I am worried by the amount of times over recent years I have seen governments ignore food scares by using the excuse ‘we are not a nanny state and believe in the free market economy’.

I am also a believer in the market economy and the power of the customer but know that if a customer is not given the right information he will not make the right decision.

A good example of this is hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) used to make margarine and to thicken many spreads. Designed to save us from heart disease by giving us a low saturated fats option to butter, it actually turns out that margarine containing HVO has the opposite effect by increasing the likelihood of heart disease.

I read an article nearly 2 years ago about this scare and at last see the Food Standards Agency are now insisting that those products containing HVOs are clearly labelled. But what about those people who do not know the dangers of HVOs. Surely HVOs should be banned or carry a cigarette type government health warning.

Hydrogenated vegetable oil is made by pumping hydrogen through vegetable oil at high temperatures to change it from a liquid to a solid at room temperature. Yuk. This twenty year old scientific wonder has since turned in to be a bit of a disaster and reminds me of the GM issue.

When are we going to learn not to mess about with food and that a balanced diet of locally produced seasonal foods is best.