Date labelling and the waste of dairy products by consumers

The objective of this thesis is to advance our understanding of how consumers use date labels and the implications of date-label use for household dairy product waste. It does this by investigating the effect of psychological, social, and contextual factors on date-label use and willingness to consume dairy products in relation to the expiry date. These effects are tested using structural equation models and survey data gathered from 548 Scottish consumers. The results of this study make two contributions to the literature on date-labelling and food waste. The first contribution is primarily theoretical. By improving our understanding of how consumers use date labels and the implications of date-label use for household dairy product waste, it supports the contention that food waste is best understood, not as a behaviour, but as the outcome of multiple behaviours. It argues that in order to understand why food waste is created, it is important to identify the factors that affect the individual behaviours that lead to it, such as date-label use, and how these behaviours relate to one another. These results also have implications for communications and campaigning around food waste reduction. The second contribution has policy relevance. It provides evidence of the likely limited effect of increasing the number of dairy products labelled with a best-before date rather than a use-by date on food waste. This is an approach recently proposed to reduce household food waste. It finds that better knowledge of the best-before date is associated with a higher willingness to consume products after the best-before date has passed. However, perceived risks about consuming products beyond their best-before date, including not just safety but quality, freshness, and social acceptability, appear to interact with date-label knowledge and dampen its influence. It argues that to be effective, any changes in date-labelling should be accompanied by communication that goes beyond improving date-label knowledge, and addresses the multifaceted nature of related risk perceptions and conceptions of date-label trust

Impact of consumers' understanding of date labelling on food waste behaviour

This research analyses the impact that the level of understanding of date marking (among other influences) has on the food waste behaviour of consumers in the European Union focusing on a comparison between European Union countries. The data were extracted from the Dataset Flash Eurobarometer 425: Food waste and date marking (European Commission in Flash eurobarometer 425: food waste and date marking, European Commission, Brussels, 2015) and structural equation models to estimate the strength of these influences on behaviour. The results show that socio-demographics (age; education; occupation); behavioural control (perceptions regarding the need for better and clearer information about 'best before' and 'use by' date labelling on food products; frequency of checking date labels when shopping and preparing meals); and understanding of 'best before' and 'use by' labels have significant effects on behaviours related to lower food waste (use of senses instead of labels to decide whether to eat or throw away food e.g., non-perishable foods from own kitchen cupboard with no 'best before' date indicated on the label which were not bought recently; or food products which must be used within a certain number of days after opening and are past that; and the need for 'best before' dates on non-perishable foods, such as rice, pasta, coffee or tea). The stated understanding of date labelling is a key influence in all models and explains a consistent fifth (ceteris paribus) of the variance in behaviour

The Old and the New: Using Brand Extensions to Garner Modern Appeal at Barbour

Case study published by Bloomsbury Fashion Business Cases. Barbour, the British luxury brand, has a long and rich heritage that has given rise to several sub-brands. The brand now hopes to modernise and entice a younger consumer, a segment they were not yet targeting, whilst maintaining appeal among profitable middle-aged customers, for whom Barbour has already hit the ‘ideal level of distribution for that curve’ (Bottomley, 2018). This business case explores Barbour’s ongoing revitalisation attempt using brand extensions, such as the launch of the Barbour Beacon line and collaborations with the likes of Supreme (2020) and Alexa Chung (2019-present). It also explores Barbour’s partnership with HighSnobiety, their choice of wholesale partners and store locations. Whilst the case focuses on the brand’s UK operations, it could equally be used to investigate their international operations given its strategic intent. This business case examines how such shifts in strategy might affect the parent brand and the core customer. Brand extensions increase risk, as a poorly received brand extension may harm brand image or dilute brand meaning (Keller, 2012: 442-446). Students are asked to take the role of a marketing decision maker for Barbour, develop future marketing strategies for brand extensions and to justify a recommended plan of action

Navigating entry into higher education: The transition to independent learning and living

Student transition into higher education can set the foundation for success at university. However, some students, perhaps in increasing numbers, find this transition difficult. This study explores contemporary students’ experiences when transitioning into Higher Education (HE) to gain an up to date picture of the multiple, potential sources of distress. Focus groups and interviews were held with a total of 10 participants. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. The data suggests that students find a number of things difficult about their transition into HE. Overall, our findings suggest that some find challenges adapting to living independently, while some are also unprepared for independent study at university. These challenges and feelings of lack of preparedness can be experienced as particularly distressing for students who can feel that even their early academic performances are directly tied to their future opportunities for both success at university and later life. One of the main sources of support students seem to have are their new social networks. However, even establishing these networks can become an additional challenge. In the discussion, we explore how the existing literature generally supports these findings. The discussion also considers both if and why the challenges of learning and living independently–a consistent and longstanding part of university life–appears to be causing more problems now than previously. We provisionally introduce a new concept and focus for work in this area SAILL (Struggles Around Independent Learning and Living) and consider whether such a focus might help us conceptualise future work in this area

The importance of early immunotherapy in patients with faciobrachial dystonic seizures.

Faciobrachial dystonic seizures and limbic encephalitis closely associate with antibodies to leucine-rich glioma-inactivated 1 (LGI1). Here, we describe 103 consecutive patients with faciobrachial dystonic seizures and LGI1 antibodies to understand clinical, therapeutic and serological differences between those with and without cognitive impairment, and to determine whether cessation of faciobrachial dystonic seizures can prevent cognitive impairment. The 22/103 patients without cognitive impairment typically had normal brain MRI, EEGs and serum sodium levels (P < 0.0001). Overall, cessation of faciobrachial dystonic seizures with antiepileptic drugs alone occurred in only 9/89 (10%) patients. By contrast, 51% showed cessation of faciobrachial dystonic seizures 30 days after addition of immunotherapy (P < 0.0001), with earlier cessation in cognitively normal patients (P = 0.038). Indeed, expedited immunotherapy (P = 0.031) and normal cognition (P = 0.0014) also predicted reduced disability at 24 months. Furthermore, of 80 patients with faciobrachial dystonic seizures as their initial feature, 56% developed cognitive impairment after 90 days of active faciobrachial dystonic seizures. Whereas only one patient developed cognitive impairment after cessation of faciobrachial dystonic seizures (P < 0.0001). All patients had IgG4-LGI1 antibodies, but those with cognitive impairment had higher proportions of complement-fixing IgG1 antibodies (P = 0.03). Both subclasses caused LGI1-ADAM22 complex internalization, a potential non-inflammatory epileptogenic mechanism. In summary, faciobrachial dystonic seizures show striking time-sensitive responses to immunotherapy, and their cessation can prevent the development of cognitive impairment.awx323media15681705685001

Rheumatoid leptomeningitis presenting with an acute neuropsychiatric disorder

Leptomeningitis is a rare central nervous system manifestation of rheumatoid arthritis, generally in patients with established chronic rheumatoid disease. We report a 41-year-old man without previous rheumatoid arthritis or psychiatric disorder who presented with an acute neuropsychiatric disturbance and polyarthralgia. His MR scan of brain showed asymmetric bifrontal leptomeningitis, confirmed on (18F)-fluoro-D-glucose-positron emission tomography. Other investigations showed highly positive serum and cerebrospinal fluid anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide. A leptomeningeal biopsy showed necrotising leptomeningeal inflammation with ill-defined granulomas and lymphoplasmacytic infiltrate without organisms. Prolonged high-dose corticosteroids and then rituximab resulted in recovery. Chronic leptomeningitis can present with an acute neuropsychiatric disorder. We highlight that early rheumatoid disease can, rarely, cause a chronic leptomeningitis, reversible with immunotherapy

European farmer perspectives and their adoption of ecological practices

Delivering an agricultural policy which meets ecosystem and climatic pressures and addresses weaknesses in our current food system presents complex challenges for food producers. Adoption of ecological practices will reduce the dependence on imports into the farm and is one way to meet some of these policy ambitions. Understanding why farmers do or don’t adopt these practices is key to enabling this transition. This study outlines a series of investigations into the key barriers, values and perceptions towards ecological practice adoption across European farming.We find that personal, technical and institutional forces influence the adoption of more sustainable practices but these forces have varying levels of influence. The tensions between environmental, compared to purely production orientated motivations, may be a key barrier to ecological practice adoption. We also find a strong influence of commodity supply chains which may either encourage or limit adoption of these approaches. Promoting efforts for co-ordinated approaches between the public and private sectors may mitigate some of the dissonance in messaging towards these practices and alleviate these tensions. We also identify a great deal of heterogeneity within the European farming community and argue for a more targeted approach that would encourage adoption of ecological approaches and promote the scaling up of these practices

Uptake of Ecological Farming Practices by EU Farms: A Pan‐European Typology

Understanding and measuring the sustainability of farms is key to evaluating progress towards policy goals for a more sustainable agriculture. In the LIFT project, a farm typology was developed to classify farms according to their ecological performance, based on farm-level variables from the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN). Selected variables are used to assess three key ecological dimensions of farming: total input intensity; degree of circularity (reliance on own-produced versus external inputs); and avoidance of the use of specific inputs of concern for the environment and consumers. The combination of these aspects is considered as a measure of the farm proximity to a full agroecological approach. The typology allows comparison of farms across farm types, countries and years. We briefly present the method and discuss two key aspects: 1) how the proposed farm typology can inform policymaking in the context of a new EU policy framework; 2) how it can inform the foreseen transformation of the FADN into a Farm Sustainability Data Network (FSDN). We suggest that the use of a typology approach under the new FSDN provides useful information on the impacts of the implementation of agroecological practices with an acceptable additional effort in terms of data collection.</p