David Cameron used a visit to Fuller’s brewery this week to take a pop at supermarkets’ cut-price deals on alcohol. It comes ahead of the big leaders’ debate which takes place tonight on ITV1. Last week, the Tory leader visited Warburtons in Bolton, as well as Bestway Cash & Carry in Cardiff.

He slammed the government’s recent cider tax hike – deferred until the next parliamentary session.

He said he wanted to get Britain’s pub trade “thriving” and remarked deep discounting in supermarkets was “encouraging irresponsible behaviour. “We need to stop it, he said”.

Cameron also promised tackling underage drinking by making it easier for police and local authorities to strip alcohol licenses from supermarkets and convenience stores.

FOODIES ON TWITTER

While Twitter is playing a key role in the general election campaign, one foodie event next week will be streamed LIVE on the social networking site, the 2010 FreeFrom Food Awards in London’s King’s Cross, hosted by celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson.

The FreeFrom Food Awards, now in their third year, are the only industry awards that celebrate excellence in this rapidly expanding sector anticipated to reach a turnover of around £300 million in the UK and $2.6 billion worldwide by 2012 – the year of the Olympic Games in London.

The awards were started by www.foodsmatter.com, the very successful website and allergy portal that logs over half a million hits on its 3,000 plus pages every month and includes the only dedicated site covering all aspects of freefrom food GO HERE FOR MORE DETAILS

THE PRODUCTS

Over 1,000 products were whittled down to a shortlist of 200 covering 15 categories including not only the expected (gluten-free breads, cakes or biscuits) but gluten and dairy-free ready meals, scones, sweet tarts, Bakewell’s and cake bars, Christmas foods and, for the first time, gluten-free beers!

For the full shortlist GO HERE

Judges for the awards included Simon Wright, chair of judges for the Q Awards, the Food and Drink Innovation Network ‘s Jeffrey Hyman, Jane Suthering, president of the Guild of Food Writers, Not Just Food ‘s Jane Milton, Michelle Berriedale-Johnson, editor of foodsmatter.com and other members of the Foodsmatter judging team.

Products were judged not only on their taste (although their taste is, of course, crucial) but on their packaging, the number of allergens that they exclude, their nutritional profile and how difficult it is to manufacture that specific food freefrom. (For example, while it is relatively easy to create a successful gluten and dairy-free fruit cake it is very much more difficult to create a fresh gluten-free bread.)

Main sponsors for the 2010 FreeFrom Food awards are TESCO and
The Innovation Award is sponsored by LIVWELL

For more on freefrom food GO HERE.

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