Ministers considering change that would class eggs laid by hens kept in barns for months under restrictions as free range
Free-range egg rules in the UK could be relaxed in response to the European Union preparing to overhaul regulations after the biggest avian flu outbreak on record.
Ministers are understood to be considering a change to the rules that would mean eggs laid by hens kept in barns for months on end could be classed as free range.
Continue reading...Investigation takes aim at everything from Cosa Nostra whiskey to El Padrino restaurant in Spain and Nasi Goreng Mafia eaterie in Indonesia
Italy’s biggest farmers’ association is waging a battle against the “scandalous” use of mafia terms to sell a variety of food and drink products around the world, from Cosa Nostra whiskey to Chilli Mafia tomato sauce.
Coldiretti undertook an extensive investigation and also discovered that almost 300 restaurants beyond Italy have mafia-themed names, including El Padrino in Spain, Don Corleone in Finland, Burger Mafia in Germany, Falafel Mafia in the US and Nasi Goreng Mafia in Indonesia.
Continue reading...Documents obtained by the Guardian reveal government has no real idea about agricultural chemicals’ impact on environment
Serious shortfalls in Australia’s monitoring of pesticide residues in food, particularly food destined for the domestic market, were identified by the federal agriculture department nearly a decade ago, documents obtained by Guardian Australia reveal.
Bureaucrats in the department expressed concern about Australia’s food monitoring as early as 2014, the documents, obtained under freedom of information laws, show.
Continue reading...The chef said he devised the recipe for ‘Britain’s favourite curry’ after a customer complained that his meal was too dry
A chef who is believed to have invented the chicken tikka masala, regarded as Britain’s favourite curry, has died aged 77.
Ali Ahmed Aslam’s death on Monday was announced by his Shish Mahal restaurant in Glasgow, which closed for 48 hours as a mark of respect. The eatery announced: “Hey, Shish Snobs … Mr Ali passed away this morning … We are all absolutely devastated and heartbroken.”
Continue reading...Authorities say recalled spinach which causes delirium and hallucinations has affected more than 120 people across Australia
A child admitted to hospital is among more than 120 people believed to have suffered symptoms after consuming spinach amid a widespread recall of fresh food items contaminated with a weed.
Authorities say the recalled spinach products, thought to be from a farm in Victoria, have caused delirium and hallucinations.
Riviera Fresh – Riviera Farms Baby Spinach
Fresh Salad Co – Fresh and Fast Stir Fry
Woolworths – Chicken Cobb Salad and Chickpea Falafel Salad
Continue reading...Supermarket warns over 11 own-brand products, following earlier recalls by Woolworths and Costco
Coles has recalled 11 own-brand spinach products as the scare over contamination of fresh produce in Australia widens.
On Saturday the supermarket announced it was recalling the products as a precaution because health authorities had advised that some spinach “may potentially be contaminated with unsafe plant material”.
Continue reading...Even among the soaring cost of spreads, one offering stands out, priced at £55 – or £105 with a dish
It has long been a kitchen staple in Britain but with prices soaring, butter is fast becoming a luxury item.
Now an unsavoury milestone has been passed, with a 150g block arriving on shop shelves with a price tag of more than £50.
Continue reading...Trade minister Don Farrell says many producers took their food and culture to Australia from Europe and have the right to use traditional terms
The trade minister, Don Farrell, has asked his European counterparts to recognise Australia as a “great migrant nation” and not force its producers to stop using terms like prosecco and feta.
In an interview from Berlin, Farrell said he was hopeful of clinching a free trade agreement with the European Union early in the new year because he had received an “extremely positive response in all of the countries we visited”.
Continue reading...Fishing gear used by Maine lobstermen is killing right whales. Will boosting a $1bn industry trump protecting an endangered species?
President Macron of France may not have realised it, but he walked into another fishing war earlier this month when he and 200 other guests were treated at the White House to butter-poached Maine lobster accented with American Osetra caviar and garnished with celery crisp.
At issue was the lobster, currently subject to a court ruling designed to prevent Maine’s lobstermen from trapping the crustacea in baited pots marked by lines that can fatally entangle feeding North Atlantic right whales. There are now just 340 such whales, with only about 100 breeding females, making the species one of the most endangered on the planet.
Continue reading...Overlapping harvest seasons have increased availability of the tropical fruit at markets, putting prices as low as $1.90 apiece
Mango growers are urging customers to celebrate the summer season by buying more of the fruit, as a glut in supply has sent prices plummeting.
Across the country, the oversupply of mangoes has seen prices drop dramatically – with the fruit going for as little as $1.90 each in some stores.
Continue reading...Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has a record of quid pro quos with a range of food giants, documents show
Newly released documents show an influential group that helps shape US food policy and steers consumers toward nutritional products has financial ties to the world’s largest processed food companies and has been controlled by former industry employees who have worked for companies like Monsanto.
The documents reveal the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has a record of quid pro quos with a range of food giants, owns stock in ultra processed food companies and has received millions in contributions from producers of pop, candy, and processed foods linked to diabetes, heart disease, obesity and other health problems.
Continue reading...Researchers find no such link for women, suggesting connection between diet and bowel cancer is clearer for men
Eating a plant-based diet rich in vegetables, whole grains, nuts and legumes can reduce the risk of bowel cancer in men by more than a fifth, according to research.
A large study that involved 79,952 US-based men found that those who ate the largest amounts of healthy plant-based foods had a 22% lower risk of bowel cancer compared with those who ate the least.
Continue reading...Gourmet Fadi Kattan wants to give the UK capital an authentic taste of his homeland’s cuisine with a new restaurant venture
Akub, also known as gundelia, is an unruly plant that blossoms across the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East after the winter rains. Some believe that the crown of thorns placed on Jesus’s head during the crucifixion was made from this long-lasting, sweet-smelling thistle.
It is foraged everywhere, from the Kurdish highlands and Cyprus to the Sinai peninsula, for its earthy, tender stems and delicate-tasting flower buds, but is most highly prized in Palestinian cuisine. Each spring, people defy the Israeli authorities – who say the plant is in danger of overcollection – to bring as many bags of prickly akub as they can carry back to their kitchens to throw into meat stews or fry with eggs and lemon.
Continue reading...Programme to subsidise exports of grain to poor and hungry countries launched on anniversary of Ukraine’s Holodomor famine
Up to 60 Ukrainian grain ships can be sent by the middle of next year to some of the world’s poorest countries in Africa, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, said in a statement released to the Guardian.
In a move that challenges the Russian narrative that the west’s response to its war on Ukraine has aggravated pre-existing food shortages in Africa, Zelenskiy said ships moving out of the Ukrainian port of Odesa can reach humanitarian hotspots such as Sudan, Yemen and Somalia, but only so long as international funding comes forward to subsidise the grain.
Continue reading...#CookForIran uses the country’s rich culinary tradition to highlight the fight for human rights, says organiser Layla Yarjani
When Layla Yarjani thinks of Iran, she thinks of ice-creams by the Caspian Sea and eating beef tongue sandwiches with her dad in a Tehran cafe. She remembers the warmth and community spirit: the bustle of noisy dinner parties with neighbours, everyone reaching across one another for spoonfuls of Persian stew; and afternoons playing football with the boys on her street.
She also remembers the strict rules beyond her happy bubble: the ban on her mother leaving the country without a man’s permission; being ordered to chant “death to America” at school and the day she was scolded by teachers for wearing a Disney princess backpack, because the character’s hair was not covered by a headscarf.
Continue reading...‘I would very definitely lay off the poppy seed tea for the moment,’ academic says
Australians are being warned not to drink poppy seed tea, promoted on popular social media platforms, after a spate of poisoning cases across Australia linked to the home-brewed sedative.
Food Standards Australia New Zealand has issued a national recall of poppy seeds due to the potential presence of high levels of thebaine – an opioid alkaloid. The elevated levels of thebaine has been caused by non-food grade poppy seeds incorrectly entering the human food supply chain.
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Continue reading...After examining carp remains, researchers claim people who lived 780,000 years ago liked their fish well done
Early human ancestors living 780,000 years ago liked their fish well done, Israeli researchers have revealed, in what they said was the earliest evidence of fire being used to cook.
Exactly when our ancestors started cooking has been a matter of controversy among archaeologists because it is difficult to prove that an ancient fireplace was used to prepare food, and not just for warmth.
Continue reading...Chefs are hoping the concept will tempt diners to spend a little more and fight the cost-of-living crisis
Linden Stores, in the Cheshire village of Audlem, has started a whole sharing menu of modern British food, with two people sharing seven dishes including charred pepper and Cornish Quartz cheddar croquettes, hake wrapped in wild boar pancetta and chocolate and peanut butter tart.
Laura Christie and her partner, Chris Boustead, relocated the restaurant to the village from London in 2020. She has been surprised by the reaction.
Continue reading...Martinsgans – or martin goose – is eaten around 11 November, but restaurants are dropping dish to save cash
Soaring inflation threatens to cast a shadow over one of Germany’s most popular cultural festivities, which culminates in eating roast goose.
A Martinsgans, or martin goose, is eaten on or around 11 November – St Martin’s Day – when the 4th-century Roman soldier-turned-saint who shared his cloak with a poor man is remembered throughout the country in lantern parades, song, bonfires and theatrical reenactments of his life.
Continue reading...Scientists have long sought to farm the scarce seafood staple, but critics say animals are not suited to intensive methods
Scientists in Japan say they have developed a groundbreaking method of farming squid that could solve shortages of the seafood staple, amid warnings from environmental groups that aquaculture is incompatible with the animal’s welfare.
Researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) say their system produced a reliable supply of squid and has the potential to be commercialised.
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