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The British Nutrition Foundation is an impartial scientific organisation and registered charity which aims to provide scientifically based information about nutrition, encourage nutrition research and promote nutrition education. It was established in 1967 and its Founder Members include a number of eminent scientists and well known companies. Today under the patronage of HRH The Princess Royal, we continue to receive active support from many of the UK's leading academic and medical scientists, and the financial contribution from our membership. The work of the Foundation has expanded considerably in recent years but our fundamental objective remains the same — to help individuals to understand the importance of good nutrition and to be able to utilise the knowledge by making informed dietary choices.

The Board of Agriculture has received from the Principal of the Somerset House Laboratory a report on the examination of samples of milk taken by an inspector in connection with an inquiry into methods of sampling milk.

In 1988 a curriculum audit by the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) identified which subjects included food and nutrition in their syllabus. A framework for teaching food and nutrition within the national curriculum was devised by the BNF. The BNF and Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) launched the “Food – a fact of life” programme in 1989 and since then have developed resources for key stages 1 to 4. Discusses the place for food and nutrition teaching in the curriculum revised for England and Wales.

In recent years the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) has undertaken various schools education initiatives including the BNF/MAFF food and nutrition school programme entitled “Food – a fact of life”. Reviews the development of this programme and provides a detailed account of the latest unit of resources for pupils 11‐16 years. The unit, “Energy and Nutrients”, has been devised to integrate with curriculum requirements throughout the UK and is based on ten topics: energy, fat, protein, carbohydrate, vitamins, minerals, digestion, nutritional needs, alcohol and food composition. The unit comprises a range of pupils′ resources and an optional software program. It was evaluated in over 100 schools from 60 LEAs prior to being launched by the Food Minister on 27 April 1995. Includes a brief review of the BNF Food Technology Training Courses for teachers which are being part funded by the Department for Education.

To the uninitiated mushrooms may seem to pop out of the ground in a very mysterious way, but commercially mushrooms are grown in an environment that is carefully controlled and regulated at every stage

Explains the new Taste of Success scheme, which aims to reward good work with food in UK schools. The scheme has been running since September 2001, is supported by Sainsbury’s, the Design and Technology Association, the British Nutrition Foundation and the Department for Education and Skills. It reviews the scheme’s operation, comprising an awards scheme for pupils to gain recognition of their practical food work, online resources to provide information on product development issues and manufacturing case studies and training sessions for teachers. To date, over 10,000 pupils from around the UK have taken part in the scheme.

Much is made these days of the need for consumer information on food packages, designed to help the consumer organize diets conducive to good health. The British Nutrition Foundation has always believed that such information may be of little value or may be positively harmful if consumers do not understand it or know how to use it. During a study undertaken to determine how best to teach young adults the basics of nutrition, we discovered that there was widespread ignorance, not only about nutrition but also about food production, manufacture and distribution — indeed about all matters relating to the provision of foodstuffs to consumers.

Outlines the reasons for and development of the Guidelines on Education Materials Concerned with Nutrition published in July 1996 by the UK Government’s nutrition task force to help achieve the Health of the Nation dietary targets. States that the guidelines should help food manufacturers develop appropriate education materials on diet and health issues. Lists the guidelines and a checklist used by the food technology unit.

Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Tenn. 37203. Mrs. Cheney does not sell the books listed here. They are available through normal trade sources. Mrs. Cheney, being a member of the editorial board of Pierian Press, will not review Pierian Press reference books in this column. Descriptions of Pierian Press reference books will be included elsewhere in this publication.

A point repeatedly brought forward for the defence, or at all events for the purpose of mitigating the fine, in adulteration cases, is the statement that defendant's goods have been analysed on former occasions and have been found genuine. As illustrating the slight value of analyses of previous samples may be taken the average laudatory analyses on patent or proprietary foods, drinks, or medicine. The manufacturer calculates—and calculates rightly—that the general public will believe that the published analysis of a particular specimen which had been submitted to the analytical expert by the manufacturer himself, guarantees all the samples on the market to be equally pure. History has repeatedly proved that in 99 cases out of 100 the goods found on the market fall below the quality indicated by the published analyses. Not long ago a case bearing on this matter was tried in court, where samples of cocoa supplied by the wholesale firm were distributed; but, when the retailer tried to sell the bulk of the consignment, he had repeated complaints from his customers that the samples were a very much better article than what he was then supplying. He summoned the wholesale dealer and won his case. But what guarantee have the general public of the quality of any manufacturer's goods—unless the Control System as instituted in Great Britain is accepted and applied ? Inasmuch as any manufacturer who joins the firms under the British Analytical Control thereby undertakes to keep all his samples up to the requisite standard; as his goods thenceforth bear the Control stamp; and as any purchaser can at any time submit a sample bought on the open market to the analytical experts of the British Analytical Control, free of any charge, to ascertain if the sample is up to the published and requisite standard, it is plain that a condition of things is created which not only protects the public from being cheated, but also acts most beneficially for these firms which are not afraid to supply a genuine article. The public are much more willing to buy an absolutely guaranteed article, of which each sample must be kept up to the previous high quality, rather than one which was good while it was being introduced, but as soon as it became well known fell off in quality and continued to live on its reputation alone.