Good old Professor Jim Stevenson. It appears that he has finally persuaded the FSA (Food Standards Agency) to 'toughen up' on the issue of the food additives, identified in his research that was published last September. He is clearly a scientist of principles. The health and welfare of our children (and animals) is a bigger concern than the commercial ambitions of food manufacturers.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news/food-additives-could-be-as-damaging-as-lead-in-petrol-804890.html

"Apparently stung by the failure to act, Professor Jim Stevenson, who led the Southampton study, wrote to the FSA demanding immediate action."

"His letter dated 20 March is included in the bundle of documents forwarded to the board, which were published yesterday."

You may remember the original blog on this:

The many colours of our food

by Chris Day on Thu 06 Sep 2007 07:24 BST  

and here are some of the original reports:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/sep/06/lifeandhealth.health

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/06/nfood106.xml

Men of principle seem to be regrettably thin on the ground, these days, especially where academic and scientific careers may be at stake. I take my hat off to Prof. Stevenson for speaking out and for being so single-minded.

The implications of his work are there for animals, too and those responsible for feeding animals should be aware of the risks. All manner of colourings and other additives abound in pet foods, supplements and treats and the dangers should not be underestimated. This applies mostly to horses, dogs and cats. We even had a lovely Border Collie patient who was nearly put down, on account of developing unreliability with children, a behavioural change entirely abolished when colourants were removed from her diet.

http://www.alternativevet.org/nutrition.htm