We need a little dirt in our systems. Common sense tells me we have become too hygienic. After all, refrigeration has improved enormously, packaging is totally sterile, antibacterial agents are more effective and yet we continue to suffer from an increase in food poisoning. I don't know about you but that tells me something ­ our natural immune systems are deficient, our bodies have lost the will to fight. I also feel it's no good looking to the government or to scientists to look after us. Historically, as government or scientist intervention in food has risen so have the food poisoning statistics. Regulation of food producers just drives away the small independent. Check the aftermath of the great salmonella egg scare, listeria, E.coli. They all resulted in damage to Britain's pride in its specialist food suppliers. General interference in what we eat, justified according to government on the grounds of public safety, turns us from a country of decision making consumers into a nation that relies on that old mantra Nanny knows best'. We have suffered too long from scientists who are divided on food issues. Too many of them are activists who resort to scare tactics; there is the too much' school of thought ­ raising hands in alarm at sugar, salt, saturated fats, etc. And there is the too little' school ­ urging us to eat more fibre, carbohydrates, fruit and vegetables, etc. Some of this is common sense but I get the feeling that all too often their brains are creating mazes of needless complexity. Scientists shouldn't be looking for yet another cure to repair the damage caused by their last cure. They need to study the effects of today's practices and lifestyles. We are what we eat and yet the food chain is subjected to a cocktail of antibiotics, herbicides, pesticides, manmade fertilisers, genetically modified foods, and at home we are constantly being told to use antibacterial sprays. Doesn't this give you a clue as to the real problem? No wonder many of us are going organic! {{NEWS }}