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Media Officer contact details

If you are a journalist with a press enquiry, or for further information on any of the news items on this site, please contact our Media Officer:

Alison Wilson
Tel: 01904 462 380
Mobile: 07920 297 631
Email: alison.wilson@fera.gsi.gov.uk

Please note that this number will go to answer phone outside the hours of 8am to 5pm Monday to Friday.

News Items

The following news items were all feature news articles on this website. To view the full article click on the 'more...' link at the end of each introductory snippet. For further details about any of the articles please email

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. For CSL News items archive, please click here

07 December 2009 - New test for Natamycin in wine
Fera is the nominated laboratory for the provision of UK wine reference data to the EU.  More...

04 December 2009 - Fera demonstrates flying colours in Better Regulation Executive review
A report published today shows The Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera) matches up to the principles of effective regulation set out by Sir Philip Hampton's 2005 review. Fera emerged as an open and accessible regulator with a good level of engagement with its stakeholders, and technical expertise that is widely recognised, well respected and trusted.  More...

20 November 2009 - Final conference of the TRACE food authenticity and traceability research project

Do you want to know where your food comes from?

Scientists, regulators and food industry representatives from all around the world will be gathering at Autoworld in Brussels to hear the latest developments for tracing and verifying the origin of our food.

  More...

18 November 2009 - Helping honeybees - York scientists have won prestigious Knowledge Management and Analysis Award
The Food and Environment Research Agency’s (Fera) knowledge management team
has won the prestigious 2009 Whitehall & Westminster World Civil Service Award for
Knowledge Management and Analysis. The team from Fera, one of only three short
listed from across the Civil Service, were chosen for their innovative work on
BeeBase, a live on-line database used by beekeepers and The National Bee Unit
(NBU) to manage valuable data and information on bee health across England and
Wales.  More...

18 November 2009 - Helping honeybees
Fera has won the prestigious 2009 Whitehall & Westminster World Civil Service Award for Knowledge Management and Analysis.   More...

10 November 2009 - Fera to play major role in stimulating Yorkshire's technology
Fera's Sand Hutton site at York is to play a significant role in a European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) programme, that will stimulate the technology base across the region.      More...

06 November 2009 - Fera hosts second Royal Entomological Society (RES) Climate Change Special Interest Group meeting
Over 80 delegates from the UK, Europe, North America and Japan attended to hear an eclectic mix of talks on a range of entomological issues.  More...

23 October 2009 - Unusual insect enters UK without a passport
Inspectors from the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera) found a brightly
coloured and unexpected passenger on a flight from India which arrived into Stansted
Airport last week.  More...

23 October 2009 - New agency improves service for potatoes
As potato farmers know, all seed potatoes produced and marketed in England and
Wales must be classified under the Seed Potato Classification Scheme (SPCS).
Responsibility for the scheme has recently passed to The Food and Environment
Research Agency (Fera), launched on 1st April 2009.  More...

23 October 2009 - Painted Grasshopper
Fera’s Pest Identification Team identified a brightly coloured and unexpected passenger on a flight from India which arrived into Stansted Airport last week.  More...

16 October 2009 - Fera has recently obtained approval to be a ‘knowledge based partner’ within the KTP programme
- Europe's leading programme helping businesses to improve their competitiveness and productivity through the better use of knowledge, technology and skills.  More...

07 October 2009 - The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) 2009 Open Meeting at Fera, 15 October
  More...

14 September 2009 - New role for Fera's Chief Scientist
Science City York has announced that its new Chief Executive will be Professor Nicola Spence, currently Chief Scientist here at The Food and Environment Research Agency.  More...

02 September 2009 - School’s out (looking for plant diseases)
Fera scientists lend expertise at the Gatsby Plants Summer School, a residential experience run by the University of Leeds for high achieveing undergraduates across the UK. 
  More...

20 August 2009 - Bug breakthrough
Fera scientists have found a way to improve biological control strategies directed against pest insects that damage crops – by using wasp venom.  More...

03 August 2009 - Watch out for citrus longhorn beetles
Please keep a look out for this striking black and white beetle over the summer, there would be a major threat to horticulture and the wider environment if they became established.  More...

29 July 2009 - Proteomic technique for identifying the species origin of gelatines

A new generation of tests that can identify the origin of proteins in foods based on their amino acid sequences.

  More...

23 July 2009 - Fera initiates a Pest Risk Analysis for 'cassava intended for planting' in East Africa
Responding to the emerging threat of Cassava Brown Streak Disease, Fera helps in determining the risks associated with the causal virus.  More...

10 July 2009 - Fera confirms the first outbreak in the UK of Tuta absoluta - the South American tomato moth
Fera has confirmed the first outbreak in the UK of this damaging pest of tomatoes.
  More...

17 June 2009 - Official launch of The Food and Environment Research Agency
Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, officially launched The Food and Environment Research Agency on Monday 15 June.  More...

15 June 2009 - Hilary Benn launches new research agency

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn will today launch the new Food and Environment Research Agency and open its state-of-the-art facility in Sand Hutton. The new agency combines several parts of Defra science, which will strengthen the world-class research Defra uses to help protect the natural environment.

  More...

28 May 2009 - EPPO Diagnostics conference
In May, Fera successfully hosted the European Plant Protection Organisation (EPPO) conference on diagnostics.
  More...

21 May 2009 - Fera plays a leading role in nanotechnology safety research
Fera scientists have taken a leading role in research into the new materials, products and applications of nanotechnology.  More...

14 May 2009 - Fera student presentation day
Fera recently showcased it’s PhD studentships with ten entries for the annual Poster Competition - in addition to four final year PhD students giving seminars.  More...

24 April 2009 - Fera authors in publication of new landmark book on disease management in wild mammals
The development of sustainable approaches to the management of wildlife diseases is fundamental to the protection of human health, agriculture, and endangered species.  More...

24 April 2009 - Birdstrike avoidance team helps EASA
Fera’s Bird Strike Avoidance Team, in collaboration with W.S. Atkins, has been selected by the European Air Safety Agency (EASA) to carry out a review of the safety testing requirements for birdstrike resistance in all civil aircraft and helicopters.  More...

21 April 2009 - Informatics Collaboration
Protecting the UK’s food chain is a vital part of Fera’s work, but the laboratory has a truly global remit. It’s often said that the UK and America enjoy a special relationship, and Fera continues this in the form of collaboration with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  More...

21 April 2009 - £10 million initiative launched to tackle bee and pollinator decline
Up to £10 million is to be invested to help to identify the main threats to bees and other insect pollinators, under a major project announced today.  More...

02 April 2009 - Fera to manage £25 million Defra campaign to fight woodland disease
Environment Minister Jane Kennedy has announced £25 million to help eradicate a deadly plant disease plaguing historic gardens, woodland and heathlands across England and Wales.  More...

01 April 2009 - A climate change commitment
Fera's involvement in the Royal Entomological Society's Climate Change Special Interest Group is part of the agency's wider commitment to be at the very heart of climate change research and to use its multidisciplinary expertise to increase understanding of the implications of this phenomenon.  More...

01 April 2009 - Fera’s National Bee Unit to play key role in plans to halt declining bee numbers
Defra and the Welsh Assembly Government have recently published 'Healthy Bees', a plan to protect and improve the health of honey bees in England and Wales.  More...