Steve Wearne – Director of Policy, Food Standards
Agency
Steve Wearne was appointed Director of Food Safety in
July 2013, the role becoming Director of Policy two months later. Previous to
this he was Director of FSA Wales. Steve is a scientist by training, with a
degree in biochemistry and a spell of postgraduate research in molecular
biology. Steve joined the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in 1990
and held a range of posts in food science and food policy development, before
transferring to the Food Standards Agency when it was launched in 2000. His
first post in the Agency was head of the Private Office and Private Secretary
to the first Chair of the FSA, Sir John Krebs (now Lord
Krebs).
Philip Ridley – Campaign for Real
Milk
Philip Ridley is a representative for The Weston A Price
Foundation, which campaigns for ‘wise traditions in food, farming and
healing.’ The foundation says it is dedicated to restoring nutrient dense
foods to diets and is concerned about ‘malnutrition from modern processed
foods’. The Campaign for Real Milk is a project of the foundation. It
campaigns for full fat un-homogenised unpasteurised milk from grass fed cows
produced under regulated conditions.
Professor Sarah O'Brien – Advisory Committee
on the Microbiological Safety of Food (ACMSF)
Professor Sarah O'Brien was appointed to the ACMSF
in 2001. A Consultant in Public Health Medicine, she is currently Professor of
Infection Epidemiology and Zoonoses at the University of Liverpool. Her
research interests include foodborne zoonoses. Previously she was Head of
Gastrointestinal Diseases Division at the Health Protection Agency Centre for
Infections where she was responsible for assessing data and generating, through
surveillance and research, the evidence base for the origins and spread of
gastrointestinal infection. She has published widely on these subjects. Sarah
is also a member of the Food Standards Agency's Epidemiology of Foodborne
Infections Group.
Peter Campbell-McBride – raw milk
consumer
Peter is an engineer who spent the last twenty years
before retirement working with medical imaging systems, principally MRI, CT,
and Ultrasound. He and his family have been raw milk drinkers for over ten
years. Peter now supports his wife’s work as a medical doctor, who has
been published worldwide on the combined effect of digestive function and
neurological conditions, presenting at many international conferences. Peter
has also been involved with raw milk regulations in the USA.
Steve Hook – Partner, Hook and
Son
The Hook family have been farming for over 250 years.
Steve and his father Philip run a 70-cow organic dairy herd and started selling
unpasteurized milk in 2007. Today, they sell all of their milk as unpasteurized
milk, cream and butter, via two local doorstep rounds, eight farmers markets in
London, and via the internet. Hook and Son supply nearly half of
England’s current raw milk market, and now employ 17 people.
Steve’s family and farm life was featured in the recent documentary film
The Moo Man released in 2013.
Debbie Vernon – Ellie’s
Dairy
Debbie Vernon and David Shannon founded Ellie’s
Dairy in 2004. They started with three goats and now have around 400 animals of
which around 200 are adult milking goats. The company is based on the North
Kent Downs and is thought to be the largest producer of bottled raw
goat’s milk in the country. David is from a dairy and beef cattle farming
family, Debbie was an archivist and IT manager. Although not certified organic,
Debbie says they farm ‘ traditionally’ and work to the highest
standards of responsible and ethical farming. She says they believe in raising
their animals in as natural an environment as possible.
Luisa Candido – Dairy UK
Luisa is the Nutrition and Technical Manager at Dairy
UK. Her main responsibility is providing legislative and regulatory updates to
dairy producers and she leads on industry responses regarding technical issues.
Luisa is also in charge of coordinating Dairy UK’s position on
nutritional matters within the European Union and she is a member of a number
of committees within the European Dairy Association and the International Dairy
Federation. She is currently conducting Dairy UK’s response on the review
of raw milk controls. Before joining Dairy UK Luisa worked for the Food and
Agriculture Organization as a supervisor of the Food Security and Nutrition
Forum. She has a BSc in Nutrition from King’s College London and is a
registered Associate Nutritionist.