Food Ethics Council

The Winter issue of our magazine, themed 'the bottom line', is available to subscribers. The cover, contents and leading article can be viewed here for free. The issue includes articles about food poverty, hunger and ethical business.
December 2006

The Autumn issue of our magazine, themed 'secrecy', is freely available here until 2nd October 2006. It includes articles on food advertising, gene-tailored diets and the hidden struggles faced by coffee producers.
September 2006

John Verrall, a pharmaceutical chemist and member of the Food Ethics Council, is a member of the Veterinary Products Committee that advises UK government. In this minority report he highlights important scientific evidence that is omitted from the committee's official report on Risks associated with the use of hormonal substances in food-producing animals.
The report was initially intended as an appendix to the official report and it is published here in the draft form in which it was submitted to the VPC for consideration.
Since this minority report was drafted, further analysis of potential risks associated with low-level exposure to hormones used in meat production has been published by the University Department of Growth and Reproduction, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark, which under Professor Niels E. Skakkebæk is a recognised world authority on the subject. By kind permission of the authors, Human Reproduction Update and Oxford University Press, the article is reproduced here.
3rd July 2006

A response to a consultation by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) / Veterinary Products Committee (VPC).
November 2005

Further comments on access to information at the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD).
September 2005

A consultation by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD).
June 2005

A consultation by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD).
May 2005

UK regulators are currently consulting stakeholders on the design of new rules on veterinary drugs. This is an opportunity to address problems with the current regulatory system and to put forward a more progressive vision of drug use in farming and food production. The Food Ethics Council will be engaging in this consultation process by producing a short policy paper and by meeting with regulators. This paper contains details of how to take part in the consultation process.
March 2004

Farm animals are given drugs to make them grow faster or yield more milk, not just to treat disease. This report argues for a new approach to the licensing and control of drug use in farm animals, in the interests of the public, the environment and the animals themselves.
June 1999