A snippet of some of the facts found this week

A round-up of the latest facts & figures

Figures from the Rural Payments Agency have found that between April 2007 and March 2008, milk production in the UK decreased to 13.2 billion litres. This figure has fallen from the 2006/2007 figure of 14.1 billion litres.

The latest results from the (PRC) programme of pesticide residue testing in fruit and vegetables supplied to school children in the Autumn term 2007 were published this month, revealing that none of the samples tested contained pesticides residues above the legal trading level.

Tests carried out on 58 samples of six different fruit and vegetables found that 16 samples did not contain any detectable residues, and 42 contained residues within the legal trading level. None of the samples tested contained pesticides residues above the maximum residue level.

Figures from the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) show that last year there were 423 incidents reported, three of which resulted in deaths and a further eight in 'severe harm'.

New figures show that hundreds of pupils are missing out on free school meals.

Every year in North Yorkshire up to 460 primary school kids are not claiming the free schools meals they are entitled to have, according to figures from County Caterers.

A new natural preservative can help extend the shelf-life of baked products as well as maintaining its flavour, according to its manufacturer Vitiva.

The ingredient, called Inolens 12, is a powder that can be blended with other dry ingredients such as sugar, flour or powdered milk.