Burger Off!

The next time you are unwise enough to buy a ready made burgers, pies, curries etc from a supermarket, make sure that you are 100% certain which hapless animal was slaughtered to provide the meat for the product.

The BBC reports that horse DNA has been found in some beefburgers being sold in UK and Irish supermarkets, the Republic of Ireland's food safety authority (FSAI) has said.

The FSAI said the meat came from two processing plants in Ireland, Liffey Meats and Silvercrest Foods, and the Dalepak Hambleton plant in Yorkshire.

It said there was no risk to health.

The burgers were on sale in Tesco and Iceland in the UK and Ireland. In the Republic of Ireland they were on sale in Dunnes Stores, Lidl and Aldi.

The FSAI said the retailers stated that they were removing all implicated batches of the burgers.

A total of 27 products were analysed, with 10 of them containing horse DNA and 23 containing pig DNA.

Horsemeat accounted for approximately 29% of the meat content in one sample from Tesco.

In addition, 31 beef meal products, including cottage pie, beef curry pie and lasagne, were analysed, of which 21 tested positive for pig DNA.

97% Chicken

97% Chicken

Sign on the hot chicken counter of my local Morrisons:

"Contents 97% chicken"

Morrisons' Lentil and Bacon Soup

Morrisons' Lentil and Bacon Soup

Those of you who want to spend a warm dry evening inside, instead of venturing out to a restaurant, may be tempted to have a nourishing bowl of soup.

In that event, I strongly suggest that you avoid Morrisons' Lentil and Bacon soup.

I tried a bowl of it this weekend, and found the taste bland in the extreme.

Were it not for the label, and pieces of tasteless ham in it, I would have assumed it was a rather bland mushroom soup.

Avoid!

Cashing in on Rising Prices

Cashing in on Rising Prices

Despite the pretence of offering "discounts", supermarkets have been exposed as nothing more than spivs as they take advantage of rising food prices by adding a little extra increase for themselves.

The Producer Price Indices show that the larger chains have seen a 11.4% increase in the cost of food from the manufacturers in a year. However, families have seen their grocery bills increase by 12.3% (as per the Consumer Price Index); ie the supermarkets have added another 0.9% for themselves.

Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England, has warned that he is concerned about companies that use the jump in inflation to "camouflage" an increase in prices.

Canny shoppers should beat the supermarkets at their own game, and only buy those products that offer real value for money.

Stop Waste

Stop Waste

It is rare indeed that I find myself agreeing, in part at least, with Gordon Brown. However, for once I do agree with him when he says that people should stop wasting food.

Britain is facing the highest level of food price rises in Europe, the negative effects of which are being felt the most by those on low incomes.

It is therefore quite right that people should stop wasting food and learn to use leftovers, as I was brought up to do.

However, whether the Prime Minister should try to micromanage people's shopping habits quite so much, by suggesting that people should plan meals in advance and that supermarkets should end three-for-two deals, is open to question.

I suspect we will soon see a "Dig for Victory" campaign.

Rotten Carrots

Rotten Carrots

Commiserations to Prince Charles, champion of organic farming, who has had his carrots rejected by Sainsbury's as they were deemed to be "rotten".

Sainsbury's also rejected carrots supplied by the head of the Soil Association, Patrick Holden.

Sainsbury's stated that the crop was rotten, because it had been kept in a cold storage centre since being harvested last year. A spokeswoman said:

"They put the carrots in cold storage near their farms, where they suffered rapid deterioration and as a result we have had to reject the remainder of the crop."

Mr Holden said his carrots were sent by truck from his farm in Wales to a packing plant in Peterborough. He said the "quality issues" were "at least in part caused by transport".

"The truth is, if you buy your carrots in Sainsbury's, they will only come from this one pack house in Peterborough.

I haven't got anything in for Sainsbury's. My issue is that all supermarkets have adopted this policy of centralisation of supply."

Patak's Sold

Patak's Sold

Patak's, Britain's best-known Indian food brand, is being sold by its founding family (the Pathaks) for over £100M to Associated British Foods, whose brands include; Sunblest bread, Silver Spoon sugar, Twinings tea and Ovaltine.

Patak's is run by husband and wife team Kirit and Meena Pathak, the "h" in the family name was dropped to make it easier for the English to pronounce.

Patak's was founded in 1957 by Kirit's father, Laxmishanker, who came to Britain in the 1950s as a refugee from Kenya, with his wife and six children. He started with just £5 in his pocket when he arrived in the country.

The business supplies approximately 75% of the 8,000 Indian restaurants in Britain. It also sells curry paste, pappadums, chapattis and cooking sauces through the major supermarket chains and exports to around 40 countries.

Mr Pathak will become chairman of the combined business of Patak's and Blue Dragon and wife Meena will also become a director.

The family is retaining the rights to the Patak brand in India.

Death Sentence

Death Sentence

China has sentenced the former head of its food and drugs agency to death for corruption, as the government sought to contain a wave of scandals over health safety.

Zheng Xiaoyu, former head of the State Food and Drug Administration, was convicted on charges of taking bribes and dereliction of duty.

The sentence reflects the importance that China's leaders are giving to the issues of corruption and food safety, as they grapple with a series of safety breaches involving toxins in food and other products.

Lucky for the management of some of our supermarkets, and food companies (recently tainted by food scandals) that they are not based in China!

Bird Flu

Bird Flu

Britain's consumers appear to be, very sensibly, calm in the wake of the current bird flu outbreak in the UK.

Poultry sales in Britain are holding up, despite the outbreak at a farm owned by Bernard Matthews, Europe's biggest turkey producer.

Britain's leading supermarket chains, Tesco, Sainsbury, Asda and Morrison's all reported sales were bearing up well.

However, foreign consumers are not so relaxed. South Korea and Hong Kong have banned British poultry.

South Korea imported about £1.5m in poultry products from Britain last year.

Hong Kong imported 11,400 tonnes of British poultry and poultry products in the first 10 months of last year.

Ireland, Russia, Japan, South Africa and Indonesia have also banned imports of poultry or related products from the UK.

In the wake of the foot and mouth epidemic and mad cow disease of a few years ago, the countryside and farming in Britain has more than had its fair share of problems.

The Organic Con Trick

The Organic Con Trick

I have always been a tad skeptical about the organic food industry, the fact that so many products in supermarkets and restaurants are now labeled "organic" makes me wonder quite where these products are being farmed; given that the majority of farming in Britain relies on chemical fertilisers and pest control.

It should not be ignored that those organisations that sell "organic" produce claim a very hefty mark up for them.

Therefore I was none too surprised to read the following in The Telegraph:

"One of London's most fashionable restaurants, used by film stars and members of the Royal family, has become the first in the country to be fined for falsely claiming that meat used in a number of its dishes was organically farmed.

Julie's Restaurant and Bar was fined £7,500 after its managing director, Johnny Ekperigin, admitted three offences under the Food Safety Act 1990."

Suffice to say, this story coupled with the recent Spanish egg scandal, has not changed my mind about "organic" produce. I continue to buy conventionally farmed produce.

The Nigella Effect

The Nigella Effect

Fans of Nigella Lawson, celebrity cook, domestic godess and daughter of Nigel Lawson, will only be too aware of the effect that her recommendations can have on the availability of ingredients.

In the run up to Christmas, Nigella has been presenting a series of cooking programmes on BBC2 showing her favourite recipes. In one of them she mentioned that a "must have" staple in her kitchen was goose fat. The fat cooks at a higher temperature than other fats, and consequently produces the most succulent and crisp of roast potatoes.

The consequence of her remark has been a veritable panic buying of goose fat, there is now a nationwide shortage of the product.

I should warn you now, Nigella also tipped something else the other day, which is more than likely to disappear from the supermarket shelves just as quickly as the goose fat; disposable aluminium trays. Her view being that, even though it is not environmentally friendly, using a disposable tray for roasting the turkey and the potatoes saves you a hell of a lot of washing up.

Ethical Cod

Those of you with a yearning for a good quality piece of cod, but who have found it difficult to obtain owing to overfishing, may soon take heart; it seems that a new supply of ethical cod has been made available.

The first organic cod will be appearing in Britain's supermarkets and restaurants this week.

Tesco will be selling organic cod fillets at a staggering £19.99 per kilo.

"No Catch . . . Just Cod" is aimed at the "ethical eater", it is the world's first organically farmed 100% sustainable cod.

It is produced by Johnson Seafarms in the Shetlands, who say that the cod are raised in spacious circular cages and are fed wild herring and mackerel and given toys, including ropes to chew on and tunnels to swim through.

The cod will also be served at restaurants in Harvey Nichols stores, the Oxo Tower restaurant and on the South Bank in London.

Healthy Smoked Salmon

Healthy Smoked Salmon

Those of you who will tuck into smoked salmon this Christmas, thinking that you are eating at least one thing that is good for you may need to think again.

Channel 4 last night tested farmed smoked salmon, purchased from Britain's leading supermarkets, and came to the rather alarming conclusion that many of the leading products contained approximately 20% fat. This compares with the 6% fat content of wild smoked salmon.

Therefore for evey 100g of supermarket smoked salmon that you eat, you are eating 20g of fat. The recommended daily allowance of fat is around 90g.

Maybe it is better to stick to the mince pies!

King Cobra

King Cobra

Cobra Beer, beloved of many a curry aficionado, plans to start production in India to gain a foothold in an increasing market.

The firm was founded by Karan Bilimoria in 1989, and the beer is sold in most major UK supermarket chains and 6,000 restaurants throughout Britain.

Cobra says it is in talks about setting up a brewery and distribution centre in Hyderabad.

Cobra has fewer bubbles than many other lagers, so that it is easier to drink while eating.

Cobra now has an annual turnover of £80BN, and is exported to over 35 countries worldwide.

It also tastes good!

Jamie Gives The Game Away

Jamie Gives The Game Away

I watched the final episode on TV, last night, of Jamie Oliver's tour of Italy.

During this series he has taken a film crew with him, as he tours Italy in an old camper van; his objective, to learn more about regional cooking in Italy.

Last night, as he sat in a lemon grove picking fresh leomns, he extolled the virtues of the natural lemon; with all its "nobbly bits".

He went on to say that these natural lemons were far superior to the sanitised, uniform variety that are sold to us in the UK.

He almost used the word supermarkets, but stopped himself short; as he remembered that he in fact is paid a hefty sum by Sainsburys to sell us their uniform, sanitised products.

Britain's Booming Booze Sales

Britain's Booming Booze Sales

It seems that the British are developing a taste for fine wine; that is at least according to figures released, which show sales of fine wines are soaring.

Majestic Wines have reported a 43% rise in sales of wines costing more than £20, supermarkets have also revealed a surge in demand for their "top end" bottles.

The rise in high end consumption stems from an increased confidence of the British consumer, coupled with increased disposable income.

Needless to say, the fact that restaurants overcharge by up to 300% on their wines has encouraged people to stock their own cellars at home.

However, Wine Intelligence report that less than one in 1,000 of the 14.4 billion bottles sold each year cost more than £10.

There is still some way to go then, before Britain loses its taste for the "Blue Nuns" of this world!

Kidsbeer

Kidsbeer

Kidsbeer, a Japanese soft drink bottled and formulated to look like beer, may soon be hitting the supermarket shelves in Europe.

However, not surprisingly, watchdogs of underage drinking say they will fight it.

The drink comes in a brown bottle, and is advertised with the slogan "Even kids cannot stand life unless they have a drink".

It is the colour of lager, foams like beer but tastes like cola.

It sounds absolutely ghastly!

It was introduced in Japan two years ago, and is sold by more than 150 restaurants and supermarkets in Japan.

Tim Loughton MP said that the drink's expected arrival was "an alarming development."

BOGOFF

BOGOFF

For those of you unfamiliar with the expression, BOGOFF is short for "buy one, get one free".

This is frequently used by supermarkets and fast food chains, such as pizzarias, to market their products.

However, in Ohio, the use of this phrase has caused a legal despute between "Master Pizza" and "Pizza Pan".

"Master Pizza" has advertised many buy one, get one free specials. However, "Pizza Pan" restaurant chain are now disputing their right to use this phrase.

It seems that Pizza Pan has trademarked the slogan "Home of the Free Pizza" and, they say, the concept of buy one, get one free.

Now this dispute is heading for the Lorain County Common Pleas Court.

This phrase, as already noted, is widely used throughout the world.

I doubt that "Pizza Pan" have a leg to stand on.

Stein Slams French Supermarkets

Stein Slams French Supermarkets

Rick Stein, a British celebrity chef, has put his two feet into the Anglo-French culinary spat that preceded the Gleneagles G8 summit; by claiming that oenophiles have a better choice of wine in British supermarkets, than in some of France's finest restaurants.

Quote:

"You've only got to go into any UK supermarket to see how enthusiastically we have embraced all the different wines of the world,".

Adding:

"Meanwhile, the French stick doggedly to their own stuff, and while they still make the best, they're missing out on all those lovely Australians and New Zealands and Chileans they could be enjoying,".

"The best French wines are still the best in the world," conceded Stein. "But for every one really good French wine, there are 10 bad ones,".

Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares

Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares

Full marks to Gordon Ramsay's new show "Kitchen Nightmares", which was screened on Channel 4 last night.

In this show Ramsay descends upon a failing restaurant, and tries to turn it around.

Last night he highlighted a problem that is seemingly becoming endemic in many middle ranking eateries.

Namely that of "reheating".

These failing establishments believe that they can con their customers by serving reheated food which has either been purchased from the local supermarket, or prepared from a packet.

Message to these establishments:

We, the customers, are not that stupid; and can more often than not tell when we are eating reheats.

It is time that this disgraceful practice was stopped.