Food news

• Food home delivery companies need up to 8,000 daily services to be profitable, finds study

  21-06-2021 16:57 via foodnavigator.com
  
  Researchers have analysed the profitability and business model of food home delivery platforms such as Just Eat, Glovo and Deliveroo in Barcelona, to discover the sustainability of these business models is based on attracting users and on complementary services offered to other companies.
  
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• Meet the 7 sustainable aquaculture stars of the future

  21-06-2021 16:52 via foodnavigator.com
  
  The European Institute of Innovation and Technologyâs food arm has identified new projects to accelerate innovation in what is the fastest growing form of food production, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
  
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• Collaborate to accelerate a circular economy for plastics: CGF

  21-06-2021 16:51 via foodnavigator.com
  
  There are times when the challenge of plastic waste seems so immense and so intractable that solutions feel difficult to find. More than 60 percent of plastics end up in a landfill or the natural environment. Millions of tonnes of plastic waste spill into the oceans every year, creating highly visible ecological devastation, a stark reminder that immediate action is needed.
  
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• ENOUGH closes €42m funding round to ‘maximise the pace of growth’

  21-06-2021 16:50 via foodnavigator.com
  
  Food tech start-up ENOUGH has raised â42m in Series B funding. Cash will be used to âsuperchargeâ expansion and bring the firmâs mycoprotein ingredient to the market at scale.
  
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• Thomasina Miers’ recipe for kritharaki, broad beans and tomato with baked feta | The simple fix

  21-06-2021 14:00 via theguardian.com
  
  A fragrant Greek salad of small, orzo-like pasta, baked feta and tomatoes, all liberally laced with fresh herbsMy local deli sells lovely, organic products from Greece, including kritharaki (a type of orzo) and a wild oregano that is woody, floral and intensely evocative of holidays in that sunshine and piercing, blue sea. It was there that I once had a barrel-aged feta so soft and creamy that I was barely able to contain myself. I had no idea feta could be such a silky, delicate-tasting collect
  
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• Rachel Roddy’s recipe for roast aubergine with tomato and basil | A kitchen in Rome

  21-06-2021 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  ‘Thick, striped rounds of aubergine baked with loads of olive oil and salt until tender and velvety, then topped with finely diced macerated tomato’Years ago, I did a workshop in a church hall that smelled of milky tea and damp carpet. One of the various exercises was to write a short story, a page long, about something dramatic that had happened to us or someone we knew. Having written our page, we were told to read the story back, then cross it out with a single line. The next stag
  
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• Pork and watermelon, chicken and cherries – Nigel Slater’s sweet and sour summer recipes

  21-06-2021 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Celebrate summer with substantial salads made with refreshing fruit, plus apricots and creme fraiche, and courgette lemon cakeA deep bowl of roast chicken salad with pea shoots and cherries; another of spiced pork with wedges of watermelon, ice-cold from the fridge. A platter of marinated mackerel for eating chilled with soft green leaves and a dessert of apricots baked with sugar and white wine. The summer kitchen, it seems, is here.There is much to celebrate – bunches of white-tipped rad
  
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• Chapli kabab, prawn ‘nacos’, ghormeh sabzi – British-Afghan barbecue recipes

  20-06-2021 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Cue Point’s street food is London’s first drive-through barbecue. Now try their brilliant recipes at homeBarbecue business Cue Point is only in its fifth year and already it has shifted from pub kitchen to catering events with a trailer and sending out meal kits around the UK – featuring a menu that Observer restaurant critic Jay Rayner “rampaged through”. More recently, it opened London’s first drive-through barbecue at Chiswick’s Pavilion, since joined
  
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• Seafood recipes from around the UK coast

  20-06-2021 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Mussels with sherry and burnt cream, plaice and cauliflower pickle, and the ultimate fish-finger sandwich – chefs share their favourite dishesThe 22 best places to eat on the UK coast Continue reading...
  
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• Nigel Slater’s recipes for salmon terrine, and for prawn cakes

  20-06-2021 11:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Perfect dishes for long relaxed summer lunchesWe edge ever closer to high summer, with its long Sunday lunches in the shade and sleepy afternoons. The days when all you really want is homemade pâté, some bread and a glass of rosé. Better make that a bottle. We had a salmon terrine this week – not the smooth, moussey kind, but something with a coarser texture, where flakes of salmon are marbled through crème fraîche, juniper berries and fronds of dill, an ea
  
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• Notes on chocolate: fascinating flavours are all about the beans

  20-06-2021 10:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Most people think about cocoa percentages when they compare bars of chocolate, but the beans used have a dramatic effect on the tasteAn interesting thing to do with chocolate is to sit down and compare how the bean used impacts on the taste of the bar. I used to just go on the cocoa percentage – this is often all many of us have to go on. But so many things can affect the flavour of chocolate beyond mere maths: the bean naturally, but also the type of soil in which it’s been grown, a
  
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• Love and microwaved eggs – my dinners at Dad’s

  20-06-2021 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  When Clare Finney’s parents divorced, she discovered her kind, clever father was fallible in one place – the kitchenI have absolutely no memory of dinners before my parents’ divorce, which is odd because I was six at the time and as divorces go theirs was quite painless. Our meals were not marred by screaming matches; there was no seething tension across the table. Mum and Dad might not have been best suited as for-better-or-for-worse partners, but they were never deliberately
  
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• Unexpected wines from well-known producers | David Williams

  20-06-2021 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Regions and growers often become associated with certain wines, but be sure not to overlook some of the great bottles they make on the sideLoxarel Cora Blanco, Penedès, Spain 2019 (from £13.95, buonvino.co.uk; lescaves.co.uk) Wine regions tend to get type cast after a while. None more so than Champagne, perhaps, which has been synonymous with sparkling wine since the technology for making bottle-fermented fizz became established in the Marne Valley in the 18th century. Before that,
  
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• Imad’s Syrian Kitchen, London: ‘Represents all the good things’ – restaurant review

  20-06-2021 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  All restaurants tell a story, but the tale behind Imad’s has twists and turns like few othersImad’s Syrian, Kitchen, Top floor, Kingly Court, Carnaby Street, London W1B 5PW (020 7434 2448). Small plates £5.50-£8, large plates £9-£15, desserts £5-£6, wine from £26 a bottleWith some restaurants, it’s all about the story. Imad’s Syrian Kitchen is one of them. Imad Alarnab, a round-shouldered man with the sort of soft smile that tells
  
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• Nik Sharma’s recipes for lentil-stuffed onions and cauliflower with black garlic yoghurt

  19-06-2021 18:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Crisp, caramelised cauliflower in a pungent sauce, and onions stuffed with saffron-scented lentilsThe idea of stuffing vegetables isn’t new, but it’s a practice I cherish. Defined by the size and dynamics of vegetable architecture, you could potentially stuff anything: aubergines, tomatoes, peppers, chillies, okra … the list goes on. This week, onions are filled like little pots with lentils, spices and vegetable stock scented with bright, gorgeous saffron. The onions transfor
  
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• Even when the pandemic has passed I’ll still make a meal of mealtimes

  19-06-2021 18:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The days of bulk-buying pasta may be over, but some lockdown habits – setting the table or shopping locally – are worth keepingAre we there yet? I’m not sure. The cartoonist Adrian Tomine’s latest New Yorker cover, which is titled Easing Back, depicts a small party: a group of friends, or maybe colleagues, drinking and smiling and talking, while in the foreground, a new arrival, about to hang up her coat, opens a cupboard to reveal box upon box of surgical masks, huge bot
  
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• Helen Glover: ‘I’ve never demonstrated self-restraint with ice-cream’

  19-06-2021 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The Olympic rower talks about her family’s ice-cream business, eating two breakfasts and barbecuing fish on Cornish beachesMy dad has an ice-cream shop in Newlyn, Cornwall, called Jelbert’s. It’s been in our family for about 100 years. I remember when my dad would go to work and we were getting ready for school, we had this ritual of running to the window of our house and shouting: “Bring us back some ice-cream!” Later on, I worked in the shop for a bit, but I mainl
  
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• Honey & Co’s 10 rules for foolproof barbecuing

  19-06-2021 13:30 via theguardian.com
  
  For such a simple cooking technique, it’s astounding how many get the grill all wrong. Here are 10 tips for an easy day over the coalsIf we had one piece of advice for the novice griller, it’s simply not to fear the fire. So many of us think there is a mystery to cooking on a grill but, in fact, it is the opposite – cooking over live fire or hot coals is the simplest, most elemental form of cooking. We’ve been doing it a lot longer than we’ve been cooking on stoves,
  
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• Tamal Ray’s recipe for courgette and coconut cake | The sweet spot

  19-06-2021 12:30 via theguardian.com
  
  This riff on the classic carrot cake will have you looking at vegetables in a whole new lightIf the idea of a courgette cake has you raising a sceptical eyebrow, think of it as the summer equivalent of carrot cake. Although the courgettes add little in the way of flavour, they give texture to the crumb and, as they cook, release water that makes for a deliciously moist finish. There’s still butter and sugar in the mix, so while it’s not exactly a low-calorie recipe, it does contribut
  
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• Gill Meller: five recipes for barbecued vegetables

  19-06-2021 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Forget the bangers and burgers, and pivot your barbecue game to vegetables instead. Try baby beetroot with white bean hummus, grilled courgettes with basil mayo, charred asparagus and buttered new potatoes, little gems with crispy pork, and heritage tomatoes with Italian sausageAs we drift into summer, the way we cook begins to change. We can hear the warm breeze calling us to step out of the kitchen and cook something outside for a change. In June, I love to cook the first mackerel of the seaso
  
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• Meera Sodha’s vegan recipe for courgette, pea and asparagus soup | The new vegan

  19-06-2021 11:30 via theguardian.com
  
  A simple summer soup of petit pois and courgette blended with the last of the season’s asparagusI probably don’t need to explain the merits of soup to a nation of soup lovers, but what I enjoy about it is that, like jam, perfume and a photograph, it has the power to capture a moment or a season in a pure way and, much like a cup of tea, the ability to make you feel calmer and braver. And, as with anything that is good and simple, it can give you the sense that happiness is not just a
  
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• From baked baby aubergines to sweet-sour peppers: Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipes for summer vegetables

  19-06-2021 10:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Yotam in his element, with a vegetable-heavy trio of baby aubergines in tomato sauce, sweet-sour peppers topped with pine nut crumble, and roast okra in a soybean, orange and chilli dressingIt’s the time of the year when I tend to eat vegetables three times a day. Raw veggies make up my breakfast – a chopped salad of cucumber, tomatoes and feta drizzled with some good olive oil, more often than not – but I still like to get the oven or barbecue up and running for the bigger mea
  
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• Raymond Blanc’s classic French recipes for summer vegetables

  19-06-2021 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Summer veg, French-style: a mouthwatering seasonal starter, a quickfire ratatouille and a marinated spicy saladWhile the mighty roast beef is being relished by my British friends, crudités are served in lots of homes in France every Sunday. Maman Blanc used to make it as the prelude to a big lunch with extended family. A colourful, delicious celebration of the garden, it can be as simple as you want – even just grated carrot or celeriac with hard-boiled eggs and a mustard dressing wi
  
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• How to turn a whole beetroot into a mind-blowing chocolate cake – recipe | Waste not

  19-06-2021 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Fold blitzed beetroot into melted chocolate, then bake and top with candied stalks and dried, powdered skinWhenever possible, I prefer to leave the skin on vegetables, but boiled beetroot skins are unappetisingly papery. So I transform them into a vivid natural food dye to use in both sweet and savoury dishes by dehydrating them in a single layer in the oven (ideally do this alongside other food to save on energy), before cooling and grinding to an all but imperishable powder.In fact, the whole
  
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• Taste of freedom: a Kurdish winemaker’s journey from Manus Island to the Yarra Valley

  18-06-2021 22:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Farhad Bandesh made wine in Iran before he was forced to flee, now he is bringing that ancient tradition to the place he hopes to call homeOn his first day as a free man, Farhad Bandesh poured himself a glass of wine. It was 11 December 2020, his 40th birthday, and after seven-and-a-half years spent in detention between Christmas Island, Manus Island and the Mantra Hotel in Melbourne, he was ready to try Australian shiraz for the first time.It was softer than the reds he drank in Iran. This tast
  
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• In a pickle over Yotam Ottolenghi’s marination | Letter

  18-06-2021 18:37 via theguardian.com
  
  Simon Hopkinson wonders how much the taste and texture of his food will differ if he marinates it for one hour or, say, 14 hoursI often find it perplexing when instructed to marinate any recipe ingredient “at room temperature for at least an hour (or overnight in the fridge)”, as in Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipe for satay skewers with quick pickled cucumbers (12 June).Clearly, an hour is going to be fine, or why would that time limit be given in the first place? But to suggest that
  
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• Kerry Group-Pilgrim’s Pride deal marks ‘important strategic milestone’

  18-06-2021 17:35 via foodnavigator.com
  
  Kerry Group has agreed to sell its Meats and Meals business in the UK and Ireland to US poultry producer Pilgrimâs Pride for â819m as it seeks the higher growth opportunity offered by its Taste and Nutrition division.
  
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• Fighting on-farm food waste through flexible procurement: Tesco's response to a bumper strawberry harvest

  18-06-2021 17:29 via foodnavigator.com
  
  UK retailer Tesco has increased the amount of strawberries it is purchasing this season in response to a bumper harvest in the UK. The elastic approach to procurement fights food waste as the supermarket leans on its promotional tools to drive up demand.
  
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• Danone talks ‘industry leading’ approach to infant nutrition after securing top spot in responsible marketing index

  18-06-2021 17:06 via foodnavigator.com
  
  Danone secured the top ranking in Access to Nutrition Initiativeâs (ATNI) Breast Milk Substitute and Complementary Food (BMS/CF) Marketing Index. We hear from the company about its approach to marketing infant products â and ask whether responsible marketing means a knock to sales.
  
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• Cocktail of the week: Funkidory’s south-east side – recipe | The good mixer

  18-06-2021 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  A refreshingly herby south London-style tom collins, given some legs by a local honey beer This is a super-easy and very refreshing drink for the summer months. Mead has made a strong comeback in recent years, and it works beautifully in this twist on that classic gin cocktail, the Southside Fizz. It plays on our south-east London location, swapping the traditional mint for sage and lengthening it with sparkling mead rather than soda. We use Gosnell’s mead, which is made near us in Peckham
  
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• How to eat: Nutella

  18-06-2021 15:02 via theguardian.com
  
  This month, How to Eat is digging into the chocolate spread. Is it best on croissants, pancakes or ice-cream? Why does it bang with bananas? And could the connoisseurs’ serve be straight from the jar?The subject of heists in Germany and chaos in French supermarkets, blessed by the high priests of the kitchen pass (Nigella, Yotam) but also slathered on chips in Aberdeen, Nutella’s popularity knows no bounds.It is less a hazelnut chocolate spread (other brands are available but, honest
  
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• Perfect wines to match with vegetable dishes

  18-06-2021 15:00 via theguardian.com
  
  As with meat and fish, choosing the right wine to go with veg starts with not just the hero ingredient, but the way it’s preparedFive, and certainly 10 years ago, I didn’t spend much time thinking about what to drink with vegetable-based dishes, not least because, unless you were vegetarian, they were rarely the focus of the meal. These days, however, they very often are, but what are the implications for wine if there aren’t great hunks of protein on the plate?Just as with mea
  
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• David Atherton’s dressing recipes for summer salads

  18-06-2021 14:00 via theguardian.com
  
  All salad dressings require a balance of texture and flavour, but you’ll be surprised with how peanut butter, avocado, mango, tahini and miso may transform your repertoireA good salad dressing adds new dimensions to a dish even with a single spoonful. It’s usually made with an emulsion of oil, but there are many other ways to get a thick and glossy dressing: whizzed mango or pureed sweet potato, say, deliver body while reducing calories, but my biggest tip is to add a teaspoon of whi
  
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• Bar des Prés, London W1: ‘The £8 vanilla-flavoured mash reawakened my inner witch’ – restaurant review | Grace Dent on restaurants

  18-06-2021 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  I’ve done a lot of smiling graciously, but being relentlessly supportive of restaurants couldn’t last for everAlthough my restaurant columns have taken on an increasingly taut, Pollyanna-ish “I’m just glad to be out of the house” tone over the past three months, I think Bar des Prés in Mayfair has finally broken me. It was somewhere between the vanilla-flavoured mashed potato and the moment when I realised French celebrity chef Cyril Lignac was not, in fact,
  
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• Most popular products being removed from the market, warn CBD retailers

  18-06-2021 10:40 via nutraingredients.com
  
  CBD industry specialists have voiced their concerns over the direction of the market as they reveal consumer research indicating the most popular products in the category are being outlawed by novel foods regulations.
  
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• Happy 80th birthday, Delia Smith! 10 lessons she has taught us – from eggs to lemon zesters

  18-06-2021 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The queen of cookery has shown the British public how to make toast, eat spaghetti and conjure up a lovely salsa verde – while acknowledging the importance of cheatingDelia Smith – cook, author, phenomenon, dictionary entry, Norwich City superfan – turns 80 this week. Over five decades, she has taught several generations to cook countless recipes, including certain puddings that have since become almost extinct. Hardly anyone in Britain doesn’t have at least one book by D
  
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• EFSA: ‘No link between Nestlé infant formula consumption and reduced dermatitis risk’

  18-06-2021 07:00 via nutraingredients.com
  
  The European Food and Safety Authority (EFSA) has rejected claims a peptide blend included in infant formula could reduce the risk of developing atopic dermatitis.
  
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• My microwave door got stuck with food inside – and then it started to develop a malevolent vibe | Brigid Delaney

  17-06-2021 19:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Are we all trapped inside a microwave?When I moved into my current house, I inherited a heap of furniture from family friends who were downsizing.I tell people proudly that nothing in my house is new, and frame what was a convenient arrangement for both parties as evidence of my impeccable environmental credentials. Continue reading...
  
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• Acacia gum production funds desertification prevention in Africa: ‘We want to create concrete impact’

  17-06-2021 17:41 via foodnavigator.com
  
  French producer of acacia gum Alland & Robert has established a company foundation to help prevent desertification in Africa. âOur sole objective is to support African communities and fight the desertification of lands, droughts, or lack of access to services such as schools, hospitals or water,â marketing manager Violaine Fauvarque tells FoodNavigator.
  
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• Biotech company claims genetic selection can cut methane emissions in cattle

  17-06-2021 17:34 via foodnavigator.com
  
  Synomics, an Anglo-Danish biological insights business, has identified a way to reduce emissions within agricultural cattle by selecting the ones that produce less methane genetically.
  
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• ‘Now is the time to scale for impact’: Griffith leveraging economies of scale for ‘cost-effective’ sustainable ingredients

  17-06-2021 17:33 via foodnavigator.com
  
  Herb and spice group Griffith Foods Europe has set a series of goals to boost its impact and contribute to a more sustainable food system. The company believes that by building scale it can counteract one of the biggest barriers to sustainable procurement â price. We hear from Arnaud Le Guen, Sustainability Lead.
  
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• What are the challenges of environmental labelling for food?

  17-06-2021 17:21 via foodnavigator.com
  
  The European Commission is planning to propose a sustainable food labelling network, yet must first address several key challenges, suggests Professor Matthias Finkbeiner, Chair of Sustainable Engineering at Technical University Berlin.
  
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• ReGrained’s SuperGrain+ earns first upcycled food certification to ‘catalyze demand’ for growing industry

  17-06-2021 15:16 via foodnavigator-usa.com
  
  Upcycled food pioneer ReGrained continues to pave the way for the fast-growing but still nascent industry by becoming the first business with an ingredient certified by the Upcycled Foods Association â a move the company founder says will help âcatalyze demandâ for ingredients and finished products made from food processing byproducts, cosmetically imperfect produce or surplus supply at risk of being lost or wasted.
  
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• The best way to eat out to help out? Pay a fairer price for your meal

  17-06-2021 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The pandemic made it clear that restaurants are not some get-rich-quick scheme. And it’s underpaid staff who bear the bruntA few weeks ago, a restaurant in London’s King’s Cross emailed its regular customers, with a special offer. It wasn’t the standard come-hither promotion: a free glass of fizz or two main courses for the price of one. It was a £100 voucher for anybody who recommended a new employee who then went on to work for them for at least a month. Around th
  
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• Why are there dangerous levels of arsenic and lead in American baby food? | Adrienne Matei

  17-06-2021 12:18 via theguardian.com
  
  An investigation found that popular baby food products are tainted with dangerous levels of chemicals. Yet not enough is being done about itNo parent would intentionally feed their baby arsenic. Yet a disturbing number of parents may be unknowingly doing just that.An investigation by the US Congress earlier this year found that commercial baby foods sold under the brands Gerber, Beech-Nut, Earth’s Best Organic and HappyBABY are tainted with up to 91 times more inorganic arsenic, 117 times
  
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• Lab-grown meat is on the rise. It’s time to start asking tough questions

  17-06-2021 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  ‘No-kill’ meals offer environmental and ethical benefits. They could also give a few companies control over what we eatThe salad looks relatively normal: fried chicken, leafy greens, red cabbage, slices of mandarin, a mango-sesame dressing on the side. But this is no ordinary salad. Getting hold of this particular lunchbox involved staking out a hotel lobby and quick fingers on a delivery app. The prize? Not tickets to a K-pop concert, but one of the world’s first servings of c
  
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• Why the food industry has a golden opportunity to be the steward of the environment

  16-06-2021 17:36 via foodnavigator.com
  
  Emissions from food production are vastly underestimated, claims a new study. But its lead author is ultimately optimistic the industry can address its environmental problems.
  
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• Why food brands have a golden opportunity to be stewards of the environment

  16-06-2021 17:36 via foodnavigator.com
  
  Emissions from food production are vastly underestimated, claims a new study. But its lead author is ultimately optimistic the industry can address its environmental problems.
  
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• Unilever Food Solutions bets on the rise of ghost kitchens: ‘UFS can play an important role’

  16-06-2021 16:48 via foodnavigator.com
  
  Unilever Food Solutions (UFS), the arm of Unilever that supplies the catering sector, is supporting the growth of so-called âghost kitchensâ. FoodNavigator examines what the company is doing in the space and asks why UFS expects ghost kitchens to be an âincreasingly important wayâ for food businesses to operate.
  
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• Gut health evolution ‘could extend to lungs to reinvigorate demand for probiotics’

  16-06-2021 16:42 via foodnavigator.com
  
  First there was the gut-brain axis. Now the gut-lung axis may be a future trend ripe for innovation opportunities, according to a report.
  
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