In the fourth episode of our series on science advice and government, we look back a few decades at what lessons were learnt following the BSE outbreak (Mad Cow Disease) in the 1980s and 1990s. Plus how it led to the establishment of the Food Standards Agency (FSA). Host Dr Rob Doubleday is joined by Dame Julia Unwin, who was appointed Deputy Chair of the FSA in 2003. Dame Julia's role was to co-lead the agency and develop its relationship with the government and most importantly, the public. In today's episode, Rob is also joined by Erik Millstone, a Professor at the University of Sussex, who's research focuses on the use of science and evidence in the governance of food safety and risk. 

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Season 5 is produced in partnership with the research project Expertise Under Pressure, Centre for the Humanities and Social Change at the University of Cambridge.

CSaP: The Science & Policy Podcast is hosted by CSaP Executive Director Dr Rob Doubleday, and is edited and produced by CSaP Communications Coordinator Jessica Foster. Research for this series is supported by CSaP Policy Researcher Nick Cosstick.

Podcast theme music by Transistor.fm. Learn how to start a podcast here.

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Resources relevant to this episode:

• About the Food Standards Agency and their mission: https://bit.ly/FSAmission


• The Food Standards Agency: A Force for Change (White Paper proposing the Food Standards Agency).


• BSE: Risk, Science, and Governance by Patrick van Zwanenberg and Erik Millstone

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