The very worthy proposal of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) that menus should state energy values is undermined by its failure to use proper measurement units. UKMA has responded by advocating joules rather than so-called “calories” (whatever they may be).
Archive for the ‘General’ Category
Joules on the menu, please
Thursday, March 11th, 2010Minister agrees it is time to clear up “very British mess”
Friday, February 26th, 2010In response to UKMA’s patron, Lord Howe, the junior Health Minister, Baroness Thornton said she “absolutely agreed” that it is “time for all of us, in all parties,…. to work together to clear up this long-standing and very British mess.” She added “This is a matter that will solve itself over time but it is our job in government to move as fast as we can towards people recognising and feeling comfortable using metric calculations.”
Spare a thought for any would-be Brysons out there
Sunday, February 21st, 2010What units do you choose when you are writing travel books and other popular non-fiction for English speakers, wherever they might be found? (Article written by a reader of Bill Bryson’s books) (more…)
Will the new Parliament be more pro-metric?
Saturday, January 30th, 2010Although it is widely assumed that the next Parliament (to be elected no later than June 2010) will contain more Conservative and fewer Labour MP’s, is it possible that they may be more sympathetic to completing the metric changeover? (Article based on a draft by Martin V.)
Will the European Commission challenge US labelling rules?
Saturday, January 16th, 2010A recent posting by NIST (the National Institute of Standards and Technology) has prompted this question: Are American labelling requirements now illegal under WTO rules?
Tory spokesman supports centilitres of alcohol
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010In a commendable outbreak of common sense, Conservative health spokesman, Andrew Lansley has proposed that, in order to clarify the amount of alcohol being consumed, bottles and cans should be labelled with the quantity of pure alcohol in centilitres rather than in so called “units”. But will this lead to a wider realisation that draught beer should also be measured in litres?
Why do nautical miles linger on?
Friday, January 1st, 2010I recently had an exchange of correspondence with an acquaintance (a former RAF pilot) who tried to explain to me why most of the world of aviation still uses nautical miles and knots rather than kilometres and km/h. The explanation went like this.
NHS risking patients’ lives with imperial scales
Thursday, December 17th, 2009Six months after an official report warned of systemic negligence in medical weighing practice within the NHS, the Department of Health has failed to issue the necessary safety alert to hospital trusts to ensure that the report’s recommendations are implemented.
Big Bang vs “voluntary gradualism”
Friday, December 11th, 2009A correspondent asks whether countries that carried out their metrication programme quickly fared better or worse than countries that have tried to do the job gradually and voluntarily.
BIS sticks with pints of beer (but only on draught)
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009As expected the Business Department has refused to permit sales of draught beer and cider in convenient metric measures – but its reasoning is bizarre.