Our poor old food industry has been battered by every conceivable problem in recent months. Fair criticism is one thing, inaccurate, head-line grabbing comments are another, written by people who do not understand our industry, neither do they seek to find the answers. This attitude of whole parts of our broadcast and news media has damaged our industry in the eyes of the consumer.

Sorting out the urgent problem of origin marking will take time because National, European and International politicians need to make decisions. Sorting out the proliferation of what is required on labels, currently too complex and little understood by all but the most dedicated of shoppers, will take time. Simplification of wording to what is necessary will take more legislation, hopefully drawn together carefully across many countries and without political bias.

We, in the food industry, our subscribers, advertisers and those providing us with technical news must start thinking positively about our achievements and project those thoughts on our customers, our Nation. This great country of ours invented much of food technology and gave it to the world. Canning started here, quick-freezing, although developed for the US Army during the first world war, burgeoned and grew here in the UK, our biscuits are exported throughout the world, and thanks to great companies like Baker Perkins and Vicars (who invented ‘hard-tack’ for the Navy out of their Liverpool bakery in the 1820s) and Spooner, British biscuits are baked on British machines throughout the world. The examples are too numerous to mention here, but let us start the ball rolling to project the safety of the food we produce.