We will stop care home patients starving to death
Health chiefs will unveil new plans this week to stop patients starving to death in hospitals and care homes. The move follows an avalanche of complaints that thousands of elderly patients are being neglected. Last year, a record 2,265 people left hospital lacking basic nourishment - and 13 million meals were thrown away untouched. It is estimated the extra time and care "starved' patients need in hospital costs the NHS £7.3 billion a year. Health Minister Ivan Lewis will on Tuesday outline a 10-point Nutrition Plan, He said: "Making sure older people get a balanced diet and are helped to eat properly is at the heart of our Dignity In Care campaign." The plan will include schemes to check the weight of vulnerable people each week to make sure they are eating properly.  - Sunday Mirror, 28 October

Official: organic is better for you
A four-year, £12m study funded by the European Union has concluded that organic food is more nutritious than industrially-grown produce, in contradiction to UK government advice that there are no significant differences. It found organic fruit and vegetables contained up to 40% more disease-fighting antioxidants and higher levels of minerals such as iron and zinc, while antioxidant levels in milk from organic herds were up to 90% higher than in milk from conventional herds. Project co-ordinator Professor Carlo Leifert said the differences were so marked that organic food would help boost the nutrient intake of people who don’t eat the recommended daily portions of fruit and vegetables. “If you have just 20% more antioxidants and you can’t get your kids to do five a day, then you might just be okay with four a day,” he said. The Food Standards Agency is reviewing whether to change its advice.  – The Sunday Times, 28 October

Sir Rocco Forte looks for Manhattan hotel sites
Sir Rocco Forte has been scouting Manhattan in search of the first American site to join the luxury chain of hotels he founded in 1996. Ross Woods at New York-based advisory firm Hotel Investment Strategies said the Manhattan hotel market was still booming despite fears of a slowdown. Last year was a bumper year for New York hotels and the current strength of the Euro and weakness of the dollar makes the USA attractive to European operators and visitors. Average daily rates for hotel rooms are now more than $400 (£195) per night and are expected to pass $500 in December. The 11-strong Rocco Forte Collection currently includes Brown’s in London, the Balmoral in Edinburgh, and the Hotel de Russie in Rome, with two new hotels set to open in Prague and Marrakech. – The Sunday Times, 28 October

Women make the best cooks, says Marco
Celebrity chef Marco Pierre White has said that women are more instinctive and better cooks than men, who he accused of being driven by ego. In an interview in the December issue of food magazine Delicious, White said that women “cook from the heart” and have “better palates, a better sense of smell, a better understanding of food” whereas “many top [male] chefs are only cooking to serve their egos. It’s all about them, not the food. Unlike most women, they have forgotten that Mother Nature is the true artist - and we must allow her to be the star.” White – who is as famous for his violent outbursts against underachieving staff as for being the first British chef to win three Michelin stars – added that the physical nature and macho culture of the modern restaurant kitchen meant women were less likely to reach the top. - The Sunday Times, October 28

Carlsberg needs to offer £1bn more for S&N
Carlsberg and Heineken may need to stump up a further £1bn in their hostile bid to buy brewery rival Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) according to analysts who believe they have undervalued S&N’s 50% stake in Baltic Beverages Holding (BBH), the Russian joint venture between S&N and Carlsberg. While analysts at Dresdner Kleinwort have valued S&N's stake in BBH at £4.4bn, Carlsberg and Heineken’s 720p-a-share offer values S&N at £6.8bn and its BBH stake at just £3.4b. Analysts believe they need to bid 800p, or £7.6b, to buy S&N, but suggest S&N could now link up with a third party (mostly likely SAB Miller, Anheuser-Busch or even a Russian oligarch) to help it buy out Carlsberg’s BBH stake. The Russian venture carries a clause that allows an offer from one party to trigger the opportunity for the other to buy out the remaining stake at the same price. - Scotland on Sunday, 28 October

By Angela Frewin and Chris Druce

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