their farm on December 23rd for ‘Farm Gate Day’.
Diva Month