GovWire

The Government Chemist Annual Review provides a summary of the work undertaken by the Government Chemist team, including highlights from the resolution of referee cases, advisory work and capability building activities. The review also details the impact of the work obtained though active engagement with a wide range of stakeholders. The main topics described in this review are:

• Referee cases: analysis of food for genetically modified organisms, pesticides in organic peanuts, aflatoxins and liposomal Vitamin C

• Advisory role: overview of the activities associated with the advisory role, including responding to enquiries from stakeholders and consultations

• Capability building: the review highlights particular projects the Government Chemist team worked on to be ready for future challenges, such as characterization of in-house reference materials that can be used in the detection of food adulteration and the application of Next-Generation Sequencing to food authenticity testing. This section also describes the contribution of the Government Chemist to work under the SEATRACES project. Work on CBD and controlled cannabinoids followed the work described in the 2020 Annual Review

• Knowledge sharing activities to further the impact of the referee and advisory functions: the review highlights some of the knowledge sharing activities undertaken by the team to ensure that the breadth of knowledge generated through the Government Chemists programme reaches its target audiences.