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Tiny traceable backpacks are being attached to cuckoos to find out where they go, and why their numbers may be declining.
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The E.coli strain is said to be a new hybrid form toxic to humans EU agriculture ministers are to hold emergency talks, as efforts continue to find the source of an E.coli outbreak which has killed 22 people.
The first tests on bean sprouts from a German farm suspected of being the source of the outbreak were negative.
Of 40 samples being examined from the farm in Uelzen, south of Hamburg, 23 tested negative, officials said.
More than 2,200 people have fallen ill in 12 countries. Cases outside Germany have been linked to travel there.
Initially, German officials had pointed to Spanish cucumbers as the likely cause.
In Luxembourg, the EU agriculture ministers will want to know how close experts are to identifying the source, amid mounting criticism of the investigation into the outbreak, the BBC’s Europe correspondent Chris Morris reports.
Are bean sprouts in the clear? The simple answer is no, even though the early test results have come back negative.
The most compelling evidence so far has not come from the microbiology lab, but traditional detective work. Officials were able to link the main outbreaks with bean sprouts from one farm in northern Germany.
They will wait for test results from the remaining 17 samples for final confirmation. However, the prospect remains that no trace of E. coli will ever be found, since any contaminated produce would have been farmed and on the shelves weeks ago.
Even without evidence of E. coli at the farm – bean sprouts remain the prime suspect. But as Spanish cucumber farmers know, we’ve been here before.
He says that the meeting will also consider the sensitive issue of compensation for farmers – and harsh words may well be exchanged.
Spain says it is demanding 100% compensation from Germany for huge losses suffered by its vegetable farmers because of a false accusation.
Spain’s fruit and vegetables exporters association has estimated losses at 225m euros (£200m) a week.
The EU ministers are also expected to address a Russian ban on imports of fresh produce from the EU, introduced in response to the outbreak.
Other EU countries also say that their farmers will need financial help after sales and prices plummeted.
So, the outbreak will be testing European solidarity once again, our correspondent adds.
On Monday, Germany’s Lower Saxony agriculture ministry said that “investigations are continuing”, as as it announced that the first tests had proved negative.
It added that it did not expect “any short-term conclusions”, and that given the complex testing procedure, the remaining 17 samples may not be returned for a few more days.
The organic farm in Uelzen is about 100km (62 miles) south of Hamburg, the epicentre of the outbreak.
It produces bean sprouts including adzuki, alfalfa, broccoli, peas, lentils and mung beans, all grown in a nursery for consumption in salads.
The farm’s general manager, Klaus Verbeck, was quoted by the Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung newspaper as saying that he could not see how it was to blame.
“I can’t understand how the processes we have here and the accusations could possibly fit together,” said Mr Verbeck.
“The salad sprouts are grown only from seeds and water, and they aren’t fertilised at all. There aren’t any animal fertilisers used in other areas on the farm either.”
The strain of enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) involved in the outbreak is normally transmitted through faeces or faecal bacteria.
Scientists say it is an aggressive hybrid strain toxic to humans and not previously linked to food poisoning.
Hundreds of those affected by the bacterium have developed haemolytic-uraemic syndrome (HUS), which can be fatal.
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In the year of Jade Goody’s illness, more women attended cervical screenings One in 5 UK women risk deadly cervical cancer because they decline the offer of a smear test, NHS figures reveal.
Early detection through screening, followed by treatment, can prevent up to 75% of these cancers from developing.
Yet despite high profile cases such as that of Jade Goody, who died of the disease two years ago, many women are still not taking advantage of a test.
About 1,000 women die of cervical cancer in the UK annually.
But experts estimate screen saves at least 4,500 lives a year in England alone.
The NHS provides free screening to women aged 25 to 65 years.
The research, released to mark Cervical Screening Awareness Week, appears to suggest that many of those who have missed or delayed appointments for cervical cancer screening are doing so because of inconvenience, embarrassment or worry about taking time off work.
“Unlike many cancers, cervical cancer is a largely preventable disease”
Richard Winder of the NHS Cancer Screening Programmes
YouGov researchers asked 2,718 women about their attitude to cervical screening.
Some 39% said they had missed or delayed appointments.
Nearly 30% of women said they found it difficult to find a convenient time to attend a smear test, while more than a third said if their GP surgery had more flexible opening times they would be more likely to attend their appointment.
Almost a third of women aged 24-35 who had missed or delayed appointments said they would rather book a day’s leave from work to attend a smear test than suffer the embarrassment of explaining to their employers why they need the time off.
And a quarter of all women surveyed said they would be more likely to attend if their employer was more flexible and they did not need to use up holiday for an appointment.
Richard Winder, deputy director of the NHS Cancer Screening Programmes, said: “Unlike many cancers, cervical cancer is a largely preventable disease.
“A woman can control her risk of developing the disease by being screened regularly.
“Any abnormalities that might be found can then be treated in order that they do not go on to develop into cancer.
“Where a cervical cancer is found through screening, it is usually at a very early stage where treatment has a greater chance of success.
“It is essential that women are aware of this when deciding whether or not to be screened. Cervical screening is estimated to save 4,500 lives a year in England alone.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Expert services are needed locally, says the report Services for neurological conditions are poorly organised and do not meet patients’ needs, says a report.
The Royal College of Physicians and the Association of British Neurologists say many patients with conditions like epilepsy or Parkinson’s disease are unable to access specialist care.
They point to a lack of expert doctors in local hospitals and emergency departments.
The government agrees a shake-up of services is needed.
Neurological disorders are very common, making up about a 10% of GP consultations and emergency medical admissions.
The disorders include many different conditions, some very common, such as migraine and multiple sclerosis, and some rare, like motor neurone disease.
Together these conditions result in disability in one in 50 people in the UK.
“This is exactly why we need to modernise the NHS. Support for people with long-term neurological conditions has not been good enough”
A Department of Health spokesman
But neurology services in the UK have mainly developed around large regional neurosciences centres with an emphasis on research and academic excellence.
This has left local services undertrained and understaffed, according to the report.
The UK also has fewer neurologists per head of population compared to other countruies – one per 125,000 in the UK compared to one per 40,000 in the US and the rest of Europe.
Patients admitted to hospital with an acute neurological illness are rarely seen by a specialist neurologist.
In contrast, those admitted for a stroke and other acute medical emergencies usually see the right specialist without delay.
The report calls for an expansion and improvement of local services with a shift in emphasis from scheduled to emergency care.
The chairman of the working party who produced the report, Dr David Bateman, said: “The recommendations when implemented will substantially improve local services: many can be achieved at little extra cost mainly by reorganisation of services.”
Steve Ford, Chair of the Neurological Alliance, said: “Patients with neurological conditions need to see the right specialist at the right time in the right place, but evidence shows clearly that this isn’t happening due to poorly organised services and not enough specialist care.
“We welcome the report’s timely publication and call on the government, at this important time of NHS reform, to place neurology at the top of its agenda.”
A Department of Health spokesman said: “This is exactly why we need to modernise the NHS. Support for people with long-term neurological conditions has not been good enough.
“Our plans put patients firmly in the driving seat with more control over their care, and give clinicians the freedom to prescribe the treatment they feel most appropriate.
“Improving commissioning and more integrated services are key to ensuring better care for patients.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Ban Ki-moon’s term as head of the global body is due to expire at the end of 2011 Ban Ki-moon has put himself forward for a second term as Secretary General of the United Nations.
The ex-South Korean foreign minister, who took the job in 2007, said in a letter to UN member states he “humbly” offered himself for five more years.
Diplomats say that with no rival for the position, he could win a UN General Assembly vote before the end of June.
Mr Ban has won praise for raising awareness on climate change, but his low-key style has drawn some criticism.
His office says he gets things done by mixing quiet diplomacy with public pressure.
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The BRC says May’s dip in sales is a more accurate reflection of customers’ attitude to spending Retail sales dipped in May as a result of customers’ unwillingness to spend, say retailers.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said May sales values, taking out the effects of closures and new stores, fell 2.1% compared with 2010.
It said rises in previous months were a “distortion”, owing to a late Easter, an extra bank holiday and good weather.
The BRC said the May figures were a more realistic reflection of the “tough conditions” on the high street.
Shoppers bought fewer items across the board, with sales of clothing, footwear and big ticket items all falling.
The 2.1% fall refers to same-store sales – stripping out store expansions or closures.
The BRC said that overall sales were also lower, down by 0.3% on May last year.
Stephen Robertson, the organisation’s director general, said: “After two previous months distorted by the later Easter and extra bank holiday, this is a more realistic reflection of how tough conditions on the high street really are.
“Customers’ fundamental reluctance to spend is now clear to see. “
He said households’ disposable incomes were being squeezed by high inflation and low wage growth.
Uncertainty over the effects of government cuts was also weighing down consumer confidence about their future finances.
Retailers Mothercare, the entertainment group HMV, the sportswear firm JJB and the electrical retailers Comet and Dixons have all announced store closures in recent weeks.
Focus DIY and wine merchant Oddbins have fared worse, both going into administration.
The positive effect caused by April’s extra bank holiday for the royal wedding was enhanced by good weather, another factor that often boosts spending.
Mr Robertson said May’s figures were much more representative, as the three-month figure from March to May showed a like-for-like drop in retail sales of 0.4%.
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Married New York congressman Anthony Weiner has admitted sending a close-up picture of his underpants to a young woman, but says he will not resign.
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MPs say IVF treatment on the NHS is a postcode lottery More than 70% of NHS trusts and care providers are ignoring official guidance on offering infertile couples three chances at IVF, according to a report by an all-party group of MPs.
Some primary care trusts have stopped offering IVF altogether.
Others are placing tough restrictions on who can qualify.
The MPs say the result is a postcode lottery of care and are calling on trusts to implement the official guidelines properly.
In 2004 the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) said couples, where the woman is aged 23 to 39, should be given up to three cycles of IVF on the NHS.
In the UK’s devolved healthcare system this guidance applies to England and Wales, but will also be taken into account in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
“It’s clear that many PCTs are not giving IVF the priority they should. There are instances where it is being lumped in with tattoo removals.”
Gareth Johnson MP All Party Parliamentary Group on Infertility
The All Party Parliamentary Group on Infertility sent freedom of information requests to primary care trusts (PCTs) in England, health boards in Scotland and Wales, and health and social care trusts in Northern Ireland.
Their answers revealed 70% of the authorities contacted were ignoring the NICE guidance and putting in place strict limits on who can get the treatment.
For example, Bury PCT only allows women to be treated between the ages of 39 and 40, with a similar picture in many Welsh Health Boards.
Others have restrictions on access for smokers, those who are overweight or if one of the couple already has a child – even if that child does not live with them.
At the time of the survey, five PCTs – Warrington, Stockport, North Yorkshire and York, North Staffordshire and West Sussex – offered no IVF at all.
A spokeswoman at NHS West Sussex said: “In line with NHS trusts across the country, we did have to face some tough decisions last year to ensure that we met our legal duty to break even financially.
“Now we are in the new financial year, the decision we made last year on fertility treatment has been reviewed and funding has been reinstated for all eligible cases.”
In 2006, Clare Dando went to her PCT in Hampshire after realising that she would need IVF.
But she was told that at the age of 33 she was too young, as the local policy was to restrict NHS treatment to those over 36 – even though her chances of success would reduce the older she got.
Sher said: “Eventually we realised that time was ticking away so we re-mortgaged our house to raise £15,000. We had to pay for three IVF cycles ourselves and the last one in September 2007 worked.
“Our little boy Alex will be three next week.”
The Hampshire guidelines have now changed, so now one IVF cycle is funded for women aged between 30 to 35.
Gareth Johnson, the Conservative MP for Dartford, is the chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Infertility.
He said: “It’s clear that many PCTs are not giving IVF the priority they should. There are instances where it is being lumped in with tattoo removals.
“There is always going to be a limit to what you can provide but the guidance from NICE says three cycles.
“That’s a fair balance between the needs of the patient and the burden placed on the taxpayer.”
Infertility Network UK has campaigned for more equal access to IVF treatments and says providers must follow the guidance from NICE.
In a foreword to the report, Health Minister Anne Milton said many PCTs had made good progress towards implementing the Nice recommendations.
“I am aware, however, that a small number of PCTs with historical funding problems have temporarily suspended provision of IVF services.
“I have already expressed my concerns about this approach and would encourage all PCTs to have regard to the current Nice guidance.”
NICE is currently reviewing its guidance and will publish a report in 2012.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
On the left and right of the political spectrum – presidential hopefuls Ollanta Humala and Keiko Fujimori Voters in Peru are set to cast their ballots on Sunday in a closely fought presidential second-round run-off.
They face a choice of Keiko Fujimori, daughter of jailed ex-president Alberto Fujimori, and Ollanta Humala, one-time ally of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez.
The two candidates are at opposite ends of the political spectrum – a fact that has worried some Peruvians who say they will not vote for either of them.
Opinion polls indicate that the outcome is too close to call.
The two candidates led the field after the first round on 10 April, which saw the defeat of three centrist candidates. No-one gained more than the 50% needed to win the election outright.
Whoever wins Sunday’s vote will succeed Alan Garcia, who cannot stand for a second term.
Keiko Fujimori, 36, appeals to voters who still admire her father, president for a decade from 1990. He is now serving a 25-year jail sentence for corruption and organising death squads.
She has defended his record, saying by taming hyper-inflation and defeating Marxist Shining Path rebels, he laid the basis for Peru’s current economic boom.
She supports free-market economic policies, advocates a tough approach to crime and has promised to improve social programmes and infrastructure in poor areas.
Critics say her main aim is to secure a pardon for her father, a claim she denies.
If she wins, she would become Peru’s first woman president.
Ollanta Humala, 48, comes from a left-wing tradition of greater state intervention. He staged a short-lived rebellion against Alberto Fujimori in 2000 and narrowly lost to Alan Garcia in the last presidential election in 2006.
He has campaigned on a promise to increase the state’s role in the economy and redistribute wealth to Peru’s poor majority.
His critics fear he will embark on interventionist policies similar to those of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, although Mr Humala says he is more in sympathy with Brazil’s moderate left-wing approach.
He has also denied allegations that he committed human rights abuses during the fight against Shining Path rebels in the 1990s when he was an army captain.
Polls suggest that around 10% of Peru’s voters could abstain or spoil their ballots, Reuters news agency reports.
Peruvian painter Fernando de Szyszlo is one of those. “It really pains me not to vote, but I’m not voting,” he told the Associated Press.
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Six firefighters are commended for their bravery after saving the life of a man with a garden tool embedded in his head.
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Mitchell was 14 when he committed the murder Convicted killer Luke Mitchell is to appear in court later in his latest attempt to have his conviction overturned.
Mitchell, 22, is to seek leave to appeal to the UK Supreme Court.
He has been arguing his human rights were breached because he was questioned by police without a lawyer present.
Mitchell was sentenced to life in 2005 after he was found guilty of murdering his 14-year-old girlfriend Jodi Jones in Dalkeith, Midlothian.
The Supreme Court ruled in October that the Scottish system which allowed suspects to be held and questioned for six hours without access to a lawyer breached the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
In light of the Cadder ruling, 867 cases were abandoned, including 60 serious cases, nine of which were High Court cases.
Mitchell, who was ordered to serve at least 20 years for the 2003 murder, claims evidence taken from a police interview when he did not have access to a lawyer was “crucial” to the Crown case.
In April, Mitchell’s bid to challenge his conviction for murder following the human rights ruling was rejected by the Appeal Court in Edinburgh.
He now wants the Appeal Court to refer its decision to the UK Supreme Court in London.
Two weeks ago, Nat Fraser won his appeal at the Supreme Court to have his conviction quashed.
Fraser, who was jailed after the High Court in Edinburgh heard he ordered a hitman to kill his wife, Arlene, in Elgin in 1998, had exhausted all avenues of appeal in Scotland.
The Supreme Court backed his appeal under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights on the ground of the Crown’s non-disclosure of evidence to the defence.
They sent the case back to the Appeal Court in Edinburgh to be quashed.
The Fraser case has led to a political storm over the role of the UK Supreme Court in Scottish criminal cases.
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A crackdown began in Jisr al-Shughour following protests after Friday prayers Syria’s government has vowed to deal “decisively” with the gunmen blamed for the deaths of 120 security personnel in the northern town of Jisr al-Shughour.
Interior Minister Ibrahim Shaar said it would “not be silent about any armed attack that targets the security of the state and its citizens”.
Residents later warned that there would be massive bloodshed if the authorities attempted to restore control by force.
Some witnesses have cast doubt on the government’s account of the unrest.
The reports in state media came a day after human rights activists said at least 40 residents and police had been killed in Jisr al-Shughour.
The government launched a crackdown on Saturday, following demonstrations against President Bashar al-Assad after Friday prayers.
On Friday, in a dramatic series of urgent flashes, state television said hundreds of gunmen who taken over Jisr al-Shughour, which lies about 20km (12 miles) from the Turkish border, and had committed “a real massacre”.
A report said the fighting had begun at dawn, when “armed gangs” ambushed police as they approached the town “to rescue citizens being terrorised”. Twenty officers reportedly died.
Jisr al-Shughour has been the scene of a continuing military crackdown since Saturday, following protest demonstrations denouncing the regime after Friday prayers.
If the government’s account is true, it is by far the biggest number of security forces killed in any single incident since the uprising began in March. It implies that at least in Jisr al-Shughour, they are facing an armed insurrection rather than mass peaceful protests.
But some activist internet sites have suggested that some army elements may have defected to the revolt, another possible explanation for the sudden startling leap in the number of security forces killed. Whatever the case, it is a massive challenge to the government, and it has vowed to meet it, with determination and force.
It also said another 82 personnel were killed when the town’s security headquarters was overwhelmed, and eight in a bomb attack on a post office they were guarding.
Many government buildings were attacked and burned, causing further casualties, it added. The overall death toll for security forces was put at 120.
“We will deal strongly and decisively, and according to the law, and we will not be silent about any armed attack that targets the security of the state and its citizens,” said Mr Shaar in a statement read on television.
Information Minister Adnan Mahmoud said army units, which have so far stayed out of the town, would “carry out their national duty to restore security”.
Later, a statement published on one of the Syrian uprising’s main Facebook pages in the name of the people of Jisr al-Shughour denied that they had called for army intervention to protect them from armed gangs.
It condemned the reported deaths of dozens of security personnel in the town and called for an immediate and transparent inquiry.
The statement said the people feared a crime against humanity would be committed if Syrian army tanks moved in to regain control.
More civilians would inevitably be killed and thousands would flee their homes if the tanks come in, it warned.
An Islamist uprising in Jisr al-Shughour in 1980 against the late President Hafez al-Assad was brutally crushed with scores of deaths.
The protesters continue to insist that the movement is entirely peaceful, and to scorn the government’s talk of armed gangs.
But government officials, like spokeswoman Reem Haddad, are adamant that groups of gunmen are behind the killing.
“I wouldn’t count them as civilians because civilians are people who carry no arms,” she told the BBC World Service.
“These people are dead and we have bodies with names and dates of birth. It’s not something that the Syrian government has invented. They have families, mothers and fathers, and sons and daughters.”
The BBC’s Jim Muir in Beirut reports that protesters say some army personnel may have deserted to join the uprising.
“The soldiers were coming our way. Then they were shot in the back by some Syrian security elements,” one resident told BBC Arabic.
There is even speculation of a mutiny at the security headquarters, and that personnel who refused to fire on demonstrators were executed.
Communications were cut to the area around the town on Monday and the details of the attack were impossible to verify.
But whatever the truth, the events in Jisr al-Shughour represents a massive challenge to the government, our correspondent says.
Before Monday, the government said more than 160 security forces personnel had died since the uprising began in mid-March. Human rights activists meanwhile said that more than 1,200 people had been killed.
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A decision on RAF Lossiemouth and RAF Leuchars is expected from the MoD by July Defence Secretary Liam Fox will face questions from MPs later on the implications for Scotland of the UK government’s cuts in military spending.
Squadron operations have already been disbanded at RAF Kinloss in Moray following a strategic defence review.
Uncertainty remains over the future of RAF Leuchars and RAF Lossiemouth.
Mr Fox is due to appear before Westminster’s Scottish Affairs Committee.
The UK government decided to scrap the fleet of new Nimrod spy planes at Kinloss before they had even entered service.
The three flying squadrons based there were officially disbanded last month.
Local campaigns have been launched to fight the threat of closure at RAF Leuchars in Fife and RAF Lossiemouth in Moray.
The SNP in particular has been arguing that Scotland has already suffered much more than its fair share of military spending cuts.
The defence secretary has insisted that a final decision will be announced this summer.
Scottish Secretary Michael Moore gave evidence about the defence cuts to the Scottish Affairs Committee in November.
He told MPs that officials in his department were compiling information on the economic and social effect of base closures on the Moray economy, which would be passed to the Ministry of Defence before final decisions were made.
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We expect the contents of most of the products we use these days to be man-made, however many everyday products still use animal body parts as an ingredient with companies finding innovative ways of making sure every little bit of the animal does not go to waste, says Clare Mottershead.
From the sheep parts hidden in your soap, to the fishy ingredient in your favourite pint, the bits of the animals that do not make it to our dinner plates often end up being turned into products we use everyday.
This is the weird and wonderful world of animal by-products, where industrious companies have devised clever ways of taking the inedible parts of animals like cows, pigs and sheep and using them to make covetable consumer items.
One such firm in Norfolk collects cow intestines by the bucketful from local abattoirs and turns them into the kind of natural gut strings favoured by many of the world’s top tennis players.
“It takes about four cow’s guts to string the average racket,” production manager Rosina explains.
To produce the strings, the cow guts are cleaned and cut into 40ft strands before being chemically treated to preserve them.
Each racket string is made up of 15 individual strands which are spun very tightly together to coalesce them, before being dried out in a humid room to prevent cracking.
It is a painstaking process that takes six weeks from start to finish, but according to Rosina, it is worth the wait.
“With synthetic string, once it’s in the racket and is hit by a ball, it will stretch and stay stretched, but because gut has a natural memory, it always tries to return to its original form, therefore absorbing the shock a lot more and reducing the risk of tennis elbow.”
The company, who have been plying their unusual trade for over 100 years, also use the same techniques to produce gut strings for harps and other early instruments.
Fire-fighting hooves
The intestine is just one of the many parts of a cow’s anatomy that can be put to a valuable use.
For as long as beef has been eaten, cow hide has been turned into leather via the tanning process and cattle bones, transformed into fine bone china, have found their way into the finest dinner services and tea sets imaginable.
In a more modern innovation, cow hooves have also become part of an important product. A protein called keratin, extracted from the hooves is used to make a special fire extinguishing foam used by airport fire and rescue teams across the UK.
The foam is specifically designed to quell the hotter, high intensity fires triggered by aviation fuel.
The keratin helps to bond the foam bubbles into a durable blanket, which stops it breaking up on impact with the fire and makes it very effective at smothering flames.
“I don’t really think too much about where it comes from,” says firefighter Simon. “It’s a good barrier between myself and a fire, so as long as it’s keeping me safe when I’m using it, I don’t have a problem”.
The cow is not the only animal whose spare parts can be put to good use – and not all by-products come from mammals.
Isinglass is a product employed by the brewing industry as a fining agent for some beers – helping to ensure the final pint is clear rather than cloudy.
It is made using an organ called a “swim bladder” or “maw”, found inside some species of fish. When inflated, the bladder serves as a natural buoyancy aid, keeping the fish upright in the water.
Historically, swim bladders were extracted from the beluga sturgeon.
“It’s believed the world ‘isinglass’ is an anglicised version of the Dutch word ‘huizenblas’, meaning ‘sturgeon bladder,'” explains brewer and beer historian Peter Haydon.
Smells fishy?
Today the sturgeon is endangered, so most bladders are harvested from other species of fish including the Vietnamese catfish.
To become isinglass, they must be dried, sterilised and cut with acid to produce a paste or liquid that is added to the barrel during the later stages of brewing, to help the yeast used to make the beer settle as sediment.
From shrimp shell to styling gel and hairspray Isinglass is a very pure form of collagen, and it is the long, stringy collagen molecules that help speed up the natural sedimentation process by attracting the molecules of yeast.
The yeast and collagen combine to make bigger particles, which fall more quickly to the bottom of the barrel, leaving the liquid above much clearer, much more quickly.
It is a moot point whether any of the fishy substance actually ends up in the glass. Studies have shown that in the majority of cases, isinglass is undetectable in the finished pint, although some bottled conditioned ales and cask ales, if served from too near the bottom of the barrel, may still contain minute amounts.
In any case, it is just one of many examples of the way we have learnt to make the most of the natural properties inherent in the parts of animals we eat, that might otherwise go to waste.
The five part-series Kill It, Cut It, Use It, starts on Monday 13 June at 2100 BST on BBC3.
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The prime minister has faced professional and political opposition to his plans David Cameron is to set out “five guarantees” for the future of the NHS in England amid details of when changes to planned reforms will be considered.
The prime minister will insist the NHS will remain free at the point of use, care will be improved, budgets will rise and waiting times be “kept low”.
Labour said the PM had broken pledges on the NHS and could not be trusted.
A group looking at how controversial NHS reforms can be improved is expected to report to Cabinet early next week.
Ministers are awaiting the findings of the Future Forum, the body set up to lead the consultation on the coalition’s proposed shake-up of the NHS.
The government’s plans to give GPs more commissioning powers , increase competition in the NHS and abolish primary care trusts have been criticised by medical professionals and are on hold pending the results of a “listening exercise” which concluded last week.
In the latest of a series of speeches aimed at reassuring people about the NHS shake-up, Mr Cameron will say that ministers have “learnt a lot about how to make our plans better” during the two-month consultation.
He will restate the government’s case for modernising the health service – plans which have caused tension between Conservative and Lib Dem partners – saying that, if no action is taken, the NHS could “buckle under the pressure of an ageing population and the rising cost of treatments”.
But again promising to get patients and NHS professionals on board with the plans, he will outline “five guarantees” about the future shape of the NHS.
He will say:
The NHS will remain a universal serviceChanges will improve “efficient and integrated care” not hinder itHospital waiting times will be “kept low”NHS spending will be increased, not reducedThe NHS will not be sold off and competition will benefit patients
“We will modernise the NHS – because changing the NHS today is the only way to protect the NHS for tomorrow,” he will say.
“We will stick by our core principle of an NHS that is more efficient, more transparent and more diverse… But I will make sure at all times that any of the changes we make to the NHS will always be consistent with upholding these five guarantees.
“There can be no compromise on this. It is what patients expect. It is what doctors and nurses want. And it is what this government will deliver.”
“David Cameron is desperately trying to make ‘I love the NHS’ his signature tune but the reality is very different”
John Healey Shadow Health SecretaryNHS overhaul: What next?
Ministers have already conceded there will be substantial changes to the Health and Social Care Bill as a result of the process but the opposition, and the doctors’ body the British Medical Association, have called for the legislation to be scrapped entirely.
“David Cameron is desperately trying to make ‘I love the NHS’ his signature tune but the reality is very different,” Shadow Health Secretary John Healey said.
“With real terms cuts to funding, more patients waiting longer and ideological plans to break up services, he has broken his personal pledge to protect the NHS and is instead taking it backwards. The NHS is not safe in his hands.”
The BBC understands the Future Forum report will be delivered to Cabinet either next Monday or Tuesday and ministers will respond swiftly.
It is understood there will be no decision on whether to send the bill back to committee stage in the Commons, which would entail detailed further scrutiny by MPs and further delay to the proposals, until ministers have digested the report’s recommendations.
In a recent speech, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg suggested such an outcome was likely.
Mr Clegg has also said he will oppose the idea of a regulator promoting competition in the health service, seemingly put himself at odds with Health Secretary Andrew Lansley – the architect of the proposed reforms.
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