You can tell that Christmas has been consigned to the history books for a couple of months at least after supermarkets and other retailers were urged to keep daffodil bulbs away from areas selling fruit and vegetables.
In a letter to major stores, Public Health England warned that the flowers could be confused for food produce, such as onions, and that inadvertent consumption of the spring perennial was now an “emerging risk”.
Just for the record, we don’t suggest that you sample battered daffodil rings with your next burger or opt for sage and daffodil bread.
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Not that long ago we mentioned the news story about falling milk prices and the effect that it has having on dairy farmers. Well, the response has been swift.
Members of Parliament affiliated with the Commons Environment, Food & Rural Affairs Committee called for the remit of an industry watchdog to be widened, to encompass fairy farmers, Fairtrade weighed into the debate.
Speaking on the issue, which has made the national news on numerous occasions, Barbara Crowther, Fairtrade’s Director of Policy and Public Affairs, commented that:
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From websites like TripAdvisor through the social-media entities such as Facebook and Twitter, customers can leave feedback about a particular dining experience be it good or bad. With the move towards these digital reviews becoming more and more prominent, people have to curate this type of particular content.
For better or for worse, sometimes, stories crop up that highlight the negative aspects of this trend.
According to reports emanating from the newspapers over the weekend the owners of the Tigh na Cheo guesthouse are expected to lodge papers this week in a bid to stop a flurry of adverse reviews about their lodgings that they claim are false and malicious.
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Over a thousand farmers will see payments for their milk withheld next week as one of Great Britain’s biggest dairy companies announced that they would be delaying payments for a fortnight because of a substantial drop in prices.
The crash in value has, bizarrely, seen milk become cheaper than water.
The co-operative First Milk has said the last twelve months was a “year of volatility that [we have] never seen before.”
The group, owned by British farmers, also announced that they would be increasing levies on its members, which they believe will put the business on a strong platform ahead of the spring.
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The craze for unearthing new gastronomic trends and bringing them to the commercial market isn’t exactly new, but at the moment we’ve noticed that there’s a desire to be uniquely singular; to foster and idea based around one product and then unleash it on the world.
Recently we’ve seen a cereal cafe and an egg restaurant open up in London, but we think those concepts are so 2014 – so last year.
This is 2015, the year where the potato chips rule the roost.
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It’s the bug that just refuses to go away and once again the potentially nasty campylobacter bacterium has been back in the headlines once again.
Health officials have said that many chickens sold within the United Kingdom are being sold with the bug present due to poor practices within the poultry industry.
People at Public Health England claim that without sufficient legislation in place then the entire industry will be slow to bring in improvements and changes to could reduce the threat of contamination because they fear it will drive up costs.
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Once the festive celebrations have died down and those credit card bills come through the letterbox after the New Year has been ushered in with a cavalcade of frivolity, many people embark on a month long process of reflection and detox known as Dry January.
Well this time – January is only twelve days away! – many within the pub and restaurant trade are hoping that a new campaign will take over from Dry January and gently guide people into trying new dishes.
Instead of abstinence, the industry wants people to get experimental in what they are calling Try January.
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Christmas is just ten short days away and the nation’s high streets are gradually getting filled with last-minute shoppers rushing through to find presents whilst navigating the masses.
But, from a gastronomic point of view, what would put a downer on this time of year?
According to a study commissioned by Unilever Food Solutions, the majority of people say that it just wouldn’t be Christmas without the presence of a roast turkey.
In a Family Fortunes style situation, one thousand people were asked to complete the sentence ‘It’s not Christmas without….’ and nearly sixty percent of those respondents replied with roast turkey. Christmas crackers came second.
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Some rather encouraging figures have been released that provide welcome reading to those involved with the restaurant trade.
According to a leading market analysis firm the nation’s restaurant and pub groups have, collectively, have seen like-for-like sales grow by over 2% during the month of October when compared to the same month last year.
“Overall, the [businesses] are seeing steady, consistent growth in eating and drinking out,” said Peter Martin, the vice-president of an insight company.
However, despite the heartening figures, it was London that led the growth: Those encircled by the M25 saw sales jump by 4%.
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Some tough sentences have been proposed for those who breach health and safety guidelines when it comes to food preparation.
These new guidelines – which are yet to be ratified – could see people face a potential fine of 700% of their weekly income or 18 months in prison, though this is only for the most severe of offences.
There are also suggestions that businesses determined to be “micro” (companies who turn over less than £2 million per annum) may be forced to pay around £120,000 for serious breaches whilst “small” businesses (those who have a turnover between £2-10 million) could be handed a £450,000 bill.
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Author
Damien Wilde