FSA calls for chicken crackdown
Food chiefs at the Food Standards Agency (FSA) have told the European Union to tighten laws surrounding the production of chicken in the wake of two agency surveys that revealed some chicken had as much as 55% added water.
The agency recommended that laws be introduced to cap the amount of water that can be added to no more than 15% of the meat's own weight.
More importantly, it calls for a complete ban on the use of non-chicken proteins, such as pork and beef, which are used to retain very high levels of water added to chicken.
Take the slow road to gastronomic delight
Artisan purveyors of locally produced foods in the Scottish Highlands will receive a boost when the country's fifth Slow Food convivium is founded this summer.
To celebrate the region's gastronomic delights, Don and Wendy Matheson, proprietors of the Boath House hotel in Auldearn, Nairnshire, have organised a launch dinner on 29 June in the hotel's gardens.
Wendy Matheson said the aim was "to educate local people and stop everything we produce being exported - to become a little more self-sufficient".
Web links for local produce
Caterers looking to source local produce will be given a helping hand from the National Farmers Union when it launches its new Web-based supplier directory, Source Direct, next week.
The free-to-access virtual marketplace will list local and regional farmers and growers who produce enough meat or crops to offer a wholesale service directly from their farms.
Visit www.nfuonline.com, and click on "Source Direct".
Ice-cream hat-trick
It was a hat trick for Schöller Ice Cream when the company won the Catering Product of the Year category for the third year in a row at the 2003 British Frozen Food Federation Annual Awards earlier this month. Fourteen food manufacturers scooped awards, with Brakes leading the field with a total of 11 prizes.