Crafty takeover

American food manufacturer Kraft has come under fire for reneging on its pledge not to close down the Cadbury’s factory in Somerdale. Having vowed to keep the plant near Bristol open, once the £11.5bn was completed in February Kraft said the factory would close by 2011, costing 400 jobs. The company at least appears to have the support of Lady Gaga as she plugs Miracle Whip in her latest video ‘Telephone‘.

EU approves GM spud

Last week the EU gave European farmers the green light to cultivate genetically modified potatoes. While the spud isn’t for human consumption, the legislation will undoubtedly once again stir the eternally simmering GM debate. With the world population set to reach 9 billion by 2050, how much longer can we oppose the ability of GM crops to produce the amount of food that will be required?

Food inflation falls to a three-year low

Food inflation in the UK fell to 1.3% in February, driven by a deflation in fresh produce. The report by the British Retail Consortium said that it was competition in the grocery market in particular that had kept prices down. This is good news for shoppers.

Other food news this week:

* Papaya is declared the new cancer-fighting super-fruit. I wonder what next week’s superfood will be…

* A sushi restaurant in Los Angeles is accused of selling whale meat.

* New legislation in New York would ban salt in restaurants.

* Sales of instant coffee have plummeted, while those of filter coffee have soared.

My favourite blog posts

* Food bloggers Helen Graves, EuWen Teh and Chris Pople get grilled on British food by Jay Rayner.

* Just Cook It’s delightful look at the alchemy of cooking tongue.

* Hugo Williams goes to Chennai to work at The Hindu Newspaper and gets flummoxed by the eating traditions.

My favourite recipe of the week:

Rose Cottage’s heavenly sounding rhubarb panna cotta

The week’s most tummy rumbling video:

If you are a meat-eater then this video will make you dribble. If you are a vegetarian it may well make you question that decision.

Click here for a chance to win a place at a steak tasting evening at Racine.

What has interested you in the news this week? How would you define British food? And just what will happen to New York restaurants if this ban goes through (for the record, I will eat my laptop if it does)?