REHIS News

The energy content of a large number of main meals in major UK restaurants is “excessive” and the full service restaurant meals tend to be higher in energy content than fast food meals, research published in the BMJ has found. 

University of Liverpool researchers analysed thousands of meals from places like Nando’s and McDonald's. The researchers examined at more than 13,500 meals on the menus of 21 full service restaurants and six fast-food chains. 

Sniffer dogs are being used to help find leaking water mains for the first time in Scotland and have scored a big success with two discoveries.

Scottish Water have deployed a team of specially trained dogs to help locate leaks in pipes in rural areas where the water does not always show on the surface.

Two spaniels, called Snipe and Denzel, aged two and three, have been trained by ex-military dog handlers to detect the smell of chlorine in treated water.

Food delivery platform, Just Eat has announced plans to display the official Food Hygiene Rating of each of its UK restaurant partners directly on its platform both in-app and online.

Following consultations with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH), Just Eat will launch its trial of the initiative in Northern Ireland in early 2019 with over 600 restaurants. Following a full evaluation of the trial, a national roll-out will be implemented later in the year.

The BBC Watchdog Live has found that leading restaurant and coffee shop chains are giving out incorrect allergy advice.

Acting as customers with food allergies, Watchdog Live's journalists covertly filmed staff at Frankie & Benny's, Pizza Hut, Nandos, Pizza Express, Starbucks and Costa. The journalists asked staff if specific dishes contained one of the 14 major allergens, including nuts, mustard and celery - which is often used as flavouring in stocks and sauces.

A woman has been convicted of illegally whitening people's teeth.

Brenda McFadyen, from Clydebank, was fined £1,000 after she pled guilty to the illegal practice of dentistry at Glasgow Sheriff Court last month.

The Dentists Act 1984 makes it illegal for anyone who is not registered with the General Dental Council (GDC) to practise dentistry. The GDC, which regulates the UK dental industry, allows only registered dentists to carry out teeth whitening.

Three supermarket chains have given confusing or incorrect information on allergens in their bakeries, the BBC Watchdog has found.

Branches of Asda, Sainsbury's and Tesco gave wrong or unclear details to the undercover reporters from the BBC’s consumer programme. The reporters visited 24 supermarket bakeries, five of which showed cause for concern. 

The retailers said they would review their labelling and staff training.

On the 27 October 2018, a group of 7 students and a lecturer from a small class of 13 students gathered for a meal in Edinburgh to celebrate 40 years since they all met for the first time as first year students attending the block release course of Sanitary Science at Napier College.

Curbs on the marketing of alcoholic drinks to protect children are included in new plans to tackle alcohol harm.

The Scottish Government’s ‘Alcohol Framework 2018: Preventing Harm’, includes proposals to consult on alcohol marketing such as public spaces and online. Under the framework, the UK Government will be pressed to impose a 9pm watershed for alcohol advertising on TV, and restrictions on advertising in cinemas are also proposed.

Large-scale Low Emission Zones (LEZs) can deliver improvements in urban air quality and these can be linked to changes in childhood respiratory health. However, more ambitious schemes are required to meet legislative limits and deliver improvements to respiratory health, according to a study in the Lancet Public Health journal.

The study looked into the impact of London’s LEZ and found that while it has improved air quality it has not been enough to benefit children’s lung health.