Sending the bulletin a day early as it's Diwali and half term, so holidays for a few of us :) See here.

Lots of focus from the Autumn budget this week. Colleagues in the BRC have summarised key announcements relevant to retail here. Defra secured a budget of £2.4 billion and shared a blog here, with continued focuses for food security, sustainable farming and environmental restoration.

In our bulletin this week we share our report and meeting notes from Defra's food resilience group and food and drink sector council, minutes from our Micro working group and notes from Camden BRI's hot topics in microbiology event. Also some interesting projects from the Food Safety Research Network (FSRN), House of Lords report on obesity, labelling and nutrition updates and lots in the news.

Lastly, we are looking for more senior member representatives to join the new board overseeing the Deposit Return Schemes. Read more here. Information and nominations to Andrew Opie is requested by Friday 15 November.

Have a great rest of the week and weekend. Happy Diwali and Happy Halloween.