Initial Catering Services has become a licensee to use the Red Tractor logo on a proportion of its meat products.

Pork butcher Dicksons is to launch its range of sausages into Tesco this month.

Holmesterne Foods came away celebrating after picking up the overall winner and two categories wins at the Bpex Foodservice Pork Product of the Year awards.

Job roles including factory managers, production staff and marketing are the main skill gaps for the food sector, according to a survey from a top recruiter.

Reports of a VAT being applied to food have been denied by a leading ally to Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Consumer publication Which? has given the Food Standards Agency (FSA) an overall positive review to celebrate the Agency’s 10th anniversary.

Climate change continues to dominate the headlines and will be the main topic of conversation at the annual Outlook Conference in London in April.

A Birmingham chef has beaten off competition from across the UK to be declared the Chef of the Year after a gruelling challenge which even tested competitors’ butchery skills.

Increased demand for alternative steak cuts is paying off for wholesalers, processors and catering butchers with benefits including improved beef carcase balance and increasing prices of under-used primals, Eblex has claimed.

A total of 15 prizes were presented at the annual Institute of Meat and Meat Training Council Awards at Butchers’ Hall, London. Prizewinners came from widely differing meat industry backgrounds and ages.

A final labelling code of practice for pork has been launched today (Tuesday) by Defra Secretary of State Hilary Benn at the NFU conference in Birmingham.

A new range of frozen cooked chicken products is being launched in the foodservice market.

The British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) will involve Michelin-starred Mike Robinson in a game tasting at Borough Market, London, as part of its National Taste of Game promotion.

Growing consumer demand for quality local sausage has led one Cumbrian producer to invest £250,000 in expanding its production. Plumgarths of Kendal's new production facility was officially opened this week by IGD chief executive, Joanne Denney-Finch OBE.

Frying meat on a gas hob has been found to increase the likelihood of people developing cancer.

A film examining the major players in the US agriculture industry opened in the UK on Friday.

The 10 chefs through to the final of the Aubrey Allen-sponsored British Culinary Federation ‘Chef of the Year’ for 2010 have been revealed.

Scotch meat bosses are hoping to create a revolution on the football terraces up and down the country with the launch of a new healthy eating pie.

More than 70 new exhibitors are set to make their debut at Foodex 2010, the UK’s leading meat exhibition. The new arrivals will be joining a strong list of over 200 firms, such as Handtmann, Reiser, Interfood Technology, Marel and Ishida Europe, which the organiser, William Reed Business Media, claimed demonstrated the continuing strength of the Foodex brand.

The West Cornwall Pasty Co is to expand its business and add another 15 shops and kiosks to its operation in 2010.

English beef is to be promoted in all 53 of hotel chain Marriott’s UK outlets.

A ‘Sear Beef’ campaign featuring meat from Yorkshire and Cornwall will run in properties from Glasgow to Portsmouth between February 15 and March 31.

Quality Meat Scotland will continue its support of the Champions in Schools programme, with a range of sports stars including ex-footballer John Collins, rugby player Chris Paterson and double Olympic sailing gold medallist, Shirley Robertson involved.

A future Conservative government would split up the Food Standards Agency (FSA) as part of its plan to improve public health strategies.

Tennis fans in Melbourne, Australia will be offered a taste of Scotland when haggis is served to supporters gathered at Melbourne Park tomorrow (Thursday).

A unique study is under way to look at changing trends in the consumption of halal meat in England.
The research, which is the first of its kind, has been commissioned by the newly-formed Halal Steering Group, established by Eblex with key industry figures to guide work in the halal sector and act as a forum for issues related to halal meat.

Bpex has unveiled dancer and presenter Anton Du Beke as their celebrity face for Bacon Connoisseurs’ Week, running from 22-28 March.

A leading poultry boss has made a move into fish, with the purchase of iconic fish and chip chain Harry Ramsdens.

This year’s Bpex and Eblex Outlook Conference will focus on climate change and how it affects consumer perception and the working of the supply chain, as well as forecasts for 2010 and beyond.

Aberdeen Scotch Meat has been put into liquidation. The company, based in Inverurie, supplies meat to the catering trade, but has been badly hit by the recession.

Hospitality and retail businesses keen to source local food and drink from the South Downs area are being invited to a Meet the Producer day in Petersfield.

Manufacturers and butchers supplying pork products to caterers have the chance to showcase their products in an annual contest.

Heart of England Fine Foods (HEFF) hopes to be dazzled by quality food and drink in its Diamond Awards 2010.

Burger giant McDonald’s has launched a nationwide study involving UK farms to find new methods of producing beef that cut greenhouse emissions.

Caterers, suppliers and buyers of red meat looking to target the public sector have a new handy reference guide.

A life-sized pie shaped like Welsh rugby player Shane Williams has been named one of the best PR campaigns of the year.

A co-founder of a leading turkey brand has passed away aged 80, her family has announced.

Pork industry body Bpex has launched its annual survey to gauge the ‘state of the nation’ in pigs.

Butchers are being challenged to come up with a new meat glaze in a UK-wide contest.

Meat wholesaler Clifton Quality Meats has announced it has opened a brand new cutting plant in Yorkshire to ensure it can meet demand that has been building across the region.

A meat industry entrepreneur has been honoured for her work to put more British meat in school meals.

Karen McQuade, boss of The UK Foodhall, won the everywoman Demeter Award after judges said her hard work and determination had meant more than 60% of all meat products on school menus was now British and Red Tractor-assured, compared with less than 10% two years ago.

The Good Food Guide is encouraging diners to quiz restaurateurs about the provenance of their Christmas turkey.

More schoolchildren will be eligible for free school meals the Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling has announced in his pre-Budget report (PRB) made yesterday (Wednesday).

The National Farmers Union (NFU) has called on the European Parliament to make country-of-origin labelling mandatory on processed meats.

Local authorities are being urged not to reduce spending on quality Welsh produce for their schools and nursing homes if their budgets are cut due to the recession.

All meat served at the 2012 London Olympics will be UK farm-assured after organisers vowed to hold the most sustainable Games in history.

The London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG) will procure UK Red Tractor Assured food wherever seasonally possible; meat at both the Olympic and Paralympic Games will be fully traceable and will have been produced to strict standards from farm to venue.

Welsh beef has a new television campaign this December, offering an alternative solution to the traditional turkey on Christmas Day.

An entrepreneur who uses British assured meat to cater for the school meals market has been crowned the UK’s best Start-Up Business of the Year.

Scottish venison specialist Highland Game has secured a major contract with the London pub group Young’s.

Ginsters Pies has announced that it has linked with the GreenPalm initiative to support the production of sustainable palm oil in south-east Asia.

People don’t have to ditch meat to save the planet, but they will have to eat less and switch to non-intensive produce, a new report has found.

The report, released by Friends of the Earth (FOE) and Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), models future food production against different diets. It concludes that by limiting consumption to three times a week, people could make a big difference to the planet.

Event-goers to the London Restaurant Festival were able to try the best Argentina’s meat industry had to offer in a tasting session organised by the Argentine Beef Promotion Institute (IPCVA).

Paul Daniels and Debbie McGee were in London on Monday to celebrate the launch of British Sausage Week and award the multiple retail and London regional winners of the ‘Magical Banger’ competition.

Assured Food Standard (AFS) has announced that the Red Tractor logo now features on products with an annual retail sales value of £10bn.

Caterers, butchers, hoteliers and retailers are being invited to stand and bid for some of the country’s top livestock at the ringside of a premier winter livestock show.

People will have to consider giving up meat in order to halt climate change, an influential authority on global warming has warned.

Lord Stern, the author of the 2006 Stern Review on the cost of tackling global warming, said that “a vegetarian diet is better” and predicted that eating meat could one day become as socially unacceptable as drink-driving.

Regional food group Produced in Kent has launched a pork campaign to bring some November cheer to the county’s consumers.

Snowbird Foods is celebrating the bicentenary of one of Britain’s favourite cooking apples by relaunching its revamped and improved Gourmet Pork & Bramley Apple Sausage.

Little Bay is offering its customers the chance to help fight child hunger by eating rib-eye steak this month.

US producers are already gearing up to supply the EU market, following the decision to allow 20,000t of multi-origin beef into the community duty free.

Speaking at Anuga last week, John Brook, regional director for the US Meat Export Federation (USMEF), said the first US beef to be sent under the new agreement arrived in mid-August, and volumes were already showing signs of increasing.

Meat importer Heritage Foods has announced that a partnership with Clydesdale Bank could boost its existing £24m turnover to a new substantial level.

A future Conservative government would insist that all Whitehall departments serve food that meets British production standards.

Catering butcher Yorkshire Dales Meat has taken home the Producer of the Year title at the International Business Forum awards dinner held in Scarborough.

Pukka Pies will be banging the drum for England at next year’s football World Cup finals in South Africa.

HM Prison Service Imams have recently met at a halal supplier to discuss issues surrounding the production and supply of halal meat to prison inmates.

Fairfax Meadow is hoping for success with the launch of a new premium range of beef aimed at the foodservice sector

Leading UK catering firm, Baxter Storey, has announced that it will now source all of its fresh meat from within Britain.

A number of top London restaurants will be serving goose for Michaelmas which starts tomorrow (29 September) as the appeal of goose gains momentum nearing to Autumn.

Organisers of British Sausage Week have announced that magician and assistant Paul Daniels and Debbie McGee will be the celebrity faces of the event this year.

A worrying number of UK inhabitants have never tasted traditional British dishes such as Toad in the Hole a survey has revealed.

The Scottish venison industry has begun its three-year push to increase consumer demand for deer meat.

The Scottish Venison Working Group, which represents processors and producers, wants to raise awareness of the health and environmental benefits of Scottish wild and farmed venison.

Savoury pastry brand Ginsters of Cornwall has announced it is relaunching its individual 180g boxed pie range for this Autumn.

The Irish Farmers Association (IFA) has written to the EU Commission calling for an immediate and complete halt on Brazilian beef imports.

IFA president Padriag Walshe wrote to EU Commissioner for Health & Consumer Protection, Androulla Vassiliou, asking her to take action to halt what he described as the “failed Brazilian process” of clearing farms for export to the EU.

Turkey producer Copas has teamed up with UKTV Food chef Paul Clerehugh to create a premium turkey product for the foodservice industry.

The recession won’t stop game from getting off to a flying start this season, according to promotional body Game-to-Eat.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has issued a warning that a bullock slaughtered near Sheffield has entered the food chain without being tested for BSE.

BBC Three’s Kill It, Cook It, Eat It is to return for another series, this time exploring the ethics of meat consumption.

A second Brazilian beef exporter has agreed to stop sourcing cattle from farms involved in the destruction of the Amazon rainforest.

The Brazilian beef industry has accused UK and Irish farming associations of resorting to “misinformation and bullying” to “impose themselves on the global market".

A Scottish meat wholesaler has resumed trading just months after fire devastated its meat processing plant.

Campbells Prime Meat was forced to cancel meat orders after a fire ripped through its Broxburn cutting plant in May, but the company has now relocated to a £6m new facility near Falkirk.

Some of the country’s top chefs and food development professionals were invited to a special duck masterclass, hosted by duck supplier Cherry Valley.

The UK needs to radically rethink the way in which food is produced and processed if we are to enjoy food security in the future, Hilary Benn said today.

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs secretary was talking at the launch of the country’s first food security assessment, which analyses the current state of the UK’s food supply and highlights the key challenges to a sustainable future.

Leading haggis producer Macsween has pointed out it was Scotland's greatest writer, not England's, who wrote in praise of the sheep innards delicacy, after recent research uncovered the fact that the haggis might be an English invention.

Foodservice outlets need to do a better job when it comes to menu descriptions of pork and sausage dishes, a BPEX report has found.

The concept of food miles can have little benefit on the environment and local production is not the answer to global warming, a Defra study has claimed.

The Organic Trade Board (OTB) is fighting back against the bad press that organics faced last week, claiming that growth in the sector is still possible.

The Livestock and Meat Commission for Northern Ireland (LMC) has urged the government to introduce mandatory country-of-origin labelling (COOL) in the foodservice sector

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Kentucky Fried Chicken is being sued by an 11-year-old Australian girl, who claims that she developed brain damage after eating a contaminated chicken twister.

Two biodynamic farmers have waded into the organic argument, claiming that organic standards “don’t go far enough”.

Butchers, meat suppliers and chefs are reporting an increasing demand for the range of economy speciality steaks developed by EBLEX.

Organic meat has no nutritional benefits over conventional meat, according to a report by the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

The study was led by a team of researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who reviewed all papers published over the past 50 years relating to the nutrient content and health differences between organic and conventional food.

A sausage manufacturer is looking to expand its offer to butchers nationwide. Simply Real Sausages are currently available from butchers in London and the south east, but the company is looking to widen its distribution.

The government has announced it will spend over £100m redeveloping the laboratory blamed for the 2007 foot and mouth outbreak.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills decided to invest in the Institute for Animal Health (IAH) at Pirbright, Surrey, following "extensive reviews of the UK’s needs for animal health research".

A group of restaurants have united to fight global hunger and give food-lovers the chance to make a difference while eating out.

A growing farming movement claims to produce better meat by bringing together the power of the moon and planets.

A pie-maker in South Lanarkshire has been shortlisted for a British food competition with his Honeyed Venison Pie.

Scottish farming leaders have welcomed the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee’s vision for securing future food security.

The Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) Committee has published a report on UK food security, concluding that the UK has a “moral obligation” to contribute to global food production.

A leading Halal meat supplier has hit out at the appointment of Lord Rooker to the chair of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) as “jobs for the boys”, and called for Muslim representation within quangos.

Naved Syed, MD of Janan Meats, said he was encouraged to apply for the role of chairman of the FSA and has been left disappointed by the Rooker appointment.

Schoolchildren in Leicestershire have been widening their taste buds with nutritious beef and lamb dishes cooked by a professional chef.

Extremist groups are using climate change as a “stick to beat the livestock industry”, the Welsh meat promotion board has warned.

Rees Roberts, chairman of Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales, has accused anti-meat organisations of “hijacking” the climate change agenda for their own purposes and making false claims about the impact of livestock production on the environment.

A non-pathogenic strain of the Ebola virus has been discovered in pigs in the Philippines.

Researchers found pigs infected with the Ebola-Reston (REBOV) virus while testing to find a cause for the severe respiratory infections that have plagued the country's swine herds.

Cash-strapped consumers are increasingly turning to pork, while health has slipped down the agenda in the face of the economic downturn.

Haggis producer Macsween of Edinburgh has announced it has secured a £400,000 grant from the Scottish Government as part of Scotland’s Rural Development Programme.

Welsh First Minister Rhodri Morgan has told the Welsh Assembly that the Pennington Report has shone a clear light on industry shortcomings.

TV chef Phil Vickery has launched a new competition alongside the British Turkey Federation to get more turkey featured on the menus of Britain’s schools.

Beef and lamb industry body EBLEX is to launch a new cutting guide for butchers and caterers to help boost veal sales and inform consumers.

Duck firm Cherry Valley has launched a new higher welfare range of duck products for outlets and menus with the Farm Fresh Duck.

EBLEX will launch a new campaign to encourage people to buy Quality Standard beef and lamb for barbecues fronted by TV personality Ben Fogle.

Welsh Lamb and Welsh Beef is being positioned to play a bigger part in the classroom following work by Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales.

Meat eaters have a higher risk blood, bladder and stomach cancers, but not bowel cancer, a major new study has found.

The study, published in the British Journal of Cancer, found that meat-eaters had a significantly higher risk of stomach cancer than those who do not eat meat, confirming earlier studies.

Lamb producers must be paid a stable and sustainable price to secure the long-term future of the sector, according to farming leaders.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has has called on retailers to introduce front-of-pack labelling on meat products advising shoppers to eat only three portions a week.

The Soil Association has welcomed a report from the University of Reading which said that organic farming is perhaps "mainstream agriculture in waiting.”

Animal rights campaigners have erected poster with the slogan “meat kills” outside the hospital which treated the only person to die of swine flu in the UK.

A Northern Ireland competition winner visited Liverpool recently to see her recipe cooked up by food writer Greg Wallace.

Turtons of Devon has opened a new cutting plant in Willand to process locally produced meat for the catering trade.

Irish poultry producers have been invited to talks with the government after the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) organised a protest over the chicken procurement policy of the armed forces.

Less than a third of Britons believe that eating processed meat will increase the risk of bowel cancer, a YouGov survey has revealed.

The survey of 2,249 people, which was commissioned by the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), revealed that only 32% of Britons think that eating meats such as bacon and ham will increase their risk of cancer.

Chefs, butchers and catering students have descended on Stoneleigh Park to get the inside track on making lamb more profitable.

Scotch Premier Meat customer Chateaubriand, based in Utrecht, Holland, has arranged to take 90 top chefs from Holland to visit the Royal Highland Show at Ingliston later this month.

Liverpool could become the first UK city to launch a weekly meat-free day in a bid to protect the environment.

Religious groups have responded furiously to revelations that restaurants across Britain have been unwittingly selling chicken injected with beef and pork proteins.

Scottish farmers have started to cross Aberdeen Angus cattle with Japanese Wagyu cattle in the hope of creating some of the world’s most expensive beef.

Kentucky Fried Chicken is defying its own name in a bid to attract more custom. The fast food chain has launched a new range of griddled chicken products – the first non-fried chicken ever to be sold in KFC restaurants.

Restaurants across Britain may have been unwittingly serving chicken pumped with beef and pork proteins.

New research suggests that eating curry several times a week could help prevent Alzheimer's.

Leading UK business-to-business publisher William Reed Business Media has reinforced its commitment to online publishing with the acquisition of Decision News Media, an internet publishing company dedicated to reporting breaking news for the global B2B industries

Chicken fast-food firm Texas Chicken has announced it is to expand its operations in the UK to offer an alternative to restaurant giant KFC.

An animal rights group has re-erected a controversial billboard proclaiming that “feeding kids meat is child abuse.”

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has unveiled the inflammatory poster in Coventry, the home of Leanne Salt - a the 30-stone woman dubbed “Britain’s fattest mother”, who has admitted feeding her kids nuggets and burgers since they were six months old.

Scottish meat bosses took to London in a bid to reintroduce the capital’s restaurants to the sometimes forgotten pleasures of forequarter meat.

Fast food chicken chain KFC has embarked on a halal trial at eight of its London stores.

The directors of a meat factory gutted by a fire earlier this week are looking for new premises to restart production.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has predicted that global import demand for meat will fall for the first time in over a decade this year.

The Scottish meat supply chain has been thrown into chaos by a fire, which has ripped through a meat plant, causing an estimated £2m of damage.

American scientists have warned consumers to turn the barbecue down this summer, with new research suggesting that consumption of burnt and charred meat might increase the risk of pancreatic cancer.

MTJ is now posting daily news and views on Twitter, the micro-blogging service taking the internet by storm.

Demand for locally produced meat is set to continue, with the latest research revealing that the UK market for regional and local food has increased by £1.3bn since 2003.

Scottish meat bosses are hoping to change the image of pork in the foodservice sector with a special seminar. Chef members of Quality Meat Scotland’s prestigious Scotch Beef Club are being invited to the Gleneagles Hotel this month to be shown that pork should not be the Cinderella of meats and can prove an exciting, flexible and cost effective ingredient.

Catering giant Compass has clinched a great deal with Jockey Club Racecourses. It will now supply the food and drink at 14 racecourses across the country

Sales at Garfunkels and Frankie and Benny’s chain of popular restaurants – collectively known as the Restaurant Group – have fallen by 2.5% in the first nine weeks of this year.

An investigation by Trading Standards Officers in Wales has found that restaurants are regularly claiming that lamb is locally sourced in Wales when in fact it has come from England

The Indian curry, Britain’s long-standing favourite ethnic food, has been knocked off the top spot by Chinese cuisine, according to a new report from Mintel.

In a bid to help restaurants during the recession, Linden Foods has developed a new St George gourmet steak burger, which offers affordable quality, taste and provenance.

The UK's top young chefs were treated to a hands-on lesson in traditional cuts at Fairfax Meadow's London site this week.

A nutritionist has cast doubt over the findings of a study that linked the consumption of fresh and processed red meat to increased risk of blindness.

Butchers, chefs, farms and mutton enthusiasts gathered at Lucknam Park Hotel in Chippenham for the last of this season's Mutton Renaissance Club open events.

A "cock-up" which left a butcher with a surplus of cheese eventually led to the creation of an award-winning product.

The Soil Association has developed a new award scheme to recognise caterers that source sustainable food, including high-welfare meat.

The place for the best bacon sandwich in the country has been recognised in a new competition of best roadside outlets.

Domino's Pizza has caused controversy by turning one of its stores into a halal branch, with no ham or bacon toppings.

Chicken chain KFC has announced it is to create up to 9,000 new jobs with plans to open 200-300 more stores.

Two chefs were game to cook at the recent Hospitality trade show, which took place at the Birmingham NEC on 19-21 January 2009.

Kebabs nationwide have been slammed for their high fat and salt content, but it has now been revealed that Somerset kebabs are the worst of all.

A new study into the content of doner kebabs in the UK has found that most contain the entire daily allowance of salt and fat.

A row has erupted over NHS plans to cut the amount of meat served in British hospitals.

McDonald's has been named and shamed as the most litter-generating fast food brand in the country.

A London-based burger bar is claiming to be the first to serve an organic veal burger on its menu.

NHS boards in Scotland have been good at sourcing local meat for hospital meals according to a report published by the Scottish Parliament.