A GROUNDBREAKING study reveals the huge amounts of energy wasted by contract caterers but there are massive savings to be made by companies willing to invest. It's seven o’clock in the morning and staff are preparing the kitchens for the hungry breakfast crowd. The grill goes on ready for a hard morning’s work and…
Read moreSpoiler Alert: The next green thing
ENERGY OPTIMISATION - Strong currents Here's something you might not know: the declared electricity supply in the UK is 230 volts with a tolerance of ±10%. Yet the voltage supplied to you will typically be around 245V. Most appliances will work more efficiently and use less electricity at a much lower voltage. This means…
Read moreLatest statements on horsemeat scandal, as of February 13th
Note: The Food Standards Agency statement for caterers is available here. ARAMARK statement: “We can’t speak for the catering industry and weren’t present at today’s meeting. From our standpoint, all ARAMARK-authorised suppliers of products containing meat and processed meat have confirmed to us that the products do not contain horsemeat.” Sodexo statement:…
Read moreThe political print
POLITICS AND food go together like bread and butter. Study any conflict from the past millennium and you’ll find food at its heart: rising food prices were the chief catalyst for the French and Russian revolutions; canning was invented during the Napoleonic wars to feed travelling armies, while scurvy killed more British sailors during the…
Read moreFootprintComment: A wake up call for traceability and accountability in the supply chain
THE RUMPUS generated by the 'horse-burger' debate is understandable says Amanda Ursell. People have a right to expect to have ingredients in their food, which are listed on the label. When this doesn't happen, and the 'extra' ingredient happens to be something, which in the UK at least, could be described as an emotive food…
Read moreHCA hits back at campaigner claims
THE HOSPITAL Caterers Association (HCA) has hit back at claims that much of the food served in hospitals is coming from animals reared in low-welfare conditions. The RSPCA and the Campaign for Better Hospital Food said that in a survey of every Hospital Trust in England…
Read moreWhiter than white?
FOODSERVICE BUSINESSES talk a good game when it comes to supporting British dairy farmers, but few are willing to divulge details of the price they are paying for milk. It takes a lot of bottle to stand up to the might of…
Read moreInformation, Information, Information
AS The Nation gets chubbier, more and more companies are pledging to provide facts about how (un)healthy their food is. But do diners need or want them? Albert Einstein once said that the devil has put a penalty on all things we enjoy in life. Either we suffer in health or we suffer in…
Read moreNewsAnalysis: risk and opportunity of climate change?
FOUR TIMES as many businesses and households could be at risk from flooding in 20 years time. On the flipside, businesses are also being warned about water use. Droughts have already affected parts of the UK this year and they are set to become the norm rather than the exception. Most food businesses are…
Read moreFootprintFeature: Salt, Sugar, Sweat
WITH MASSIVE sponsorship from fast food companies and a veil of secrecy covering alternative catering, London 2012 was quickly titled the junk food Olympics. But was that an accurate moniker, and could it actually have a positive outcome? Long billed as the largest peacetime catering operation in the world, the Olympic Games saw over…
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