Joan Ransley

Sir, In his recipe for pumpkin soup (the table, Nov 24) Heston Blumenthal advised us to melt 200g butter (nearly a whole pack) to further cook 850g oil-roasted pumpkin. The recipe then adds 400g (3/4 pint full fat milk(16g fat) and a suggested 50g beaurre noisette. This brings the fat content per serving of soup to 50g and nearly a quarter of an adult’s calories. If the epidemic of obesity is to be stemmed chefs would do well to learn a little more about human’s need to eat in a way that keeps fit and healthy and not rotund adn leaden. continue reading ›

The article is based on the paper ‘Does nutrition education in primary schools make a difference to children’s fruit and vegetable consumption? which appeared in Public Health Nutrition in 2010.

Since 2004 English primary schools have been providing pupils with a free piece of fruit every school day for the first three years of school. This intervention has been shown to have an impact on children’s intake of fruit and vegetables but it is not sustained when pupils no longer receive the free fruit. To maintain and improve children’s intakes of fruit and vegetables beyond the intervention it seems important for schools to extend initiatives to promote fruit and vegetables beyond the age of eight years when free fruit ceases to be provided.

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Not all spices irritate the sensitive gut – in fact most don’t. Many have a gentle calming effect and can help make food taste good. Ginger (Zingiberaceae), for example, taken internally quells motion sickness, morning sickness and other types of nausea. Fennel (Apiaceae), a key ingredient in many Asian dishes, has been used for centuries to relieve indigestion. It is also an important ingredient in gripe water used to treat babies for colic. continue reading ›

The European Food Information Council (EUFIC) carried out an online survey in 6 EU countries to find out how consumers interpret portion information on food and drink labels. The research was conducted in collaboration with Dr Monique Raats, co-director of the Food, Consumer Behaviour and Health Research Centre at the University of Surrey.Guild member Joan Ransley comments on the study.  continue reading ›

If you need to follow a wheat, gluten or dairy free diet one thing for sure is that you will have to start cooking for yourself since there are few ready meals available that will be suitable for your restricted diet. But where do you start? continue reading ›

There is a new range of foods making its way onto the supermarket shelves, known in the trade as functional foods.  More like medicine than food, functional foods are designed to stop you getting ill by reducing blood pressure, lowering cholesterol, keeping joints pain free, improving the body’s natural immunity and even slowing the ageing process. continue reading ›

“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,” said Piglet at last, “what’s the first thing you say to yourself?”

“What’s for breakfast?” said Pooh. “What do you say, Piglet?”

“I say, I wonder what’s going to happen exciting today?” said Piglet. Pooh nodded thoughtfully. “It’s the same thing,” he said.

Pooh would be horrified if he knew that nearly one in 10 children skips breakfast on a regular basis and turns up to school with an empty stomach.

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One in every nine women will develop breast cancer at some stage during their lives.  A quarter develops breast cancer before the menopause when it can run a more aggressive course leading to infertility and early death.  It is hardly surprising that breast cancer is the disease women fear most.  But can it be prevented? continue reading ›