The Blueprint for Business Action on Health Literacy is a free toolbox accessible to all companies and organisations aiming to make employees more health literate.

"The idea of the blueprint is to provide some tools for companies that want to implement health in the workplace and in their programmes with a particular focus on health literacy," said Alexander Rödiger, director of EU affairs at the global health care company MSD, at the launch of the blueprint in the European Parliament on Wednesday (27 March).

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Lena Ek

Lena Ek

Tue, 2013-03-26 11:06

• health

Lena Ek is Sweden's environment minister. She spoke to EurActiv's Henriette Jacobsen by telephone.

I know that you are currently discussing more regulation on endocrine-disrupting chemicals in Sweden. What is it exactly you are discussing?

Firstly, we have a strategy for a toxic-free environment that focuses on children (since they are most vulnerable), which we put in place two years ago with extra money for the Swedish Chemicals Agency, to look into the problem and take action.

The minister, Lena Ek, says climate change and endocrine-disrupting chemicals are the two most important issues on her agenda.

"They are both about the coming generations and the future of the Earth," Ek told EurActiv.

The charity Rainforest Foundation UK and the British magazine Ethical Consumer assigned more than 70 types of candy Easter eggs an “ethical score” from one to 20 based on whether their company used palm oil, makes substantial policy statements, and are a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).

Acrylamide is a chemical compound that typically forms in starchy food products such as potato crisps, chips, bread, biscuits and coffee, during high-temperature processing (above 120°), including frying, baking and roasting.

"We can with a great probability say that there is a link between food products which contain acrylamide and cancer," Jørgen Schlundt, director of DTU's National Food Institute, told Danish TV.