The United Nations is marking 2021 as the ‘International Year of Fruits and Vegetables’, spotlighting their vital role in human nutrition and food security, as well as urging efforts to improve sustainable production and reduce waste.

Long winter months and less time spent outdoors have contributed to alarmingly high rates of vitamin D deficiency in parts of the UK, especially among certain ethnic and socio-economic groups, with overall levels falling below the most conservative global recommendations.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is to assess a number of emergency authorizations granted by Member States for the use of neonicotinoid pesticides in sugar beet in 2020. The request from the European Commission covers 21 emergency authorizations of clothianidin, imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, and thiacloprid that were granted by Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Spain, Finland, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia.

A new variant of coronavirus has been found which is growing faster in some parts of England, UK MPs have been told. The country’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the World Health Organization had been notified and that UK scientists were doing detailed studies.