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The products taking the 2 star Gold’s this year were Chilli, Lime & Ginger Jelly, as Eastern inspired savoury jelly perfect for adding aura of the orient to meats, the Hedgerow Jelly yielding British Autumnal fruits.  Wild Blackberries and Elderberries with a tipple of port provides a gallant addition to pate and game.  These exceptional preserves that have become synonymous with the art of culinary excellence receiving notoriety from celebrity chefs, food critics and member of the Royal Family will be available to sample and savour. 

IGD's research identifies three key reasons shoppers give for buying local food:

• Freshness - 57% shoppers perceived local food to be fresher
• Economic factors - 54% want to support local producers
• Environmental factors - 30% think buying local is good for the environment

 The incidents included the high profile case of salmonella associated with some eggs from Spain and a successful prosecution of people operating an unapproved meat plant in West Yorkshire. The report gives details of these cases and what action was taken to protect consumers. The report gives a breakdown of incidents by category, with the major categories being: microbiological (18% of incidents), environmental contamination (17%), natural chemical contamination (12%) and on-farm incidents (12%).

North London Business is holding its third Food Linx event allowing businesses in North London only to network, meet new contacts and do business with each other.  The agenda for the day is as follows; 

Wednesday 19th May 2010 at 3.30pm 

3.30pm Registration and networking
4.00pm Welcome- North London Business
              Supply Direct
              Women Like Us
              Budgens
5.00pm Networking and drinks 

The Scottish Government is committed to the development of a national food and drink policy to help effect a more joined up approach to food in Scotland, covering every part of the food chain from land and sea to plate.

The vision of this food policy is for a Scotland where:

• Consumers are better informed about where their food comes from
• Responsible behaviour is encouraged throughout the supply chain
• Local communities flourish from links between producers and consumers
• Greater co-operation and collaboration ensures long term viability of the food and drink  industry
• Changed individual behaviour and attitudes towards diet and food choices delivers health and wealth benefits

Caterers clearly have a key role to play in this process. As direct providers of food and drink to local and international consumers and visitors, the potential for food service providers to deliver change is significant.  Designed as a code of best practice, the toolkit is aims to clarify legal requirements and best practice guidelines for food and drink origin declarations on menus, to help you to provide clear, accurate and consistent information to consumers when eating out. This will encourage them to make informed choices about what they eat.

The agenda for the day is as follows:

9.30am     Registration, tea & coffee
10.00am   Welcome by Jon Stephens, Director of the Food Innovation Service
10.15am   SALSA
11.15am   Refreshment break
11.30am   British Retail Consortium
12.15pm   National Britannia
1.00pm     Lunch and Networking
2.00pm     Environmental Health
2.45pm     Waitrose – Retailer perspective
3.30pm     Questions
4.00pm     Networking and Close 

Cost: Members £125*; Non-members £175

*FIS members with CPD entitlement can attend this event free of charge.

Many of the businesses exhibiting at the show were SALSA members who had gained approval and were happy to discuss the benefits of the SALSA Scheme with other interested suppliers.