General Chat

Can I just say, apart from article 50 being invoked, some childish comments, blustering and hot air, b*gger all has changed!!

Nothing has happened - apart from a few insults being thrown and various members of the Government coming out with 'statements' which were immediately contradicted.
No-one has come forward with a plan.
They're all on a jolly nice long holiday.
We received the bad eggs due to pre-Brexit cuts, and abattoirs have been hell holes since they were centralised and inspections cut.

Oh flight for sure....

There are very many good things about the UK. There are some marvellous things.
There are some very bad things too but nowhere near as many. Moreover these things are recognised as bad or even evil and a lot of effort is going into change for the better.

There is no upside to brexit whatsoever.
It is an unmitigated disaster which does not even succeed in its own terms.
It is totally at odds with British foreign policy and science & the arts since 1688.

It has imposed a black noxious cloud over every aspect of the nation's life.

Flight or fight?

As a mere mortal, I have no seeing eye into the future, but I do know that if Rollo ever says anything remotely positive about the UK future hell will freeze over!

Caroline should look up what the EU directives mean by "third countries".
All the regulatory equivalence and Great Repeal Bills I the world will not change the fact that the day after brexit the UK will become a third country. Trade and commerce as have been usual for 40 years will simply seize up.

There is no time left to get a trade treaty agreed such that the UK has little choice than to request an extension. Hammond's idea of three years is tight and then only possible with max goodwill and a successful exit Treaty. Moreover any extension would rest on the realistic prospect of a Trade Treaty which would demand recognition of the Ecj for trade resolution, lock step with most EU law and freedom of movement. Which is about where we came in.

So far May, Fox and Bojo have been going in the opposite direction. Taken in conjunction with the desolation of all areas of domestic policy and an approaching financial hurricane the tenure of May's govt looks very weak.

Does "taking back Control" really have to mean handing it to China and Ulster thugs aling with large bribes? surely not.

Kense are you really expecting everything to grind to a halt because of Brexit? I don't know exactly what the future will bring any more than you do, but I do know there will still be laws and regulations. What makes anyone so sure those laws and regulations will be worse than before Brexit?

As one who has taken pigs to a slaughterhouse it was not a nice experience. That started in the holding yards where animals were clearly distressed. (That was in Cambridgeshire)

After that we used a slaughterer who used the facilities on his own farm to kill, hang and butcher the meats to our requirements. (That was in West Wales). This was observed by our very young children.

I killed our own chickens when required.

I rarely buy prepared foods because I know what goes into them and I'm not in control of additives or the quality of the ingredients.

However I'm lucky to have the time many working families don't and they should be able to trust they aren't being poisoned or ingesting mechanically recovered usually inedible meat, sinew and other bits we would leave on the bone and throw away.

We used to have inspectors - Food Safety Inspectors - who regularly turned up at abattoirs/restaurants etc to check cleanliness/safety/correct procedures were in place, but funding for Health & Safety was cut by over a third in 2014/2015, and the focus was moved to inspecting 'high risk' sites, such as energy, nuclear sites and chemical industries.

So building sites - where shoddy workmanship can affect the lives of innocent passers by, restaurants and food production - where many people can be affected, and control of what food enters this country have taken a back seat., all for a few quid!!

Apparently, 'Simplifying and codifying Health and Safety laws will help employers spend less time on tick box exercises, and more time focussing on growing their businesses'

At the same time, legal aid for employees wanting to sue their employers was cut.
So, a workman can fall off scaffolding due to proper procedures not taking place (there was no-one to check) and not afford to get compensation from their employer for bad practice.

Minimal sentences handed out to miserable miscreants who abuse any animal rarely deter further maltreatment.

The line between barbarism & civilisation is very thin - and melting away like the ice-cap.

Caroline, do you really think that businesses put all that money into the Brexit campaign in order to have tougher regulations?

Blind trust is rarely repaid best to do a little checking. Supermarkets do not have an outstanding record.

Bad treatment of animals and poultry at slaughterhouses tends to result in serious hygiene problems in the food chain. There have been 40 000 such incidents in UK abbatoirs in the last two years - agreed self regulation is not working. Hence the decision to implement live cctv from 2018 at all 278 locations.

Of course less trauma to poultry and animals is a popular measure but money is the driving reason. A visit to even a humane slaughterhouse would prob convert most of the posters here to being veggies.

Unless the powers that be get their act together in a hurry brexit is going to cause chaos and ruin to our farming industry.

I thought the CCTV was to stop cruelty, not safety as such?

Well surely that is the same with all food. We have to trust that we are not being misled

Well, I made a cheese omelette French style for breakfast, lots of fresh eggs, mushroom and grated cheddar stuffing, runny middle. Cooked in butter. Under 5 min yummy.
Alt. English style boiled eggs runny yolks bread soldiers. Also yummy.

English eggs are only safe so far as the food chain tells the truth.
That all UK slaughterhouses (Inc poultry) are now to be fitted with cctv suggests that is not something to be taken for granted.

In Normandie we have a friend who runs an organic poultry farm. The hens are happy good job land is cheap to rent cos they need a lot of room and effort. Hens expect a hen house on rainy days and to sleep. The eggs vary in size and color. Super to eat wonderful for cooking, same for a chicken to eat. The downside us €10 for a dozen eggs and €20-30 for a bird. She gets by, no more.

We all want great food but few are prepared to pay for it.

Belgium have said openly that the government knew they had infected eggs on the market since June 2017.so have the government not told there people about the eggs.

In Ireland, a bad egg is sometimes referred to as a 'glugger' - rotten.

I recommend you avoid smelling such an item because your taste buds will be compromised thereafter.

You have been warned!

For years we've tried, when ever possible, to buy UK grown/bred labelled produce.
The reason isn't so much anti-EU as keeping an eye on 'food miles'.

Whilst admitting that the farm shop with truly local produce can work out more expensive than supermarkets, there's nothing to stop more people waiting until U.K. grown versions are in season. Why buy eg tasteless Spanish strawberries when English ones will available 4 weeks later?

Well if nothing else Brexit will force people to cook from scratch good not a problem they should more often anyway.

Rollo in reply to your comment: "It really makes no difference whether you buy the eggs whole or as an ingredient in a product fipronil is bad news"

I do realise this, which is why I pointed out that information I saw said that the only eggs from Holland that have come into this country were for the making of egg products. all the shell on eggs on our supermarket shelves we are told come from UK chickens and are not affected."

The Dutch for many years have operated a heavy duty ag industry based on their access to v cheap natural gas. Unfortunately there have been predictable events. Chief of these has been pollution of rivers and ground water and a series of animal health issues mainly affecting poultry of which the Chickfriend scandal is the latest. Dairy farmers have been forced to downsize forcing some into bankruptcy leaving nearly new milking parlors unused.

Dutch ag products are widely used across the EU as ingredients cos they are cheap, quick access to UK Benelux and Germany plus as ingredients they don't suffer from flag labelling. Repeated regulatory breakdowns threaten the whole EU food market. The Chickfriend saga us a big deal which this time must be nailed down.

It also serves as an eye opener into the US food regime where none of this would have been a problem.

It really makes no difference whether you buy the eggs whole or as an ingredient in a product fipronil is bad news. Adults can cope with limited intake but longer term it is cancerous hence the EU ban.

The companies marketing fipronil based products for flea and insect control are under heavy pressure to change their formulation. Def do not use such a product where the space is also used by children. Advocate is one alternative.

I love eating eggs. When I want a quiche, say, I make it myself. Hardly rocket science. Brits could enjoy nicer food, save money and avoid food risk if they cooked more / only from scratch. Poss brexit food price inflation will force them to.


Those who make flip remarks to such events are dummies.