Category Archives: Food

EU agrees to chop meaty names from vegetarian and vegan food products

Posted on by

Lawmakers will outlaw use of 31 meat-related names as part of efforts to help livestock farmers in food supply markets

EU lawmakers have agreed to ban meaty names such as steak and bacon for vegetarian and vegan foods, but “veggie burgers” and “meat-free sausages” will remain on the table.

Negotiators from the European parliament and EU council of ministers found a recipe for compromise on rules for food names on Thursday, although critics said they were creating needless complexity.

Continue reading...

Thailand moves to cut sugar in popular drinks amid health drive

Posted on by

Major chains agree to halve default sweetness, but street vendors and cafes remain outside sugar tax rules

A crowd of customers, holding phones aloft, watch intently as Auntie Nid mixes up her bestseller: an iced Thai tea.

Condensed milk is poured into a glass, followed by three heaped tablespoons of sugar, and then freshly strained tea. The end product – a deep orange, creamy treat – is poured into a plastic bag filled with ice.

Continue reading...

Beef and lamb get 580 times more in EU subsidies than legumes, study finds

Posted on by

Report says common agricultural policy provides ‘unfair’ levels of support to unhealthy, meat-heavy diets

Beef and lamb receive 580 times more in EU subsidies than legumes, a report has found, despite scientists urging people to get more of their protein from less harmful sources.

Analysis by the charity Foodrise found the EU’s common agricultural policy (CAP) provides “unfair” levels of support to meat-heavy diets that doctors consider unhealthy and climate scientists consider environmentally destructive.

Continue reading...

Is gen Z’s love of fried chicken pushing Britain to ‘peak pizza’?

Posted on by

Competition intensifies as former chief of Domino’s says days of ‘massive growth’ are over

Pizza has become ubiquitous on British dinner plates, with chains such as Pizza Express, Franco Manca, Domino’s and Goodfella’s dominating the market – but is its popularity starting to cool?

Domino’s Pizza Group announced this week that its chief executive of two years had stepped down with immediate effect, less than two weeks after he appeared to suggest the UK may be approaching “peak pizza”.

Continue reading...

Australian diet set to worsen as national food policy is drawn up by profit-driven industry, experts warn

Posted on by

Exclusive: Many industries on new council are ‘associated with significant health harms’, one academic says

Cheap and unhealthy foods are set to become further entrenched in the Australian diet, according to health experts, who warn the federal government is developing a national food policy with heavy influence from profit-driven food and agriculture industries.

Dr Matt Fisher from the University of Adelaide’s Stretton Institute’s health equity department said the policy could “compromise crucial public health considerations”.

Continue reading...

French winemakers ‘battle for survival’ as minister prepares for crisis talks

Posted on by

Vineyard owners say sales slump, Trump tariffs and worst harvest in 70 years have put producers in danger of closure

French winemakers are often accused of viewing the glass as half empty. Dire warnings about the state of the sector – one of the three pillars of the country’s economy – are a hardy perennial blamed on everything from geopolitics to a drop in the number of drinkers.

Before a crisis meeting with the agriculture minister on Monday, vineyard owners say an unprecedented series of setbacks, including some of the worst harvests in 70 years, has left many of them on their last legs.

Continue reading...

How to make sustainable seafood choices this Christmas to ease the pressure on Australia’s oceans

Posted on by

Australian Marine Conservation Society’s GoodFish guide aims to showcase the most environmentally friendly seafood sources

As a challenging year for marine life heads into its final weeks, GoodFish has shared its list of sustainable choices for the festive season to help take the pressure off Australia’s oceans.

“It’s a time to be more careful than ever,” said Adrian Meder, sustainable seafood program manager at the Australian Marine Conservation Society, which produces the GoodFish guide.

Continue reading...

US supreme court issues emergency order blocking full Snap food aid payments

Posted on by

High court’s order comes after appeals court rejected Trump administration’s request to block November benefits

The supreme court has issued an emergency order temporarily blocking full Snap food aid payments.

The high court’s order came after the Trump administration asked a federal appeals court on Friday to block a judge’s order that it distribute November’s full monthly food stamp benefits amid a US federal government shutdown.

Continue reading...

Trump administration blocked from suspending Snap benefits for millions of Americans

Posted on by

One judge issued temporary restraining order while another judge ruled the government must continue to fund program that helps low-income households

Two federal judges issued back-to-back rulings on Friday in separate cases ordering the Trump administration to use contingency funds to continue paying for food stamps during the government shutdown.

A federal judge in Rhode Island on Friday afternoon blocked the Trump administration from suspending all food aid for millions of Americans, in a case brought by a group of US cities, non-profit organizations and a trade union.

Continue reading...

A strange brew: the case of the man behind an audacious Scottish tea fraud

Posted on by

A charismatic, tweed-wearing grower from Perthshire falsely claimed to be able to create thriving tea plantations in Scotland. His elaborate deception took in luxury hotels, media outlets and tea growers across the country

With its large silver pouch, artistic label and delicate leaves, Dalreoch Scottish white tea might be expected to grace elegant cups with saucers, perhaps with a scone served on the side. Instead, it is nestled with an array of numbered polythene packets in a room just off a laboratory at the University of Aberdeen.

This is not an ordinary afternoon tea but evidence in a crime that science helped solve.

Continue reading...

Food benefits set to expire for 41 million people as US shutdown continues

Posted on by

Department of Agriculture says no benefits will be issued in November and it would not draw on emergency reserves

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said on Saturday that food benefits under one of the country’s biggest social assistance programs will not be issued in November amid the ongoing federal government shutdown.

The shutdown was in its 25th day at the time of the announcement, which came after more than 200 Democrats in the US House of Representatives on Friday called on USDA to draw on its emergency reserves to fund November food benefits.

Continue reading...

Russia arrests Ukrainian biologist for backing curbs on Antarctic krill fishing

Posted on by

‘Trumped-up’ charges spark diplomatic row as scientists express fears for health of 70-year-old Leonid Pshenichnov

A diplomatic row has erupted over the “illegal” detention of one of Ukraine’s scientists, who has been accused by the Kremlin of undermining Russia’s industrial trawling for krill in Antarctica.

Leonid Pshenichnov, 70, a Ukrainian biologist who is an expert on Antarctica, has a decades-long record of scientific research and contributions to conservation, including support for marine protected areas in the region.

Continue reading...

If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit … look away now

Posted on by

Club and Penguin bars are now ‘chocolate flavour’ after owner McVitie’s cuts cocoa content amid soaring prices

If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit you can no longer join our Club or pick up a Penguin, as the lunchbox favourites have reduced the amount of cocoa in their recipe so much they are now only “chocolate flavour”.

The two snacks, both made by McVitie’s, changed their recipes earlier this year amid soaring cocoa prices – which have prompted manufacturers to try a number of different tactics to keep prices down.

Continue reading...

‘Veggie burgers’ could be off EU menu as MEPs back renaming plant-based foods

Posted on by

Proponents say move would strengthen position of farmers in supply chain but critics dismiss it as ‘hotdog populism’

Veggie burgers, tofu steak and cauliflower schnitzel will be off the menu if the European parliament gets its way after a vote on food names.

MEPs voted on Wednesday by 355 in favour to 247 against to reserve names such as “steak”, “burger” and “sausage” exclusively for products derived from meat, a longstanding demand of farm unions.

Continue reading...

Perky Maxwell House viral ad takes on housing crisis as ‘Maxwell Apartment’

Posted on by

Historic US company also offering ‘12-month lease’ – an annual supply – of pre-ground coffee for under $40

Housing in the US has become so unaffordable that a coffee company has based a viral marketing campaign on the idea that almost nobody can afford to buy a house.

Maxwell House coffee, a 133-year-old brand, recently launched a marketing campaign rebranding themselves as “Maxwell Apartment Coffee”.

Continue reading...

Critics decry White House’s Maha report on chronic illnesses in children

Posted on by

Report omits limiting pesticides and ultra-processed foods even as RFK Jr pledges to fight against childhood obesity

The Trump administration released its second Make America Healthy Again (Maha) report, this time on chronic illnesses in children, confirming a leaked report from last month that the administration would stop short of proposing direct restrictions on pesticides and ultra-processed foods.

On Tuesday, the Make America Healthy Again commission published a 20-page report that attempts a balance for the priorities of health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr’s supporters with the interests of influential farming corporations. It also urges an overhaul of the nation’s vaccine injury system and tighter oversight of certain prescriptions.

Continue reading...

Marks & Spencer food chief calls for ‘concrete target’ on British produce

Posted on by

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...

‘Reinvention is the secret ingredient’: food brands harness 90s nostalgia with retro revamps

Posted on by

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...

Sticky end? The British pudding faces extinction, English Heritage warns

Posted on by

Not just boiled or steamed desserts in danger, charity finds, households also rarely make fruit pies and crumbles

At the end of the 17th century a French travel writer who crossed the Channel was clearly impressed by the sweet, comforting treats offered to him, declaring with relish: “Ah! What an excellent thing is an English pudding!”

More than three centuries on, English Heritage has sounded the alarm that the good old British pudding is facing extinction.

Continue reading...

Ham sold in UK found to contain carcinogens 10 years after WHO warning

Posted on by

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...