Category Archives: Food

Colombia passes ambitious ‘junk food law’ to tackle lifestyle diseases

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The Latin American country is one of the first in the world to introduce a health tax targeting ultra-processed foods

A new law in Colombia making it one of the first countries in the world to explicitly tax ultra-processed food has been hailed by campaigners and health experts who say it could set an example for other countries.

After years of campaigning, the “junk food law” came into force this month and a levy will be introduced gradually. An additional tax on affected foods will begin at 10% immediately, rising to 15% next year and reaching 20% in 2025.

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US schools grapple with shortage of a lunchtime staple: milk cartons

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Agricultural department says multiple states will be affected, forcing a brainstorm of backup plans

The tiny, half-pint cartons of milk served with millions of school lunches nationwide may soon be scarce in some cafeterias, with districts across the country scrambling to find alternatives.

The problem is not a shortage of milk itself, but the cardboard cartons used to package and serve it, according to dairy industry suppliers and state officials.

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Pineapple loses its crown: Sainsbury’s sells leafless version to cut waste

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Removing leaves will mean they can be replanted or shredded for animal feed and could reduce emissions

The pineapple has been dethroned: Sainsbury’s has announced it will start selling a crownless version of the tropical fruit from Wednesday.

The spiky, green leaves that grow from the top of the plant are a unique feature of the exotic fruit. But, says the supermarket, they are typically thrown away by customers, contributing to up to 700 tonnes of food waste a year.

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Health Star Rating only on about a third of Australian supermarket products that should carry it, report shows

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Researcher says consumers can’t make the ‘best choices’ as rating missing on more than half of products

The government’s flagship initiative to improve Australians’ diets is “working great” as a marketing tool for food manufacturers, but is not helping people make healthier choices, new research has found.

The Health Star Rating system was introduced in 2014 as a government-led front-of-pack nutrition label designed to be a simple way to compare the overall nutritional quality of products on the shelf, as recommended by the World Health Organisation.

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Panera adds warnings about caffeinated lemonade after suit over student’s death

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Family sued after Sarah Katz died last year after drinking Charged Lemonade, apparently unaware of soda’s high caffeine content

Panera Bread restaurants have displayed new warnings about its highly caffeinated lemonade, days after a lawsuit filed by the family of a university student who died after drinking the beverage.

Sarah Katz, an Ivy League student with a congenital heart condition, died last year just hours after drinking Panera’s Charged Lemonade, having apparently been unaware of the soda’s extremely highly caffeine content, according to the wrongful death suit.

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‘It was a plague’: Killarney becomes first Irish town to ban single-use coffee cups

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A blanket ‘bring or buy’ reusable scheme has been introduced in the town, which was getting through 23,000 cups a week

Killarney used to accept it as a price of being a tourist town: ubiquitous disposable coffee cups spilling from bins, littering roads and blighting the area’s national park.

The County Kerry town went through about 23,000 cups a week – more than a million a year – adding up to 18.5 tonnes of waste.

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‘It’s a poor product ’: leading UK chefs join campaign to cast farmed salmon off menu

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Ethical concerns over sustainability and welfare have seen venues offering new choices to ubiquitous ‘chicken of the sea’

Salmon has undergone a rapid transformation in recent decades. Once a special treat, it is now ubiquitous. From drinks reception canapés to wedding functions, Christmas smoked salmon or simply wrapped in foil and baked on a week night, salmon is everywhere.

Scotland is world renowned for salmon production, and the fish makes up 40% of its total food exports; it is also Britain’s most valuable food export. Healthy, low in saturated fats and high in omega-3, salmon is a success story.

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US nutrition panel’s ties to top food giants revealed in new report

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Transparency group US Right to Know finds members linked to Nestlé, Coca-Cola and others, raising conflict-of-interest questions

Almost half of a federal government panel that helps develop US nutritional guidelines has significant ties to big agriculture, ultra-processed food companies, pharmaceutical companies and other corporate organizations with a significant stake in the process’s outcome.

The revelation is part of a new report from US Right to Know, a government transparency group that looked for ties to corporate interests among the 20-member panel of food and nutrition experts that makes recommendations for updating the US government’s official dietary guidelines.

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Feeding seaweed to cows can cut methane emissions, says Swedish report

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Study proposes government commission more research into environmental benefits of cattle feed additives

Sweden is one step closer to making the use of methane-reducing cow feed additives such as seaweed government policy after experts recommended further investigation into the area.

A report by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency into reduced methane emissions says development in the field has been “rapid in recent years” and is among “a number of new interesting additives with higher potential”.

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Sandwich price shocks but meal deal costs rise less than average food inflation

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Pret a Manger’s ‘posh’ cheese and pickle sandwich grabbed headlines for its £7.15 price tag, but it’s not all gloom

It’s not often that a cheese and pickle sandwich turns heads, but this week Pret a Manger’s “posh” version grabbed headlines after a tweet decrying its £7.15 price tag went viral.

Although that included VAT for eating in, the social media post shone a spotlight on the rising cost of lunch on the go, as the soaring cost of ingredients has been passed on to consumers.

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Unilever to make payments to Kenyan tea pickers over 2007 plantation attacks

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UK law firm Leigh Day says money given to 77 workers for murders and rapes ‘sidesteps’ multinational’s responsibility over attack

Unilever is to make payments to 77 tea pickers who worked on one of its plantations in Kenya that was targeted during post-election violence in 2007.

The UK law firm Leigh Day, representing the workers, said the London-based consumer goods multinational had agreed to make voluntary, or ex-gratia, payments to former workers at its subsidiary Unilever Tea Kenya, who were attacked by armed assailants at its plantation in Kericho.

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Pasta, risotto, ravioli – humble millet parades its versatility in Delhi for G20

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The neglected but sustainable cereal crop is on every hotel menu in town as India’s government tries to spark a global craze

As the leaders of the world’s largest economies descended on Delhi this weekend, there were two things on the menu: geopolitics and millet.

India is seeking to use its G20 presidency to push a narrative of the country as an economic powerhouse and leader of the global south, but also as a platform to elevate humble millet, a long-neglected but environmentally sustainable cereal that the country’s government is on a campaign to promote. Having already persuaded the UN General Assembly to declare this year as “international year of millet”, on Saturday the foreign leaders were treated to a specially curated summit lunch designed to show that millet is undeserving of its lowly reputation.

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Costa Coffee recalls sandwiches and wraps amid fears they contain stones

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Retailer warns there may be ‘small stones’ in four products from its range and urges customers to return them for refund

Costa Coffee has recalled some of its range of sandwiches and wraps after it emerged that they could contain small stones.

The chain warned customers that four of its products could be affected, and that they could pose a choking hazard if they were eaten.

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No more cordon blur: France prepares to ban vegetarian products from using meaty language

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Terms like ‘steak’, ‘grill’ and ‘spare ribs’ must be expunged from plant-based products, says agriculture ministry, amid simmering dispute

The French government has said it is preparing a new decree against meaty terms like “steak”, “grill” and “spare ribs” being used to describe plant-based products.

Its latest decree is “an issue of transparency and honesty responding to the legitimate expectations of consumers and producers”, agriculture minister Marc Fesneau said in a statement on Monday.

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New York City and state fight over foie gras ban

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Mayor Eric Adams pushes for ban but animal rights activists say Governor Kathy Hochul is ‘in the pocket’ of the industry

Ducks are back on New York’s political minds, close to four years after the city under former mayor Bill de Blasio signed a bill banning the sale and serving of foie gras in New York City, part of what he and his successor, Mayor Eric Adams, portrayed as an animal rights issue.

“The days of foie gras are gone and foie-gotten in New York City,” Adams tweeted in 2019 after the law was passed.

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Vietnamese collector revealed as buyer of world’s biggest bottle of whisky

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Viet Nguyen Dinh Tuan bought 311-litre bottle of 32-year-old Macallan single malt for £1.1m at auction

The previously anonymous buyer of the world’s largest bottle of whisky, which at 5ft 11in is taller than the average human, has been revealed as a Vietnamese businessman who already owns a spirits collection valued at more than £150m.

Viet Nguyen Dinh Tuan bought the 311-litre bottle filled with 32-year-old Macallan single malt for £1.1m at auction in Edinburgh last year.

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Pad kaphrao contest seeks true taste of Thailand’s national dish

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Tourism body tries to nail down best recipe for a dish popular at home but often overshadowed abroad

Pad kaphrao has a strong claim to be Thailand’s most loved dish. The meal – holy basil fried with minced meat – is a quick and easy staple. It is a regular among street vendors whose woks fill the air with a distinctive, fiery aroma, and on the menus of high-end restaurants and in the ready-made sections of convenience stores.

But abroad it is overshadowed by the likes of pad thai and green curry – and when it does feature on menus, the ingredients tend to differ from those used in Thailand.

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Salt-free diet ‘can reduce risk of heart problems by almost 20%’

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Large new study using UK Biobank data shows even a small reduction in salt intake can be beneficial

Cutting out salt from meals can slash your risk of heart problems and strokes by almost a fifth, the largest study of its kind suggests.

Research has documented how adding salt to food increases the likelihood of cardiovascular disease and premature death. Now experts have established just how big a difference you could make to your heart health – simply by reducing the number of meals to which you add salt or by ditching it altogether.

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France to spend €200m on destroying excess wine as demand falls

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Fund aims to help struggling winemakers as they adjust to consumers’ changing habits

The French government has announced it is to set aside €200m to fund the destruction of surplus wine production in an attempt to support struggling producers and shore up prices.

Several major wine-producing regions in France, particularly the Bordeaux area, are struggling because of a cocktail of problems including changes in consumption habits, the cost of living crisis and the after-effects of Covid-19.

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‘They’re huge this year’: UK fruit pickers hail bumper blackberry crop

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‘Just about perfect’ weather conditions mean berries are abundant – ideal for bank holiday weekend foraging

The sun shone at the right time but not too harshly, and the rain provided just about the perfect amount of watering. As a result, gardeners, foragers and fans of fruity puddings in many parts of the UK are relishing one of the most abundant, juiciest blackberry crops for years.

“It’s a really good year,” said John Myers, the head gardener at the National Trust’s Ham House in London. “Conditions have been just about perfect. We had a nice May and June when the temperatures were good. June was warm but not too hot, allowing the flowers to take up enough nutrients and the pollinators to do their thing. Then after June we had quite a lot of rain, which did the berries a world of good, plumping them up. In the last few weeks it’s been warm, meaning they’ve ripened really well.”

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