Committee to conclude review of bill by 7 November. This live blog is closed
The UK is preparing to recognise the state of Palestine imminently, after Israel failed to meet conditions that would have postponed the historic step, including a ceasefire in Gaza, Patrick Wintour reports.
YouGov has relased polling today suggesting that Britons are in favour of this by more than two to one, although a large minority of people do not have a view.
Continue reading...Increase of 0.5% in August helped by back-to-school shopping, while food stores also given lift
Back-to-school shopping and warm weather helped to boost retail sales last month, according to the latest official data.
Total retail sales in Great Britain rose 0.5%, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, as parents prepared for the new school year and shoppers enjoyed a series of heatwave and the summer’s last bank holiday.
Continue reading...Cheap ultra-processed food behind rise in overweight children, with one in 10 now obese globally, says Unicef
More children around the world are obese than underweight for the first time, according to a UN report that warns ultra-processed junk food is overwhelming childhood diets.
There are 188 million teenagers and school-age children with obesity – one in 10 – Unicef said, affecting health and development and bringing a risk of life-threatening diseases.
Continue reading...Alex Freudmann says ministers need to increase proportion of food eaten in UK that is grown or reared in Britain
Marks & Spencer’s head of food has called on the government to set a legally binding “concrete target” to increase the proportion of food produced at home, as he warned that Britain was becoming “less and less self-sufficient”.
Alex Freudmann, the managing director of the upmarket grocer’s food division, which works with 10,000 British farms, said: “If ministers are committed to domestic food supply, then they need to prove it, and that’s why we’re backing our farmers’ calls for a clear and concrete target to increase the proportion of food eaten in Britain that’s grown or reared in Britain.”
Continue reading...Government to ban sale of energy drinks with more than 150mg of caffeine, citing concerns over obesity and lack of concentration
Under-16s in England will be banned from buying energy drinks such as Red Bull and Monster because they fuel obesity, cause sleep problems and leave them unable to concentrate.
Health experts, teaching unions and dentists welcomed the ban and said it would boost children and young people’s health. It fulfils a pledge Labour included in its manifesto for last year’s general election.
Continue reading...Takeshi Niinami bought supplements in the belief that they were legal, says Jim Beam and Laphroaig owner
Takeshi Niinami, one of Japan’s best-known business leaders, has resigned as chief executive of the drinks company Suntory after police raided his home as part of an investigation into suspected illegal supplements.
His resignation from the owner of the Jim Beam whisky brand has sent shockwaves through Japan’s corporate world, with Suntory executives attempting to reassure investors and consumers at a hastily arranged news conference.
Continue reading...Company, which owns brands including KitKat, replaces Laurent Freixe with Philipp Navratil
Nestlé has dismissed its chief executive, Laurent Freixe, after an investigation into an “undisclosed romantic relationship” with a subordinate that was found to have breached its code of business conduct.
The Swiss-headquartered multinational, which owns consumer goods brands including KitKat chocolate, Häagen-Dazs ice-cream and Nespresso coffee capsules, named Philipp Navratil as his replacement.
Continue reading...Millennial childhood staples such as Walkers and Nik Naks introduce new flavours amid pressure for brands to stay relevant
Nostalgia for the 1990s might have reached its peak with Oasis back on tour this summer, but several of Britain’s best-known brands are also trying to make a comeback, reinventing themselves with new flavours, packaging or names.
Walkers, Nik Naks and Bacardi Breezer are among some of the brands that are adapting to try to stand out in the food and drink market.
Continue reading...Group in Kilteely pooled savings to buy bar and licence and ‘everybody brought something to the table’
A century ago, the County Limerick village of Kilteely had seven pubs but one by one they shut. This year, it braced to lose the last.
The economic and social trends that have shuttered family-run pubs across Ireland appear remorseless, leaving many communities with nowhere to meet, have a drink and share stories.
Continue reading...Jobs expected to go if competition watchdog approves takeover by Associated British Foods
The owner of Kingsmill has agreed to buy its rival Hovis in a deal worth an estimated £75m that could create the UK’s biggest bread brand if the competition regulator approves it, but also put jobs at risk.
The deal comes after decades of decline in the popularity of the packaged sliced loaf, with Hovis, owned by the private equity company Endless, and its rival Kingsmill – part of Associated British Foods (ABF) – struggling to get out of the red for some years.
Continue reading...Study finds Wiltshire ham products sold by retailers such as Tesco and M&S contain highest level of nitrites
Ham and bacon sold by supermarkets including Tesco, and Marks and Spencer still contain cancer-causing chemicals almost 10 years after the World Health Organization warned about the dangers of their use in processed meats.
Wiltshire ham is the product with the highest concentrations of nitrites, according to analysis that compared it to cooked ham and unsmoked bacon.
Continue reading...BRC says food prices rose by 4% in July from 2024, while CBI blames economic uncertainty for people not spending
Britain’s largest retailers struggled to entice shoppers back to the high street in July as the rising cost of meat and butter drove up food prices, adding to the pressure on household finances.
According to the latest snapshot from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) food prices rose by 4% in July from a year earlier, up from 3.7% in June and above the three-month average of 3.5%.
Continue reading...Sunday’s England v Spain match set to be most-watched women’s football match in UK history, benefiting food, drink and hospitality industries
The climax of the exhilarating women’s Euros, as the Lionesses attempt to atone for their loss to Spain at the World Cup, is poised to be the most-watched women’s football match in UK history with the tournament providing a more than £800m boost to supermarkets, pubs and retailers.
With Sunday’s showdown aired on both ITV and the BBC, and their respective streaming services, TV industry executives expect that, with the help of a family-friendly 5pm kick-off time, viewing will eclipse the 14.8 million peak audience when England lost 1-0 to Spain in Sydney two years ago, if the match is close.
Continue reading...Shoppers flock to stores in June for food, drink and merchandise, and also go on short breaks
Sunny summer weather and a packed schedule of events including Wimbledon, concerts by Oasis and Beyoncé, and international cricket and football sent shoppers flocking to retailers and supermarkets last month.
Retail sales volumes in Great Britain rose by 0.9% in June, bouncing back from a sharp fall in May, although slightly below analyst consensus forecasts of a 1.2% month-on-month increase.
Continue reading...Police found 57 people allegedly held in fetid conditions in case known as ‘grape harvest of shame’
Three employees of a firm that provided workers to pick grapes for champagne has gone on trial for human trafficking, in one of the biggest labour scandals to hit France’s exclusive sparkling wine industry.
The employees of the firm supplying grape pickers for the champagne harvest in 2023 were charged with human trafficking and exploiting seasonal workers, submitting vulnerable people to undignified housing conditions, and employing foreign nationals without authorisation. The firm itself was also on trial for moral responsibility in the case.
Continue reading...Volatile weather patterns may be altering taste of juniper berries – a key botanical in the spirit – scientists say
The flavour of a gin and tonic may be impacted by climate change, scientists have found.
Volatile weather patterns, made more likely by climate breakdown, could change the taste of juniper berries, which are the key botanical that give gin its distinctive taste.
Continue reading...Government says ethical certification is adding financial strain on smallholders rather than being paid by customers
The Kenyan government has told its tea factories to stop working with the Rainforest Alliance because it says the costs involved in securing the ethical label don’t add up for farmers.
The non-profit organisation is one of the world’s most recognisable certification schemes with its green frog seal on food packaging a sign consumers “can feel confident that these products support a better world”.
Continue reading...Market thought to be worth more than £500m as diners seek cheaper alternatives to the pub or a meal out
Dessert cafes and ice-cream parlours are hoping to play a role in a revival of UK high streets and the night-time economy, as people seek an alternative to going to the pub or an expensive meal out.
Their number has soared by almost 700 in the UK in the past decade, according to analysts at Green Street, formerly the Local Data Company, with outlets in places from Aberdeen to Plymouth.
Continue reading...This year’s tiny harvest casts doubt on the spirit’s recent resurgence, once a bright spot in the island’s economy
It’s a crisis that would have sent a shiver down Ernest Hemingway’s drinking arm. Cuba’s communist government is struggling to process enough sugar to make the rum for his beloved mojitos and daiquiris.
As summer rains bring the Caribbean island’s 2025 harvest to an end, a recent analysis by Reuters suggests that Cuba’s state-run monopoly, Azcuba, is likely to produce just 165,000 metric tonnes of sugar this year. That compares with harvests of 8m in the late 1980s.
Continue reading...Nestlé is among UK companies taking part in project to ‘design out’ waste by redistributing surplus product
Millions of meals worth of wasted food could be redistributed thanks to an artificial intelligence tool being trialled by companies across the UK, including Nestlé.
The AI tool, which has already generated an 87% reduction in edible food waste at one of the Swiss conglomerate’s factories over its first two-week trial period, is intended to “design out” food waste by providing real-time monitoring, tracking and insights of wasted ingredients and products.
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