You'll see from the picture that Animal Pharm's Max Thomas was keeping an eye on things during the festive partying, making sure that nothing got out of hand.

There were some pretty major developments in animal health over the holidays, not least Bioniche receiving approval at last of its E coli vaccine. This is a major breakthrough in the industry and could clear the way for a whole new range of animal health products.

This has particular resonance for me as I managed to get food poisoning while I was away in France. This was horrible, but I'm sure you can imagine how bad it was so I'll spare you the details.

I'll prefix this next comment by saying that as the Animal Pharm France correspondent, I am definitely a Francophile and there are lots of things I like about France. However, why is it that I always seem to get food poisoning in France and Belguim??

I have lived in the UK for much of my life and never had food poisoning, but I have had it several times in France, and I know of quite a few people with similar experiences. I also visit the US and other European countries regularly and I have never had a problem. What is going on with retail food hygiene regulation in France?

Anyway, not the best start to 2007, but in the words of a UK political party's election broadcast song: "Things can only get better."