Prof Elliott spoke to the Lords EU Committee about the reduction in the number of public analyst laboratories and reduced resources for enforcement officers compared to activities in other Member States. Although the FSA's National Food Crime Unit was welcomed, not one prosecution had been taken compared to 24 major investigations by the Dutch Food Crime Unit, and the seizing of 6.5 million Euros in criminal assets.
Read the article at: http://www.fwi.co.uk/news/horsemeat-type-scandal-could-happen-again.htm
Comments
It is interesting to see the list of laboratories that are no longer undertaking PA work, but I should mention that several of the labs on the list are, by virtue of the "family tree", still involved. Bernard Dyer, Leo Taylor and Lucke (where I started my own career in the PA world), Lyne Martin and Radford, Moir and Palgrave, Muter and Hackman, Parry Ferguson and Dakin (not on the list) and Ruddock and Sherratt are all companies that, by a process of merger and acquisition, became what is now Public Analyst Scientific Services (PASS), part of the Eurofins group. As such, the public analysts within these groups have never ceased to offer a service and have access to a huge (over 250 laboratories, 25,000 people) integrated network with state of the art of the art equipment, over 130,000 accredited methods and research facilities not to mention hundreds of PhDs and thousands of graduates in many fields of science. During the horsemeat crisis, PASS proved adaptable and resilient, undertaking hundreds of speciation tests in very short timescales while the rest of the group undertook thousands of tests for trade. Technology has enabled the modern PA to do an amount of work at a level of detail without precedence, the productivity of modern methods in modern laboratories is phenomenal.
Loss of laboratories isn't really a problem of the private sector, which has adapted, improved and offers a first class service.
What is needed is a supply of quality graduates to train for the role (the age profile of existing PAs, like farmers, verges on the older side) and a reasonable hope of a career that is worth the investment of time and effort required to qualify.
Hi Mark
I note Professor Elliott's comments about the number of public analyst laboratories decreasing. It may be interesting to note the laboratories which have closed since 1999, the time of the Turner Review of the Public Analyst Service (see Annex 4 of the Review report, attached, for those which were operating at that time) and also wonder how many of the recommendations of the Review have been fully implemented in practice. The review was partly set up because of the concerns about the number/funding of laboratories before 1999.
Best
Roger
Roger
Thanks for your comment. If I remember correctly the Turner Review was a little too radical for many PAs as it suggested fewer but larger better equipped labs, which appears to have happened by default anyway. If you look at Selverani's blog announcing that all the presentations from the GC Conference on 21-22 June are available on the gov.uk website, you will see a talk by Jon Griffin on the APA, and he lists all the existing PA labs, and compares the number with PA labs even 6 years ago:
http://www.gov.uk/government/news/science-supporting-trust-in-food-...
The compounding problem is the fall in the number of samples taken by LAs
Regards
Mark
Hi Mark
Thank you.
I think that it would be interesting to note the laboratories that have closed or which no longer undertake PA work (because the accreditation costs outweigh the income to support the work or which have amalgamated first into CSL (not the MAFF one!) and then Eurofins) that I know of. These are listed below.
A H Allen
Belfast
Bernard Dyer
Birmingham
Bolton
Bostock Hill and Rigby
Bristol
Durham
GLC
Hull
Leicester
Leo Taylor and Lucke
Liverpool
Lyne Martin and Radford
Manchester
Matlock
Melling and Arden
Mid-Glamorgan
Moire and Palgrave
Muter and Hackman
Pattinsons
Ruddock and Sherratt
Rymer
Southwark
Taunton
Tickle and Reynolds
Voelker
Scotland – 1 private laboratory?
A very extensive number.
The Turner recommendations were accepted by the APA at the time, as they were by the JFSSG.
Out of interest only now.
Best
Roger