Characterisation framework of key policy, regulatory and governance dynamics and impacts upon European food value chains: Fairer trading practices, food integrity, and sustainability collaborations. : VALUMICS project “Understanding Food Value Chains and Network Dynamics” funded by EU Horizon 2020 G.A. No 727243. Deliverable D3.3

The report provides a framework that categorises the different European Union (EU) policies, laws and governance actions identified as impacting upon food value chains in the defined areas of: fairer trading practices, food integrity (food safety and authenticity), and sustainability collaborations along food value chains. A four-stage framework is presented and illustrated with examples. The evidence shows that European Union policy activity impacting upon food value chain dynamics is increasing, both in terms of the impacts of policies upon the chains, and, in terms of addressing some of the more contentious outcomes of these dynamics. A number of policy priorities are at play in addressing the outcomes of food value chain dynamics. unevenness of the distribution of profit within food value chains, notably to farmers. Regulation of food safety and aspects of authenticity has been a key focus for two decades to ensure a functioning single market while ensuring consumer health and wellbeing. A food chain length perspective has been attempted, notably through regulations such as the General Food Law, and the rationalisation of the Official Controls on food and feed safety. However, there are still gaps in the effective monitoring and transparency of food safety and of food integrity along value chains, as exemplified by misleading claims and criminal fraud. This has led to renewed policy actions over food fraud, in particular. EU regulations, policies and related governance initiatives provide an important framework for national-level actions for EU member states and for EEA members. The more tightly EU-regulated areas, such as food safety, see fewer extra initiatives, but where there is a more general strategic policy and governance push, such as food waste reduction or food fraud, there is greater independent state-level activity. Likewise, there is much more variation in the application of both national and European (Competition) law to govern unfair trading practices impacting upon food value chains. This report presents the findings of a survey of members from the VALUMICS stakeholder platform, that were policy facing food value chain stakeholders across selected European countries, including both EU and EEA Member States. The survey was conducted to check the significance of the main policies identified in the mapping exercise at EU and national levels and so to incorporate the views of stakeholders in the research. The responses suggest the policy concerns identified in EU and national-level research resonate with food value chain stakeholders in participating nations. The report concludes by exploring in more detail how the themes of fairness and of transparency are being handled in the policy activities presented. Highlighted are the ways that both fairness and transparency can be extended within the existing frameworks of EU policy activity. The findings in this report provide an important context for further and detailed research analysis of the workings and dynamics of European food value chains under the VALUMICS project

'A piecemeal way to save the world': Investigating social sustainability in the UK's conventional food supply

This thesis addresses a gap in knowledge of sustainability in relation to food – namely how the social ‘pillar’ is being interpreted and acted on, and by whom, in the UK’s conventional food supply. Sustainability is widely seen to have three pillars (environmental, economic and social), with the latter the least well understood. The thesis uses a governance perspective, where sustainability is viewed as a problem seen to be in need of intervention by public and other rule-making authorities. The research first reviewed UK-level state policy relating to social sustainability and food. It then explored organisational websites to find out what types of entity were active on social sustainability, and in what ways. The website research yielded data 135 separate entities, and was supplemented by 27 qualitative interviews. It was found that actors from a range of categories beyond companies producing food were involved in governing this area, such as financial actors, ‘infrastructure’ providers, consultants, advocacy groups and standards organisations. They used an array of governance techniques, including re-badging existing activities, outsourcing, advocacy, collaboration, and multiple forms of ‘audit’. The range of social concerns on which they acted was extensive, from nutrition and employment to education and animal welfare. They were both substantive (such as the nutritional content of food) and procedural (such as accountability). However, the activities were very inconsistently associated with sustainability, leading to the conclusion that social sustainability does not yet have a settled meaning in the context of the conventional food supply, and given the highly normative nature of its constituent concerns, its meaning may always be dynamic and contested. Overall, non-state governance was found to be ad hoc and opportunistic, but also resourceful and idealistic. In the absence of coherent state guidance, it served the actors’ diverse interests rather than any agreed public goal

UK: racial violence and the night-time economy

This article examines fifty-five racist attacks over a six-month period in the UK’s night-time economy, showing the risks faced by members of the public and workers at taxi firms, takeaways, convenience stores and service stations. It argues that flexible and highly casualised labour conditions exacerbate the risk of racial violence

Orally available Mn porphyrins with superoxide dismutase and catalase activities

Superoxide dismutase/catalase mimetics, such as salen Mn complexes and certain metalloporphyrins, catalytically neutralize reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, which have been implicated in the pathogenesis of many serious diseases. Both classes of mimetic are protective in animal models of oxidative stress. However, only AEOL11207 and EUK-418, two uncharged Mn porphyrins, have been shown to be orally bioavailable. In this study, EUK-418 and several new analogs (the EUK-400 series) were synthesized and shown to exhibit superoxide dismutase, catalase, and peroxidase activities in vitro. Some also protected PC12 cells against staurosporine-induced cell death. All EUK-400 compounds were stable in simulated gastric fluid, and most were substantially more lipophilic than the salen Mn complexes EUK-189 and EUK-207, which lack oral activity. Pharmacokinetics studies demonstrate the presence of all EUK-400 series compounds in the plasma of rats after oral administration. These EUK-400 series compounds are potential oral therapeutic agents for cellular damage caused by oxidative stress

Plasma biomarkers to study mechanisms of liver injury in patients with hypoxic hepatitis

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Hypoxic hepatitis is a clinical condition precipitated by prolonged periods of oxygen deprivation to the liver. It can have several underlying causes. Despite its prevalence in critically ill patients, which can reach upwards of 10%, very little is known about the mechanisms of injury. Thus, we set out to measure previously identified circulating biomarkers in an attempt to describe mechanisms of injury following hypoxic hepatitis. METHODS: Plasma from patients diagnosed with hypoxic hepatitis was collected for this study. Biomarkers of hepatocellular injury, mitochondrial damage, and cell death were measured. These results were compared against results obtained from well characterized acetaminophen overdose patients. RESULTS: At peak injury, ALT measured 4082±606 U/L and gradually decreased over 5 days, corresponding to the clinically observed pattern of hypoxic hepatitis. Levels of GDH showed a similar pattern, but neither ALT nor GDH were significantly higher in these patients than in acetaminophen patients. Plasma levels of DNA fragments mimicked hepatocellular injury as measured by ALT and miRNA-122. Interestingly, we found a significant increase in caspase-cleaved cytokeratin-18; however, the full-length form greatly exceeded the cleaved form at the time of maximum injury (45837±12085 vs. 2528±1074 U/L). We also found an increase in acHMGB1 at later time points indicating a possible role of inflammation, but cytokine levels at these times were actually decreased relative to early time points. CONCLUSIONS: The mechanism of injury following hypoxic hepatitis involves mitochondrial damage and DNA fragmentation. Importantly, necrosis, rather than apoptosis, is the main mode of cell death

Readers: Books and Biography

This chapter investigates how book historians have used autobiographical records and documents – diaries, notebooks and commonplace books, and marginalia – to uncover the place of books and reading in everyday life from the early modern period to the late nineteenth century. It aims to provide a survey of the field while also drawing on individual case studies of particular readers. It demonstrates how readers used their books and shows how the individual act of reading was embedded within a larger web of social, economic, and educational contexts. Attending to autobiographical documents can provide information about how reading practices were shaped and influenced by the book trade, social and correspondence networks, and institutions of reading such as subscription libraries. The material forms of autobiography, meanwhile, show how reading in the past has been shaped by social practices, such as commonplacing, letter writing, and marginal annotation