De Wholefood-Späiskammer-Journal

Three square meals a day used to be the rule. For a growing number of us, it isn't any more. Research by Levercliff, reported in Food Manufacture, found that 48% of UK consumers replace at least one meal with a snack or a smaller meal, and 14% do so regularly. Among 18 to 34-year-olds, 21% do it regularly. Waitrose has reported a similar shift, with 57% of people saying they sometimes skip dinner and have snacks instead. If that sounds like you, the question isn't whether to eat little and often, but how to do it well. Why are we eating this way? According to Levercliff, the most common reasons are smaller appetites, given by 37% of people, and lack of time, given by 25%. Busy schedules, working from home and rising food prices all play a part. Some of the shift is also linked to weight-loss medication, which tends to reduce appetite. Some supermarkets have started selling smaller meals with these shoppers in mind. If you're taking any medication that affects your appetite, your GP or pharmacist is the best person to talk to about what and how much to eat. The problem with grazing Eating smaller amounts isn't a problem in itself. The trouble is that when a meal turns into a snack, it's easy to reach for whatever's in the cupboard: a packet of crisps, a few biscuits, a bar of chocolate. Do that a few times a day and you can end up with plenty of food but not much variety. The answer is to treat a smaller meal as a meal, just a smaller one. How to build a balanced snack plate Think of a snack plate as a small version of a proper meal. Try to include something from each of these groups. Something with pulses. Pulses bring protein and fibre, which help a small plate feel more satisfying. A spoonful of hummus is the easiest option. Blend cooked chickpeas with tahini, lemon juice, garlic and a splash of water, and you'll have enough for several days. Roasted chickpeas or a handful of roasted broad beans work too. Something crunchy. Raw vegetable sticks such as carrot, celery, cucumber and pepper are ideal for dipping. Oatcakes or wholegrain crackers are good too. A few nuts or seeds. A small handful of unsalted peanuts or pumpkin seeds adds crunch and keeps you going. Some fruit. Fresh fruit is best, but a few pieces of dried pear or dried peach work well when the fruit bowl is empty. Something you enjoy. A small treat makes the plate feel like a meal rather than a compromise. Our Peach, Peanut & Cacao Bites are a good one to keep in the fridge. Three snack plates to try The quick lunch. Hummus, carrot and cucumber sticks, two oatcakes, a handful of pumpkin seeds and an apple. The afternoon pick-me-up. Roasted broad beans, a few slices of dried pear and a cup of tea. The light supper. A small bowl of our Red Lentil & Coconut Curry Soup with crackers, followed by a cacao bite. Make it easy for yourself The secret to eating well in smaller amounts is preparation. If the good options are ready to go, you'll reach for them. make a batch of hummus at the start of the week cut vegetable sticks and keep them in a container of water in the fridge keep a jar of mixed nuts and seeds on the counter portion out leftovers from dinner into small containers for the next day Eating little and often can work perfectly well. It just helps to think of each small plate as a meal in miniature.

Food prices are the biggest food worry in the UK right now. In the Food Standards Agency's latest consumer tracker, 91% of people said they were concerned about them, and around a quarter were worried about being able to afford food in the month ahead. It's no surprise that many of us are looking for ways to make the weekly shop go further. A cupboard stocked with dried beans and lentils is one of the simplest. They're filling, they keep well, and a single bag can turn into a week of meals. Here's how to get started. Why dried? Tins are convenient, and there's nothing wrong with them. But dried pulses have a few advantages. A little goes a long way. Pulses swell as they soak and cook, so a bag of dried beans makes far more than its weight in food. They take up less room. A bag of dried lentils fits in the space of a couple of tins and makes many more meals. You control what goes in. Dried pulses are just pulses, with nothing added. You decide how much salt goes in, and what herbs and spices to cook them with. If you want to stock up properly, our 1.5kg Stock & Prep bags are designed for exactly this. Lentils or beans? The main difference is time. Lentils and split peas are the quickest. Lentils don't need soaking: just rinse them well and simmer. Red split lentils soften into a creamy base for soups and dhals, while green lentils keep their shape in salads and stews. Green split peas make a thick, comforting soup. Beans and chickpeas need a little planning. Most need soaking before cooking, often overnight. Always follow the soaking and cooking instructions on the pack, as times vary from one variety to another. Five to start with If you're building a storecupboard from scratch, these five cover most autumn cooking. Organic Red Split Lentils, for soups, dhals and thickening stews Green Lentils, for warm salads, sides and hearty broths Black Beans, for chilli, burritos and smoky stews Butter Beans, for creamy braises and curries Chickpeas, for hummus, curries and roasting Once you've got the hang of those, branch out with aduki beans, black-eyed beans or red football lentils. How to store them Keep dried pulses in a cool, dry place, away from direct sunlight, heat and damp. Once a bag is open, reseal it or tip the pulses into an airtight container. Check the best before date on the pack, and as a rule, use up your oldest bags first. Cook once, eat all week The easiest way to make dried pulses fit a busy week is to cook a big batch at the weekend and use it in different meals. Soak and cook a large pot of beans or chickpeas, then split them into portions. Some can go into a chilli, some into a curry, and some into a pot of hummus or a salad. The Food Standards Agency's advice on leftovers applies here: cool cooked food and get it into the fridge within one to two hours split large batches into smaller portions so they cool more quickly eat refrigerated leftovers within 48 hours, or freeze them if you won't get to them in time defrost frozen portions in the fridge and use them within 24 hours Three autumn meals from one shop To give you an idea of what a storecupboard can do, here are three recipes from our blog that use pulses you'll already have: Red Lentil & Coconut Curry Soup, ready without any soaking Black Bean & Coconut Chilli, perfect for Bonfire Night Creamy Butter Beans in Green Curry Coconut Milk, a one-pan dinner A few bags of pulses in the cupboard won't solve rising prices on their own. But they make it much easier to put a filling, home-cooked meal on the table, even at the end of the month.

If you've noticed coconut aminos turning up in recipes lately, you're not imagining it. Japanese-style cooking is having a real moment in British kitchens. In the four weeks to early October, sales of Japanese cooking sauces in UK supermarkets were up 17% on the year before, according to the market research firm NIQ. That was the biggest rise of any food category it tracked. More of us are making teriyaki, stir-fries and rice bowls at home, and plenty of people have reached the bottom of the soy sauce bottle wondering what else is out there. Coconut aminos is one of the answers. Here's what it is, how it differs from soy sauce, and how to get the most out of a bottle. What is coconut aminos? Coconut aminos is a dark, glossy seasoning sauce that looks a lot like soy sauce. Instead of fermented soya beans, it's made from coconut nectar, the sap produced by the flower blossoms of the coconut tree. Our RAWGORILLA Organic Coconut Aminos has just three ingredients: organic coconut nectar, organic coconut vinegar and salt. The name can be confusing. It isn't a supplement, and you don't need to know anything about amino acids to use it. Think of it simply as a soy-style sauce that happens to come from the coconut palm. How does it compare to soy sauce? Taste. This is the biggest difference. Coconut aminos is sweeter and milder than soy sauce, with a gentle caramel note and a softer salty edge. Soy sauce is sharper and more intensely savoury. Neither is better. They just do slightly different jobs. Ingredients. Traditional soy sauce is brewed from soya beans and wheat. Coconut aminos is made without either, which is why many people who avoid soya or wheat reach for it instead. If you're cooking for someone with allergies, always check the label. Salt. Our coconut aminos contains 0.6g of salt per 100g. A typical soy sauce contains around 16.9g of salt per 100ml, so if you're keeping an eye on your salt, it's a useful swap. How to use coconut aminos You can use coconut aminos almost anywhere you'd use soy sauce. Start by swapping it like for like, then taste. Because it's milder, you may want a little more, or a squeeze of lime or a pinch of salt to sharpen it up. In a stir-fry. Add a couple of tablespoons at the end of cooking, along with garlic and ginger, and toss everything together so the sauce coats the vegetables. As a glaze. Coconut aminos thickens beautifully when it's simmered, which makes it ideal for a sticky teriyaki-style glaze. Simmer it with a little Organic Coconut Sugar, grated ginger and garlic, then thicken with a spoonful of cornflour mixed with water. Our Teriyaki-Style Chickpeas with Roasted Squash uses exactly this method. In a marinade. Mix it with garlic, ginger, lime juice and a little oil, and use it to marinate tofu, mushrooms, vegetables or chicken before roasting or grilling. In a dressing. Whisk a tablespoon into tahini with lemon juice and a splash of water for a quick dressing for grain bowls and roasted vegetables. It's what gives the drizzle on our Black-Eyed Bean & Sweet Potato Traybake its depth. As a dipping sauce. On its own, or with a little chilli and lime, it's a gentle dip for dumplings, spring rolls and sushi. In everyday British cooking. This is where coconut aminos surprises people. A spoonful adds depth to a pot of chilli, a gravy or a tomato sauce, much like Worcestershire sauce would. Try it in our Black Bean & Coconut Chilli or our Homemade Baked Beans, where it rounds out the tomato sauce. Three quick autumn ideas Glazed roast squash. Toss wedges of squash in coconut oil, roast until tender, then brush with coconut aminos for the last five minutes. Sticky mushrooms on toast. Fry sliced mushrooms until golden, add a splash of coconut aminos and a knob of butter or a little coconut oil, and let it bubble until glossy. A warming noodle broth. Simmer vegetable stock with ginger, garlic and a few tablespoons of coconut aminos, then add noodles, greens and whatever leftover vegetables you have. How to store it Keep the bottle in a cool, dry place, away from strong light and heat, and follow any storage advice on the label once it's open. The bottom line Coconut aminos isn't trying to replace soy sauce, and it doesn't need to. It's a different seasoning with its own character: sweeter, milder and made without soya or wheat. If you've been cooking more Japanese-style food at home this year, or you're simply after a new way to add depth to autumn dinners, it's well worth a place in the cupboard. Shop RAWGORILLA Organic Coconut Aminos

Most conversations about fibre are about numbers. How many grams are in this? Am I getting enough? But nutrition thinking is moving away from a single number and towards variety, because fibre isn't one thing. It's a group of different substances, found in different foods, that behave in different ways. This is what that means for the way you eat. What fibre actually is Fibre is the part of plant foods that isn't digested in the small intestine. It travels on to the large intestine, where gut bacteria break some or all of it down. Dietitians have traditionally split fibre into two main types. The British Dietetic Association notes that research now looks at fibre in more detail: how it dissolves, how thick it becomes and how easily gut bacteria can ferment it. The main types of fibre Soluble fibre. This includes pectins and beta-glucans. You'll find it in fruit and in oats, such as Organic Porridge Oats and Organic Jumbo Oats. Insoluble fibre. This includes cellulose, found in foods such as wheat bran and nuts. Resistant starch. This is starch that resists digestion and behaves like fibre. Gut bacteria ferment it into short-chain fatty acids. The British Dietetic Association lists bananas, potatoes, grains and pulses as sources, which puts beans and lentils such as Black Beans and Organic Red Split Lentils on the list. Prebiotics. These are carbohydrates that gut bacteria feed on. The British Dietetic Association gives onions, garlic, asparagus and bananas as examples. Why variety matters Because each type of fibre comes from different foods, no single ingredient covers them all. Oats give you beta-glucans but not much resistant starch. Pulses give you resistant starch but not the same fibres as fruit. Seeds bring something different again. That's the problem with relying on one superfood or a fibre powder to hit your target. You might reach 30g on paper, but from a narrow range of fibre types. A plate that mixes grains, pulses, seeds, nuts, fruit and vegetables gives you a much wider range. How to build variety into your week Think in groups, not single foods. Across the day, try to eat something from each group: wholegrains, pulses, nuts and seeds, fruit, and vegetables. Rotate your pulses. Instead of buying the same bag of lentils every week, try something new. Aduki Beans, Haricot Beans, Butter Beans and Green Split Peas each bring something different to the plate. Mix your seeds. Keep two or three types in the cupboard, such as Organic Chia Seeds, Organic Ground Linseed and Organic Pumpkin Seeds, and use a different one each day. Eat the season. Autumn is full of fibre-rich produce: squash, parsnips, apples, pears, leeks and cabbage. The British Dietetic Association recommends aiming for five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. Don't forget onions and garlic. They go into most savoury cooking anyway, and they're among the prebiotic foods the British Dietetic Association lists. One autumn tray, five fibre sources Our Black-Eyed Bean & Sweet Potato Traybake brings several types together in one dish: pulses (black-eyed beans), a starchy root vegetable (sweet potato), onions and leafy greens (kale). Scatter over a few pumpkin seeds and you've covered five fibre sources in a single tray. Think beyond the number Fibre isn't one nutrient, and the best way to get it isn't from one food. Aim for the 30g the guidelines recommend, but think about where it comes from too. A varied plate of grains, pulses, seeds, fruit and vegetables will always do more than a single superfood or a scoop of powder.

UK guidelines recommend that adults eat 30g of fibre a day. According to the British Dietetic Association, most of us manage about 18g. Closing that gap doesn't take supplements, special products or complicated recipes. It takes a few small changes across the day. This is what a 30g day can look like using everyday whole foods. The fibre figures for our products come from their nutrition labels and are based on dry weight. The figure for wholemeal bread comes from the British Dietetic Association. Breakfast: oats with chia and linseed (about 9.5g) A bowl of porridge made with 50g of Organic Porridge Oats gives you about 3.7g of fibre. Stir in a tablespoon (about 10g) of Organic Chia Seeds for another 3.4g, and a tablespoon (about 10g) of Organic Ground Linseed for 2.4g. That's nearly a third of your day before you've left the house. Top it with fruit and you'll add a little more. Lunch: lentil soup with wholemeal bread (about 12.5g) A bowl of our Red Lentil & Coconut Curry Soup uses 50g of Organic Red Split Lentils per serving, which gives you 5.5g of fibre. Two slices of wholemeal bread on the side add about 7g. Snack: a handful of pumpkin seeds (about 2.6g) A 30g handful of Organic Pumpkin Seeds adds 2.6g of fibre. Eat them at your desk or scatter them over your soup. Dinner: black bean chilli (about 8.5g) A portion of our Black Bean & Coconut Chilli uses roughly 55g of dried Black Beans per person, which provides about 8.5g of fibre. Serve vegetables on the side for more. The total: about 33g Add it all up and you reach about 33g of fibre, before counting any fruit and vegetables you eat alongside. That's more than the 30g recommendation, from four meals that are easy to make. Swaps that work any day You don't have to follow this menu exactly. These swaps will raise your fibre intake whatever you're cooking. Add lentils or beans to sauces. A handful of lentils in a bolognese or a portion of beans in a stew adds fibre without changing the dish much. Choose wholegrain. Swap white bread, pasta and rice for wholemeal or wholegrain versions. Sprinkle seeds. Chia, linseed, pumpkin and sunflower seeds can go on cereal, yoghurt, salads and soups. Keep the skins on. Where it makes sense, leave the skin on fruit, vegetables and potatoes. Keep frozen vegetables in. They make it easy to add vegetables to any meal. Bake with higher-fibre flours. Organic Coconut Flour contains 36g of fibre per 100g, so even a small amount in your baking makes a difference. Pulses: the easiest win If you only make one change, make it pulses. Our dried beans, lentils and peas contain plenty of fibre per 100g (dry weight): Green Split Peas: 22.2g Black Beans: 15.5g Haricot Beans: 13.3g Aduki Beans: 12.7g Organic Red Split Lentils: 11g Chickpeas: 10.7g They're inexpensive, they keep for months in the cupboard, and they work in everything from soups and curries to homemade baked beans. Take it slowly If your diet is currently low in fibre, don't jump to 33g overnight. The British Dietetic Association advises increasing fibre gradually to avoid bloating and wind, and drinking plenty of fluid as you go. Start with breakfast, add a lentil or bean meal a few times a week, and build from there.

If you've spent any time on social media this year, you've probably come across fibremaxxing. The idea is simple: get as much fibre as you can into every meal. Chia seeds go into everything, lentils replace pasta, and people post their daily fibre totals the way they once posted their step counts. Like most food trends, it started from a good place and then got carried away. This is what it gets right, where it goes too far, and how to do it sensibly. What the guidelines say UK government guidelines recommend that adults eat 30g of fibre a day. For children, the British Dietetic Association recommends around 15g a day from the age of two, 20g for primary school children and 25g for secondary school children. Most of us don't come close. According to the British Dietetic Association, the average UK adult eats about 18g a day, roughly 60% of the target. That gap is the reason fibremaxxing exists, and it's a real one. What fibremaxxing gets right At its best, fibremaxxing gets people thinking about food in a different way. Instead of asking what to cut out, it asks what to add. That tends to lead people towards whole foods: oats, beans, lentils, seeds, fruit and vegetables. It has also got people reading labels. In the UK, a food can only be called "high fibre" if it contains at least 6g of fibre per 100g, and a "source of fibre" if it contains at least 3g. Once you start checking, you notice how little fibre many everyday processed foods contain. Where it goes too far Some versions of the trend aim for 60g, 70g or even 80g of fibre a day, far beyond the 30g in the guidelines. There's no evidence that doubling the recommended amount brings extra benefits, and the Institute for Optimum Nutrition warns that pushing intake that high can cause bloating, cramps and other digestive problems. The other issue is how people get there. Many fibremaxxing routines rely on fibre powders and supplements rather than food. A spoonful of powder adds grams, but it doesn't bring the protein, vitamins, minerals and variety that come with a bowl of lentils or a handful of seeds. Speed matters too. If your diet is currently low in fibre and you suddenly triple it, you'll feel it. The British Dietetic Association advises increasing fibre gradually to avoid bloating and wind. How to do it sensibly Aim for 30g, not more. Going from 18g to 30g is already a big change for most people, and it's what the guidelines recommend. Build up slowly. Add one fibre-rich food at a time and give yourself a few weeks to adjust. Drink plenty of fluid. The British Dietetic Association advises drinking plenty of fluid so that fibre can do its job properly. Choose food over powders. Oats at breakfast, lentils in your soup, beans in your chilli and seeds on your salad will get you most of the way. Mix it up. Different foods contain different types of fibre, so variety matters as much as the total. Ask a professional if you need to. The British Dietetic Association suggests seeing a dietitian if you have a condition such as IBS or inflammatory bowel disease, or if you're unsure how much fibre is right for you. So, should you try it? Fibremaxxing is right that most of us need more fibre. It's wrong that more is always better. Aim for the 30g the guidelines recommend, get there gradually, and get it from real food rather than a tub of powder. For a simple day of meals that adds up to 30g, see how to eat 30g of fibre a day from real food.

You may have seen the word fibremaxxing on social media, in a magazine or on a supermarket shelf, and wondered what on earth it means. The short answer: it's a trend for eating more fibre. The longer answer is a bit more interesting, so here's everything you need to know if you're starting from scratch. What does fibremaxxing mean? The name comes from internet slang. Adding "maxxing" to a word means making the most of it, or pushing it as far as it will go. So fibremaxxing simply means maximising the fibre in your diet. In practice, people who fibremax try to include fibre-rich foods in every meal. That might mean adding seeds to breakfast, swapping white bread for wholemeal, or building dinners around beans and lentils. Some people track how many grams of fibre they eat each day, much as others count steps or calories. Where did it come from? Fibremaxxing took off on TikTok, where people began sharing high-fibre meals, shopping hauls and daily fibre totals. It has since spread to Instagram, newspapers and magazines, and even supermarkets, some of which have started labelling high-fibre products more clearly. For years, protein was the nutrient everyone talked about. Fibremaxxing is part of a shift in attention towards fibre, which most of us have been neglecting. What is fibre, anyway? Fibre is the part of plant foods that our bodies can't fully digest. Rather than being absorbed in the small intestine like most nutrients, it travels to the large intestine, where the bacteria that live in our gut break some of it down. You'll only find fibre in plant foods. Meat, fish, eggs and dairy contain none. Good sources include: wholegrains such as oats, brown rice and wholemeal bread pulses such as beans, lentils, chickpeas and split peas nuts and seeds fruit and vegetables, especially with the skin on Why is everyone talking about it? Mostly because so few of us eat enough. UK government guidelines recommend that adults eat 30g of fibre a day, but the British Dietetic Association puts the average at about 18g. Writing in BBC Science Focus, GP Dr Nish Manek notes that more than nine in ten people in the UK fall short of the target. That matters because fibre does a lot more than keep us regular. The British Dietetic Association says high-fibre diets are associated with a lower risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and bowel cancer. So the basic message behind fibremaxxing, that most of us should eat more fibre, is one that doctors and dietitians have been giving for years. Social media has simply made it fashionable. Is fibremaxxing a good idea? It depends on how you do it. The good part. Eating more beans, lentils, wholegrains, seeds, fruit and vegetables is sensible advice for almost everyone. If the trend gets people cooking a pot of lentil soup instead of buying a ready meal, that's a good thing. The less good part. Some fibremaxxers aim for 50g a day or more, far beyond the 30g recommendation, and some rely on fibre powders rather than food. Dr Manek warns that very high intakes can cause bloating, cramps and diarrhoea, and that chasing a big number can narrow your diet to just a few foods. The sensible middle ground is to aim for the 30g the guidelines recommend and to get it from a variety of whole foods. How to start If you're new to all this, you don't need to count every gram. A few simple changes make a big difference. Start with breakfast. A bowl of porridge oats with a spoonful of chia seeds or ground linseed is an easy first step. Add pulses to meals you already make. Stir red split lentils into a soup or bolognese, or add beans to a stew or chilli. Switch to wholegrain. Choose wholemeal bread, brown rice and wholewheat pasta instead of white. Snack on seeds and fruit. A handful of pumpkin seeds or a piece of fruit is an easy swap for crisps or biscuits. Go slowly and drink plenty. The British Dietetic Association advises increasing fibre gradually to avoid bloating and wind, and drinking plenty of fluid as you do. If you have a digestive condition such as IBS or inflammatory bowel disease, speak to your GP or a dietitian before making big changes. Want to know more? If you'd like to go further, we've written three more guides: Fibremaxxing: what the trend gets right, and where it goes too far How to eat 30g of fibre a day Not all fibre is the same

Put a jar of honeycomb on the table and somebody will always ask the same question before they touch it: do you actually eat the wax? You do. Here's everything else worth knowing. The short answer Honeycomb is entirely edible, wax included. When you bite into a piece, the honey floods out straight away and you're left with a small ball of soft wax. Some people chew it for a while, like gum, and then discard it. Others simply swallow it. Both are fine. Our bodies can't digest beeswax, so it passes through unchanged. In the amounts you'd eat on toast or from a cheeseboard, that's no cause for concern. What honeycomb actually is Honeycomb is built by the bees themselves. Young worker bees produce wax from special glands on the underside of their abdomen. It emerges as tiny, thin flakes, which the bees chew, soften and shape into the familiar six-sided cells. Those cells do several jobs. The colony uses them to store honey and pollen and to raise young bees. When the honey in a cell is ripe, meaning the bees have reduced its water content enough, they seal the cell with a thin cap of fresh wax. A frame of capped comb is a frame of finished honey, packed and sealed by the bees. The hexagon isn't an accident. Mathematicians long suspected that a grid of hexagons was the most efficient way to divide a flat surface into equal cells using the least material around the edges. The mathematician Thomas Hales proved it in 1999. Bees had been working to the same answer for millions of years. Making wax is hard work for a colony, and the bees have to eat a considerable amount of honey to produce it. That's part of why comb honey has always been a treat rather than an everyday food. What does honeycomb taste like? Most honey is spun out of the comb in a centrifuge, strained and then settled before it's put into jars. The comb in a jar of chunk honey skips all of that. It has never been extracted or strained, and the honey inside is still sealed in the cells where the bees left it. The result is a fresher, more immediate aroma and a texture you don't get from any other honey. The wax itself is soft and slightly chewy, with a very mild, faintly waxy taste of its own. The honey carries the flavour. Chunk honey, cut comb and comb honey: what's the difference? The names can be confusing, so here's how they're generally used in beekeeping. Comb honey usually means a whole section of comb exactly as the bees built it, often sold in a small frame or box. Cut comb is a block cut from a frame and packed on its own, without any liquid honey around it. Chunk honey, sometimes called cut comb in jar, is a piece of comb placed in a jar and surrounded with liquid honey. Our Organic Blossom Honey with Honeycomb is chunk honey. Each jar holds roughly 120 to 150 g of comb, cut by hand from full frames, in liquid organic blossom honey. Because every piece is cut by hand, no two are quite the same size or shape. How to serve honeycomb On a cheeseboard. This is where honeycomb is at its best. Put the jar out with a knife and let people cut their own piece. The sweet honey and chewy wax work especially well against salty or strong cheeses: a good blue, a mature manchego or a washed-rind cheese. On hot buttered toast. Thick sourdough, plenty of salted butter, and a slice of comb on top while the toast is still hot. The butter and honey run together as the warmth from the toast softens the comb. On oatcakes and crackers. With or without cheese. On a breakfast board. With thick Greek yoghurt and fresh berries, or alongside figs and prosciutto. A few tips make it easier: Use a knife, not a spoon. Cut a wedge rather than trying to scoop. A spoon just squashes the cells. Serve it at room temperature. When it's too cold, the honey around the comb thickens and won't flow properly. Slice it on a board. Honeycomb leaks as soon as it's cut, which is rather the point, so give it somewhere to go. Can you cook with honeycomb? Not really, and there's little reason to. Heat melts the wax and collapses the cells, so by the time it comes out of the oven you've lost everything that made it worth buying. If a recipe calls for honey, use a liquid honey such as Organic Wildflower Honey instead. Honeycomb comes into its own as a finishing touch, added once the cooking is done: a small piece on top of warm pancakes or waffles, just before serving a wedge alongside a slice of plain cake or a scoop of vanilla ice cream broken over a bowl of porridge once it's in the bowl, not while it's in the pan In each case the warmth of the food softens the edges of the comb without melting it, and the honey runs out as you eat. How to store honeycomb Keep the jar at room temperature with the lid on. The fridge makes the comb firm and the honey stiff, and there's no food safety reason to refrigerate honey. Don't warm the jar either. Beeswax softens at fairly low temperatures, and heat will slump the comb. Over time, the liquid honey around the comb may crystallise. That's completely normal for honey. With most jars you'd stand them in warm water to make them runny again, but with honeycomb it's better to leave the set honey as it is and cut through it with a knife. For more on why honey sets and how to slow it down, see why honey goes solid. Is honeycomb suitable for everyone? Babies under 12 months. No. The NHS advises that honey in any form should not be given to babies under one year old, and that includes honeycomb. People with an allergy to bee products. Comb can contain small traces of pollen and propolis, the resin bees use to seal their hives. If you've ever reacted to bee pollen, propolis or other bee products, speak to your GP before trying it. Vegans. Honeycomb is made by bees and isn't considered vegan. Where our honeycomb comes from Our honeycomb comes from a single European producer and from certified organic beekeeping under Regulation (EU) 2018/848. That matters more for comb than for any other honey. When you eat honeycomb, you're eating the wax the bees built as well as the honey they made, so the way the hives are kept ends up on your plate. The organic rules set out what goes into those hives. The bees' forage within 3 km has to be essentially organic crops or wild vegetation. The hives must be built mainly from natural materials. And colonies must be left enough of their own honey and pollen to get through the winter. Every batch of the honey is also tested four ways for authenticity, which we explain here. If you'd rather have your honey without the comb, our guide to choosing a honey takes you through the other four in the range. Shop Organic Blossom Honey with Honeycomb

The five honeys in our range come from the same producer and the same certified organic beekeeping. Put them side by side and you'd hardly guess it. One is nearly as clear as water. Another is close to black. One smells faintly of mint, and one isn't made from flowers at all. Here's how they differ, what each one is good for, and how to choose. Why honey comes in so many colours A honey's colour depends mainly on what the bees were feeding on and the minerals that came with it. Paler honeys generally carry fewer minerals and darker honeys more. Beekeepers grade colour on a scale running from water white, through the ambers, to dark amber. Colour tells you nothing about quality. It's a reasonable guide to flavour, though: as a rule, the darker the honey, the stronger and less straightforwardly sweet it tastes. We've arranged the five below from palest to darkest. Organic Acacia Honey: pale, mild and slow to set What it is. Despite the name, acacia honey doesn't come from acacia trees. It comes from black locust, Robinia pseudoacacia, a tree whose hanging clusters of creamy white flowers open for only around two weeks in late spring. "Acacia" is simply the long-established trade name. That short flowering window is why single-variety acacia honey is scarcer than mixed-flower honey. How it tastes. Very pale in the jar, from almost colourless to light amber. The aroma is delicate and floral, and the taste is clean and mild, with no heavy aftertaste. Why it stays runny. Acacia honey is naturally high in fructose, which stays dissolved, and correspondingly low in glucose, which is the sugar that crystallises. So it stays pourable for far longer than most honeys. It will set eventually, as every honey does, but slowly. How to use it. When you want sweetness without extra flavour: in a delicate tea, whisked into a vinaigrette, or drizzled over goat's cheese or burrata. Choose it if you want a honey that tastes of honey and not much else, or one that will stay runny in the cupboard. Shop Organic Acacia Honey Organic Linden Honey: aromatic and herbal What it is. Honey from the flowers of Tilia trees. Most of Europe calls the tree linden, while in Britain it's the lime tree, and it has nothing at all to do with the citrus fruit. Linden honey, lime honey and lime blossom honey are all the same thing. How it tastes. Light amber, sometimes with a slight greenish cast. The aroma is intense, fresh and floral, with herbal and faintly menthol notes you'll notice as soon as you open the jar. On the tongue it's rich and properly sweet, with a long, aromatic finish. A tip. Those aromas are delicate and fade with heat. If you're adding linden honey to a hot drink, let the water stand for a minute or two after boiling first. How to use it. In tea, which is the classic pairing. In warm milk last thing at night. Spooned over ricotta or thick yoghurt. With a blue cheese, which it's strong enough to stand up to. And in baking, since its character survives the oven, so it works beautifully in honey cake or medovik. Choose it if you find ordinary honey a bit flat and want one with real personality. Shop Organic Linden Honey Organic Blossom Honey with Honeycomb: the showpiece What it is. A jar of liquid blossom honey with a hand-cut piece of honeycomb sitting in it, roughly 120 to 150 g of comb per jar. In beekeeping this is called chunk honey. The comb is cut by hand from full frames, so every piece is a slightly different size and shape. How it tastes. The liquid honey is light amber to amber, floral and sweet, varying a little with the season's flowers. The comb adds texture: the honey floods out as soon as you bite, and you're left with soft wax. Yes, you eat the comb. Wax and all. Our honeycomb guide answers every question people ask about it. How to use it. On a cheeseboard, where it looks the part and tastes even better next to blue cheese or manchego. On hot buttered toast or sourdough. Cut it with a knife rather than scooping with a spoon. Choose it if you want something to put on the table rather than keep in the cupboard, or you're looking for a food gift that people remember. Shop Organic Blossom Honey with Honeycomb Organic Wildflower Honey: the everyday jar What it is. A multifloral honey, meaning the bees drew on whatever happened to be flowering around the hives that season rather than a single crop. Change the weather, the site or the time of year and the honey changes with it. Why no two batches are identical. Large commercial packers blend that variation away to produce the same house flavour year after year. Our wildflower honey isn't blended to a standard, so a batch after a wet spring tastes a little different from one after a dry summer. How it tastes. Amber, floral and rich on the nose, with gentle fruity and herbal notes underneath. Sweet and well balanced, with a finish that lingers without overstaying. How to use it. This is the jar that lives by the kettle. Porridge, toast, pancakes and Greek yoghurt. Marinades for chicken or halloumi with lemon and thyme. Dressings, where it balances sharp vinegar better than a very mild honey. And baking, where it has enough character to come through. If you're swapping honey for sugar in a recipe, use about three-quarters of the amount, cut the other liquid slightly and lower the oven by around 15°C, because honey browns faster than sugar does. Choose it if you want one honey that does a bit of everything well. Shop Organic Wildflower Honey Organic Forest Honey: dark, malty and not from flowers What it is. Forest honey is honeydew honey, and it isn't made from nectar at all. Sap-sucking insects such as aphids feed on trees, take what they need and leave behind a sugary residue on the leaves and bark. The bees collect that instead. Same bees, same hives, entirely different raw material. How we know it's genuine. Honeydew honey is much richer in minerals than blossom honey, and minerals conduct electricity. Under the EU Honey Directive, 2001/110/EC, honeydew honey must have an electrical conductivity of at least 0.8 mS/cm. Our forest honey is specified at 1.00 mS/cm. Our acacia honey, for comparison, measures around 0.15. How it tastes. Dark amber to almost black. Woody, resinous and malty rather than flowery, with a faintly caramelised depth. It's noticeably less sweet than the other four, and thick and dense in the jar. How to use it. Think of it as closer to black treacle than to ordinary honey. On sourdough with plenty of salted butter. With mature cheddar or aged pecorino. In glazes for ham, roast roots or barbecue sauce. In gingerbread, parkin or rye bread. And in coffee, where its maltiness works better than a delicate honey would. Choose it if you think you don't like honey. It's the one most likely to change your mind. Shop Organic Forest Honey Which honey for what: a quick guide For tea: Linden if you want aroma, Acacia if you want sweetness and nothing else For coffee: Forest For a cheeseboard: Blossom Honey with Honeycomb, or Forest with a strong hard cheese For porridge and toast: Wildflower For baking: Wildflower for everyday bakes, Forest for anything dark and spiced For dressings and drizzling: Acacia For a honey that stays runny: Acacia For people who don't like honey: Forest As a gift: Blossom Honey with Honeycomb A few common questions Is darker honey better than lighter honey? No. Colour reflects the plants the bees fed on and the minerals that came with them, not quality. Dark honeys are stronger in flavour; pale ones are more delicate. It's a matter of taste. Which honey stays liquid the longest? Acacia, because of its high fructose content. For the full explanation, and what to do when a honey does set, see why honey goes solid. Are all five honeys organic? Yes. All five are certified organic under Regulation (EU) 2018/848, from a single European producer, and every batch is tested four ways for authenticity. Here's what those tests involve. Can babies have honey? No. The NHS advises that honey should not be given to babies under 12 months old. That applies to every honey, including the honeycomb. Is honey suitable for vegans? No. Honey is made by bees and isn't considered vegan.

Some time after you open a jar of honey, often a few weeks and occasionally just a few days, you notice it isn't pouring the way it used to. It turns cloudy, then thick, then solid enough to stand a spoon in. This is the question we're asked about more than any other, so here's the complete answer. Crystallised honey hasn't gone off Start with the reassuring part. Solid honey is not spoiled honey. It's the same honey, with the same flavour, arranged differently. You can eat it as it is, spread it like butter, or turn it back into liquid in a few minutes. It's so normal, in fact, that some honey is sold crystallised on purpose. Set honey and creamed honey are simply honey whose crystallisation has been controlled to produce a fine, smooth texture. What's happening inside the jar Honey is mostly sugar with very little water, usually less than 20%. That's far more sugar than water can normally keep dissolved at room temperature. Chemists call this a supersaturated solution, and supersaturated solutions don't stay settled for long. Given time, some of the sugar comes out of solution and forms crystals. The sugar responsible is glucose. Honey's two main sugars are fructose and glucose, and glucose is considerably less soluble in water than fructose is. So glucose is the one that drops out first. Each new crystal gives the next one something to grow on, and gradually the process spreads through the whole jar. Fructose stays dissolved. That's why a crystallised jar sometimes has a thin runny layer on top or around the edges. It's the part of the honey that hasn't set. Why some honeys set in weeks and others stay runny for months Every honey crystallises in the end. How quickly depends mainly on three things. The balance of sugars. A honey with plenty of fructose relative to glucose has less glucose available to crystallise, so it stays liquid for longer. Acacia honey is the classic example: it's naturally high in fructose and can remain pourable for many months. At the opposite end, honey from oilseed rape is high in glucose and can set within weeks, sometimes days. Tiny particles. Pollen grains, specks of wax and even small air bubbles all give glucose crystals a place to start forming. Honey that has been heavily filtered has fewer of these starting points. Honey that hasn't tends to crystallise sooner. Temperature. This is the one you can control, so it gets a section of its own. The temperature that matters most Honey crystallises fastest between about 11°C and 16°C. That's a very common temperature for a cool larder, a cupboard on an outside wall, or a kitchen in winter, and it's why so many people notice their honey setting once the weather turns. To slow crystallisation down, keep your honey somewhere steady and reasonably warm. We recommend 20 to 22°C, which in most homes simply means an ordinary kitchen cupboard, away from the back door and out of direct sunlight. There are two places worth avoiding: The fridge. There's no food safety reason to keep honey cold. Chilled honey is stiff and difficult to spoon, and keeping it there gains you nothing. Beside the oven or on a sunny windowsill. Warmth won't make honey unsafe, but sustained heat slowly darkens it, dulls its flavour and raises its level of HMF, a compound laboratories measure to tell how much a honey has been heated or aged. How to make crystallised honey runny again All you need is a bowl of warm water and a little patience. Loosen the lid of the jar. Stand the jar in a bowl or pan of warm water, at around 40°C. That's comfortably warm to the touch, like a bath, rather than hot. Leave it for 10 to 20 minutes, stirring now and then once the honey begins to soften. Top up the water if it cools. Dry the jar, tighten the lid and return it to the cupboard. And a few things not to do: Don't use the microwave. Microwaves heat unevenly, so some of the honey ends up far hotter than you intended. Don't use boiling water or put the jar on the hob. Honey's natural enzymes, including diastase and invertase, break down with heat. So do its more delicate aromas, such as the herbal notes in linden honey, which are usually the first thing to go. Warmed honey will crystallise again in time. You can repeat the process whenever you need to. Just keep it gentle each time. The one jar you shouldn't warm If you have a jar of our Organic Blossom Honey with Honeycomb, leave it out of the warm water. Beeswax softens at fairly low temperatures, and a warm bath will slump the comb. If the liquid honey around the comb sets, cut through it with a knife instead. Set honey alongside a piece of comb is very good on hot toast. There's more on serving it in our honeycomb guide. White streaks and frosting Now and again a jar develops white streaks, patches or a lacy pattern on the inside of the glass, usually near the top. This is known as frosting. It happens when tiny pockets of air become trapped as the honey crystallises, or when the honey shrinks very slightly and pulls away from the glass. Frosting is purely cosmetic and makes no difference to the honey at all. Does crystallisation prove honey is real? You'll see this claim a lot online. It isn't quite right. Crystallisation is normal for genuine honey and nothing to worry about. But it isn't a purity test. Some real honeys, acacia in particular, stay liquid for a very long time. And honey that has been mixed with syrup can still crystallise, depending on what's gone into it. Whether a honey is genuine can only be settled in a laboratory, which is why every batch of our honey is tested four different ways. We explain those tests in our article on honey labels and honey fraud. Can honey go off? Sealed honey is remarkably stable. Its low water content and natural acidity make it a very poor home for the microbes that spoil most foods. When honey is diluted, an enzyme it contains called glucose oxidase also produces small amounts of hydrogen peroxide. The thing that can go wrong is moisture. Honey draws water in from the air around it. Leave a jar open in a steamy kitchen, or keep dipping a wet spoon into it, and the top layer can take on enough water to begin fermenting. You'd notice a sour or slightly boozy smell, and possibly some foam on the surface. Keep the lid on and use a clean, dry spoon, and it won't happen. Storing honey: the short version Keep it at 20 to 22°C if you can. Avoid the 11 to 16°C range, which sets honey fastest. Lid on, a dry spoon, and out of direct sunlight. If it sets, use warm water at around 40°C. Never boiling water, never the microwave. Leave the honeycomb jar out of the water altogether. If you'd like a honey that stays runny for as long as possible, choose Organic Acacia Honey. For how it compares with the rest of the range, see our guide to choosing a honey.

There are two kinds of people when it comes to food between meals. Snackers want one thing, at one time. A biscuit with a cup of tea. A bag of crisps at four o'clock. Grazers are different. A handful of nuts on the way past the cupboard. A couple of apricots with a coffee. A spoonful of something straight from the jar. Grazers rarely sit down to a snack, but they're rarely without something to pick at either. A big bag of one thing gets dull for a grazer within days. What they want is variety, and everything within reach. That's the idea behind this hamper. What's inside Six full-size packs, running from sweet to savoury. RAWGORILLA Raw Organic Pecan Butter, 200g Organic pecans, stone-ground at low temperature, and nothing else. It's mellow and slightly toffee-like, softer and sweeter-tasting than most nut butters, and low in carbohydrate at 4.3 g per 100 g. It's the one item in the hamper you eat with a spoon. Spread it on toast, stir it into porridge, or put it in a small bowl in the middle of a board for dipping apricots and mango. Good to know. There are no stabilisers, so the oil separates naturally. Give it a stir before using. For more on what to look for in a nut butter, see how to choose the best nut butter. Deluxe Mixed Nuts Cashews, almonds, brazils, hazelnuts, walnuts and peanuts, in exactly equal parts: one sixth each. That's less common than you might think. Many mixed nut blends lean heavily on peanuts, which are the cheapest to buy, and go lightly on the expensive nuts. This mix doesn't. The nuts are raw and unsalted, with 18 g of protein per 100 g. Organic Dried Mango Slices Chewy, sweet slices of organic mango from Burkina Faso, with no added sugar. The most instantly likeable thing in the box. Goji Berries, 250g Sun-dried goji berries, also known as wolfberries, from Ningxia in northern China, the region most famous for growing them. They taste sweet and slightly sour, a bit like a raisin with a tangy edge, and they're chewy rather than soft. Natural Whole Apricots, 250g Turkish apricots, hand-pitted and slowly dried in the sun. You'll notice they're brown rather than bright orange. That's because they haven't been treated with sulphur dioxide, which is what keeps most dried apricots that vivid colour. Without it, apricots darken naturally as they dry, and the flavour changes too: deeper, richer and closer to caramel than the bright, sharp sweetness of a sulphured apricot. Organic Omega Seed Mix, 250g Pumpkin, sunflower, linseed and sesame seeds. The one you scatter over everything else: yoghurt, salads, porridge, soup, or into bread dough. Why a grazing hamper works Variety is the point. Six different textures and flavours means there's always something different to reach for. Nothing gets boring. It builds a board in two minutes. Tip the nuts, apricots, mango and goji berries into small bowls, put the pecan butter in the middle, and you have a grazing board with no cooking and no shopping. It keeps. Everything is a store-cupboard item with a long shelf life. It doesn't need eating in a week, which suits a grazer perfectly. Nothing in it is a mystery. Nuts, seeds, fruit and ground pecans. The longest ingredient list in the whole hamper is the mixed nuts, and every ingredient on it is a nut. How to build a grazing board from the hamper Pick a board or a large plate. Wood looks best, but anything flat will do. Place the pecan butter first. Spoon it into a small bowl and put it slightly off-centre. Everything else goes around it. Add the big items. Arrange the apricots and mango slices in loose piles, fanned out rather than stacked. Fill the gaps with nuts. Tip small handfuls of mixed nuts into the spaces between the fruit. Finish with colour. Scatter the goji berries across the board for flecks of red, and sprinkle a pinch of seed mix over the nuts. Add what you have. Cheese, oatcakes, grapes, sliced apple or a few squares of dark chocolate all fit in. The fruit and nut butter together are the best part. Try an apricot dipped in pecan butter. More ways to use everything Pecan butter: on toast or pancakes, stirred through porridge, or with sliced apple Mixed nuts: by the handful, roasted with a little salt and rosemary, or chopped over salads Mango: straight from the bag, or chopped into flapjacks and muffins Goji berries: over a smoothie bowl or granola, or steeped in hot water with fresh ginger Apricots: chopped into a tagine, a stew or a bowl of porridge Seed mix: over yoghurt, soups and salads, or kneaded into bread dough Or combine the mixed nuts, mango and goji berries into your own trail mix for walks and long drives. Who it's for Grazers. Obviously. Anyone who works from home and picks at food throughout the day, or keeps a bowl of something on the desk. Vegans. All six items are suitable for vegan and vegetarian diets. People who like to host. It makes an instant grazing board for friends who drop by. Walkers, cyclists and anyone on the move. Nuts, seeds and dried fruit travel well. Someone trying to eat fewer ultra-processed snacks. Every item is a whole food, with nothing added. Who it isn't for Anyone with a nut allergy. This hamper contains a lot of nuts: pecans in the nut butter, and peanuts, hazelnuts, cashews, brazils, almonds and walnuts in the mixed nuts. The seed mix contains sesame. Everything is packed in an environment that also handles mustard, celery, soya and gluten. Someone looking for a fully organic hamper. Three of the six items are certified organic: the pecan butter, the mango and the seed mix. The mixed nuts, goji berries and apricots aren't. If organic matters most, the Organic Snack Hamper is certified all the way through. Here's what's in it. Chocolate lovers. There's no chocolate in this one. For help matching a hamper to the person, see how to choose a food hamper someone will actually eat. Storing everything Keep everything in a cool, dry place away from sunlight. The pouches reseal, so close them after opening or move the contents into airtight containers. Stir the pecan butter before use and finish it within three months of opening. Full allergy information Contains pecans, peanuts, hazelnuts, cashews, brazil nuts, almonds, walnuts and sesame. All items are vegan and vegetarian, GMO-free and have no added sugar. Full ingredients for every item are listed on the product page. Always read the label on each product when it arrives. Shop the Healthy Grazing Hamper

We wanted to build a hamper that avoided everything we dislike about hampers: the straw, the miniatures, the sachet of something nobody asked for. So we started with one rule. Every item had to be something a person would genuinely eat, and every item had to be certified organic. Not "natural". Not "wholesome". Certified. We ended up with five. Here's what they are, why each one made the cut, and who we think the hamper suits, as well as who it doesn't. The five items 1. Chocolate & Love Organic 55% Chocolate with Sea Salt & Caramel, 80g The one to open first. Crunchy caramel pieces through a smooth 55% chocolate, with a pinch of sea salt at the end that keeps it from being too sweet. Why it's here. It's won a Great Taste Award, the food awards run by the Guild of Fine Food, where judges taste every entry blind. They described it as "well balanced and delicious" and said the salty finish "left us craving more". The cacao is bought directly from Fairtrade cooperatives in Peru and the Dominican Republic. Worth knowing. The caramel is made with whole milk powder and butter, so this bar isn't vegan. 2. Bennetto Organic Toasted Hazelnut Dark Chocolate, 80g A 60% dark chocolate with 12% toasted hazelnuts, made in Switzerland from certified organic, Fairtrade ingredients. Why it's here. It's the counterpoint to the first bar: darker, less sweet, and properly nutty. Bennetto is also a certified B Corporation, which means the company has been independently assessed on how it treats its workers, suppliers and the environment. Worth knowing. This bar is vegan and gluten free. If you've ever wondered why a bar like this costs more than a supermarket multipack, we explain it in why real chocolate is so expensive. 3. Stock & Bite Organic Whole Cashew Nuts, 1kg A full kilo. One ingredient, nothing added, with 17 g of protein per 100 g. Why it's here. Because a hamper should outlast the evening it's opened. The chocolate will be gone within days. The cashews will still be in the cupboard weeks later, going into stir-fries and curries, blended into cashew cream, or eaten by the handful. How to keep them fresh. Decant them into an airtight jar once opened and keep them somewhere cool and dark. There's more in our guide to storing nuts so they never go rancid. 4. Whole Food Earth Organic Cacao Nibs, 250g Crushed cacao beans from Peru. This is chocolate before anything has been added to it: no sugar, no milk, nothing but the bean. Why it's here. They're the surprise in the box. Cacao nibs are crunchy and properly bitter, with a flavour somewhere between dark chocolate and roasted coffee. Most people haven't cooked with them, and once they have, they tend to keep a bag in the cupboard. How to use them. Scatter over porridge, yoghurt or a smoothie bowl. Stir through cookie dough or banana bread in place of chocolate chips. Or add a spoonful to granola. 5. Whole Food Earth Organic Dried Mango Slices, 250g Chewy, intensely sweet slices of mango from Burkina Faso, with no added sugar. Why it's here. Something sweet that isn't chocolate. Dried mango sits happily next to the cashews for an afternoon snack, and chopped into flapjacks or muffins it adds sweetness without extra sugar. Why these five work together Something now, something later. Two chocolate bars to open straight away, and three store-cupboard items that keep for months. The gift doesn't end on the first night. Sweet, bitter, salty, nutty. Salted caramel, dark hazelnut, bitter cacao, sweet mango and plain cashews. There's no single flavour repeated. Full-size products. Nothing here is a sample. The cashews alone are a kilo. Certified all the way through. All five items are certified organic, and both chocolate bars are Fairtrade. Who it's for People who care where their food comes from. Someone who reads labels, buys organic and would notice the difference between a Fairtrade bar and a supermarket gift box. Chocolate lovers who've outgrown milk chocolate. Both bars are grown-up chocolate, and the cacao nibs will interest anyone curious about where chocolate starts. Anyone hard to buy for. A hamper of good food is a safe gift that doesn't feel like a safe gift. Someone who cooks. The cashews, cacao nibs and mango are all ingredients as much as snacks. As a thank you. For a teacher, a neighbour, a colleague or a host. It's generous without being extravagant. Who it isn't for We'd rather say this plainly than have a hamper go to the wrong person. Vegans. The Chocolate & Love bar contains milk powder and butter, so the hamper as a whole is vegetarian, not vegan. The Bennetto bar on its own is vegan. Anyone with a nut allergy. The hamper contains cashews and hazelnuts. Some items may also contain traces of almonds and peanuts, and the cashews, cacao nibs and mango are packed in an environment that handles nuts, peanuts, sesame, mustard, celery, soya and gluten. Anyone with a milk allergy. The salted caramel bar contains milk, and the Bennetto bar may contain traces of it. Someone who'd rather have savoury. This hamper leans sweet. For someone who prefers nuts, seeds and something to pick at, the Healthy Grazing Hamper is a better fit. For more on matching a hamper to the person, see how to choose a food hamper someone will actually eat. Storing everything Keep the cashews, cacao nibs and mango in a cool, dry place away from sunlight. The bags aren't resealable, so transfer them to airtight containers once they're open. Keep the chocolate away from sunlight and heat, ideally between 15 and 18°C. The fridge isn't a good place for it: chocolate picks up moisture and other flavours there, and can develop a white bloom on the surface. It's still safe to eat, but it loses its snap. Full allergy information Contains cashew nuts, hazelnuts and milk. May also contain almonds, peanuts and soya. Suitable for vegetarians. Full ingredients for every item are listed on the product page. Always read the label on each product when it arrives. Shop the Organic Snack Hamper

Most of us have received one. A large, handsome basket, a lot of shredded paper, and inside: a miniature jar of chutney, a sachet of hot chocolate, a small packet of shortbread and a mystery condiment that sits in the cupboard until it expires. A food hamper should be the easiest present in the world. Everyone eats. So why do so many end up half wasted? Usually it's because the hamper was designed to look generous in a photograph rather than to be eaten. Here's how to tell the difference before you buy. Look past the basket A wicker basket, a wooden crate, shredded paper and ribbon all cost money, and all of it comes out of what's left to spend on the food. A hamper that looks impressive in a picture isn't necessarily one with much inside. Before you judge a hamper by how big it looks, find the contents list. If you can't find one, that tells you something too. Check the sizes as well as the number of items "Fifteen items" sounds more generous than "five items". It often isn't. Miniature jars and single-serve sachets pad out a list quickly. Look for the weight or volume of each item. A hamper with five full-size products will usually give far more food, and far more use, than one with fifteen samples. A useful test: would you buy each item at that size for your own kitchen? If most of them are too small to bother with, the hamper is mostly packaging. Work out the value Most shops sell the same products individually. Add up what the contents would cost bought separately and compare it with the price of the hamper. A good hamper should come out close to, or below, the cost of its parts. You're paying for someone to choose, pack and present it, which is worth something. But if the hamper costs twice what's inside, the difference is going on the basket. Order earlier than you think Hampers are popular at exactly the times delivery services are busiest, especially the weeks before Christmas. Stock of the best-made hampers can also run short, because they're packed in batches rather than produced endlessly. If the hamper is for a particular date, order a couple of weeks ahead and check the retailer's last posting dates. Store-cupboard hampers make this easy: nothing in them will spoil while it waits in a cupboard for the big day. If you're sending it straight to someone else, check whether the retailer can include a gift note and leave out the invoice, so the recipient doesn't see the price. Think about how long it lasts A hamper full of fresh cheese and cured meat needs eating within days, which is fine for a party and awkward for someone who lives alone or is away for a week. A mix works best. Something to open straight away, like a bar of good chocolate, alongside things that keep for months in a cupboard: nuts, dried fruit, honey, oats, nut butter. The gift keeps giving long after the first evening, and nothing goes to waste. Check best before dates too, especially if you're buying well ahead of an occasion. Read the allergy information properly This is where food gifts go wrong most often, and it matters more than anything else on this list. UK law requires 14 major allergens to be declared on food labels, including peanuts, tree nuts, milk, sesame, soya and cereals containing gluten. A well-made hamper should list the allergens in every item it contains, plus any "may contain" warnings. If you're buying for someone with an allergy, don't rely on the name of the hamper. "Healthy", "natural" and "organic" say nothing about nuts or milk. Read the full ingredients, and if a hamper doesn't list them, choose a different one. The same goes for diets. A hamper can be vegetarian but not vegan because of a single chocolate bar containing milk. If it matters, check each item. Match the hamper to the person The best hampers feel chosen. A few questions help: Do they cook? A keen cook will enjoy ingredients: good oils, spices, honey, speciality flours. Someone who doesn't cook wants things they can eat as they are. How do they eat? Some people sit down to a treat in the evening. Others pick at food throughout the day, a handful of nuts here, a few apricots there. The second kind of person will get more from a hamper built for grazing. Sweet or savoury? It sounds obvious, but many hampers are mostly sweet. Plenty of people would rather have crisps and nuts than another box of biscuits. Any dietary needs? Vegan, gluten free, nut free or organic narrows the field quickly and makes the choice easier. Who else is at home? A family hamper should have things children will eat too. Look for honest labels "Artisan", "gourmet", "luxury" and "wholesome" have no legal definition. Anyone can print them on a box. "Organic" is different. In the UK, food sold as organic must be certified, and each product carries the code of the body that inspected it. If an organic hamper matters to you, check that the individual items are certified. The word on the outside of the box proves nothing. The same applies to Fairtrade. Look for the mark on the product, not the marketing. Our hampers, and who they're for We built our hampers around the idea running through this whole article: full-size products that people actually want, with the contents, sizes and allergens listed clearly. Organic Snack Hamper. Five certified organic items, including two Fairtrade chocolate bars and a full kilo of cashews. Built as a gift for someone who appreciates good food. Vegetarian, not vegan, and it contains nuts and milk. Here's what's inside and why. Healthy Grazing Hamper. Six full-size packs of nuts, seeds, dried fruit and a jar of pecan butter, for people who pick at food throughout the day. All six items are vegan. Here's how it works. School Lunchbox Bundle. Six store-cupboard snacks for a parent to portion out over the school term. Less a gift than a very practical shortcut. Before you buy any hamper, from us or anyone else, check one more thing: could you get the same products for less? Members of the free Whole Food Earth Club see member prices when they're logged in at checkout. A quick checklist Before you buy a food hamper, ask: Is there a full contents list, with sizes? Are the products full-size, or mostly samples? How does the price compare with buying the items separately? Is there a mix of things to eat now and things that keep? Are all allergens and "may contain" warnings listed? Does it suit how this person actually eats? If it says organic or Fairtrade, are the individual products certified? If the answer to most of these is yes, you've found a hamper that will be eaten rather than tidied away.

A recipe asks for coconut milk. The cupboard holds a tin of coconut cream, a hard white block and a carton from the chiller. Will any of them do? Some will, with a little adjustment. One definitely won't. They're all made from the same nut, but they're made in different ways, and the difference is mostly about how much fat and how much water you're getting. Where they all start Every one of these products begins with the white flesh of a mature coconut. It isn't the clear liquid you hear sloshing about inside the nut. That's coconut water, a different thing entirely. To make coconut milk, the flesh is grated and pressed, usually with some water, and the rich white liquid that runs out is collected. Change how much water goes in, or what happens to the flesh afterwards, and you get each of the products below. Coconut milk This is the everyday one. Coconut milk is the pressed liquid from the grated flesh, loosened with water to a pourable consistency. Our RAWGORILLA Organic Coconut Milk contains 11 to 12% fat and just two ingredients: organic coconut extract and water. That's rich enough to make a proper curry and light enough to go into porridge or a smoothie without taking over. Use it for: Thai and Indian curries, laksa, dhal, soups, rice pudding, overnight oats and smoothies. Coconut cream Coconut cream is made the same way but with much less water, so it's thicker, richer and more intensely flavoured. Think of it as the double cream to coconut milk's single. RAWGORILLA Organic Coconut Cream is 24% fat, roughly twice as rich as the milk. It contains small amounts of guar gum and xanthan gum, two plant-based thickeners that help keep it smooth rather than grainy. Use it for: richer curries and satay sauces, desserts, dairy-free ice cream, panna cotta, and as a dollop over fruit. It also works in cocktails such as a piña colada. A note on whipping. Coconut cream will whip once the solid fat has been chilled. For the most reliable result, use a cream made specifically for it, such as Biona Organic Coconut Whipping Cream, at 30% fat. Chill the tin overnight, open it without shaking, scoop the thick part into a cold bowl and whisk. Creamed coconut This is the one that trips people up. Creamed coconut isn't a liquid at all. It's the whole coconut flesh, dried and ground into a dense paste, then set into a hard block. Nothing is pressed out and thrown away, so the fibre stays in. That makes it the most concentrated of the lot. Biona Organic Creamed Coconut is around 68% fat, with 16 g of fibre per 100 g, and its only ingredient is organic coconut. How to use it. Grate or chop what you need straight into a simmering curry or soup, and it melts into the sauce as it cooks. To make a quick coconut milk from the block, dissolve 50 g in 100 ml of warm water and stir until smooth. Use it for: curries and stews where you want coconut flavour without adding more liquid, and for baking, fudge and coconut ice. Because it keeps well in the cupboard, a block is handy to have in reserve for the evening you discover you've run out of tins. Coconut milk in a carton The coconut milk sold in cartons, often in the chiller or next to oat and almond milk, is a drink rather than an ingredient. It's much thinner than tinned coconut milk and is made to be poured over cereal or into tea and coffee. Many brands add calcium and vitamins, as Koko does. It won't give you a rich curry. Keep it for the breakfast table. Cream of coconut and condensed coconut milk Two more to know about, because they're sweetened and a mix-up can ruin a savoury dish. Cream of coconut is a sweetened coconut cream made mainly for cocktails. It's a different product from coconut cream, despite the near-identical name. Sweetened condensed coconut milk is the dairy-free equivalent of a tin of condensed milk: coconut cooked down with sugar until thick. Biona's version is made from organic coconut and organic cane sugar. It's brilliant in banoffee pie, fudge and iced coffee, and a disaster in a Thai green curry. If a tin says "sweetened" or "condensed", it belongs in pudding. Coconut milk vs coconut cream vs creamed coconut at a glance Coconut milk: pourable, around 11 to 12% fat. The everyday choice for curries and soups. Coconut cream: thick, around 24% fat. For richness, desserts and satay. Coconut whipping cream: thick, around 30% fat. For whipping and topping cakes. Creamed coconut: a solid block, around 68% fat, with the fibre left in. Grate it into sauces or dissolve it into a quick milk. Carton coconut milk: thin and drinkable. For cereal and hot drinks, not cooking. Cream of coconut and condensed coconut milk: sweetened. For cocktails and desserts only. Can you swap one for another? Mostly, yes. Here's how. Coconut cream instead of coconut milk. Mix the cream with roughly the same volume of water. Since the cream is about twice as rich, halving it with water brings it close to milk. Coconut milk instead of coconut cream. Harder, because you can't take water out easily. Use the milk and simmer the sauce for longer to reduce it, or stir in a little grated creamed coconut to make up the richness. Creamed coconut instead of coconut milk. Keep to the ratio of 50 g of block to 100 ml of warm water and scale it up to the amount the recipe needs. The result is a little thicker and more textured than tinned milk, because the fibre is still in it. Carton milk instead of tinned. Only in a pinch, and expect a thin, pale sauce. Why is my coconut milk solid in the tin? Nothing has gone wrong. Coconut fat is solid below about 25°C, which means a tin kept in a cool British cupboard will often have a thick white layer on top and thin liquid underneath when you open it. It's a sign of real coconut, and there's no harm in it. Either shake the tin well before opening, or tip everything into the pan and stir as it warms. It will come back together within a minute or two. Coconut milk with no added thickeners, like ours, separates more readily than one with stabilisers, for the same reason. Cooking tips that make a difference Simmer, don't boil hard. A rolling boil can make coconut milk look split or curdled, with oil pooling on the surface. It's perfectly safe to eat, but a gentle simmer keeps a sauce smooth and glossy. Add it towards the end if you want it fresh. Coconut milk added in the last ten minutes keeps a brighter, sweeter coconut flavour than one that has cooked for an hour. Try the Thai trick. In many Thai curries, the thick cream from the top of the tin is heated first until its oil begins to separate, and the curry paste is fried in it before the rest of the liquid goes in. It gives a deeper, more aromatic sauce. Store opened tins in the fridge. Decant what's left into a clean container, keep it chilled and use it within about three days. Leftovers freeze well in an ice cube tray, ready to drop into a sauce or smoothie. Where to start If you only keep one thing in the cupboard, make it a tin of coconut milk. Add a tin of coconut cream for puddings and richer sauces, and a block of creamed coconut as your backup. For a ready-spiced shortcut, the Wild Elephant Organic Green Curry Coconut Milk has the paste already stirred in. And for the rest of the coconut, including why virgin coconut oil behaves the way it does, see our guide to raw organic virgin coconut oil.

Pick up a jar of supermarket honey and turn it round. Somewhere near the barcode, in small print, there's a good chance you'll find the words "blend of EU and non-EU honeys". It sounds official. It isn't telling you very much. What the phrase tells you, and what it doesn't Honey labels have to state where the honey came from. When a jar holds honey from a single country, that country is named. When it holds honey from several countries, the label can use a general phrase instead, and "blend of EU and non-EU honeys" is the one you'll see most often. Read literally, it covers honey from almost anywhere in the world. It doesn't say which countries are in the jar, how many, or in what proportions. It doesn't name the beekeeper or the season. A packer could change the mix from one batch to the next and the wording on the label wouldn't need to change at all. None of this means blended honey is bad honey. It does mean the label gives you nothing to judge it by. Why honey is worth faking Honey is slow and costly to produce. Bees gather nectar from a huge number of flowers, carry it back to the hive, and then fan it until most of the water has evaporated. Only then is it honey. Sugar syrups made from rice, maize, beet or cane can be produced in bulk for a fraction of the cost. That price gap is the whole problem. A well-made mixture of honey and syrup looks like honey, pours like honey and tastes close enough to honey that nobody standing at a supermarket shelf could tell the difference. What the European Commission found Between November 2021 and February 2022, the European Commission ran a coordinated check on honey being imported into the EU. National authorities took 320 samples from incoming consignments and sent them for laboratory analysis. 147 of those 320 samples, or 46%, were flagged as suspicious of being bulked out with sugar syrup. "Suspicious" is a careful word. It means the laboratory results didn't match the profile of genuine honey closely enough to be passed, rather than that every one of those consignments was proven fake. Even so, it's a remarkable figure. The Commission published its findings under the title "From the Hives", and the full report is available on the European Commission's food safety pages. How syrup gets past a basic check For a long time, honey fraud was relatively easy to catch. Cheap syrups were mostly made from cane or maize. Both are what botanists call C4 plants, which process carbon slightly differently from most flowering plants. That difference leaves a measurable trace in the ratio of carbon isotopes in their sugars. Nectar comes mainly from C3 plants, so a laboratory could compare the two and spot syrup that didn't belong. Fraud adapted. Syrups made from rice or sugar beet come from C3 plants, so their carbon signature sits much closer to honey's own. Some syrups are now produced specifically to slip past the standard tests. The result is that no single test can be relied on any more. Serious producers use several, each looking at the honey in a different way, so that a sample has to pass all of them. The four tests behind every batch of our honey Every batch of RAWGORILLA honey is checked four ways before it goes into a jar. NMR profiling. Nuclear magnetic resonance reads the chemical fingerprint of a sample as a whole, measuring many compounds at once, and compares it against a large database of authenticated honeys. Added syrup changes that fingerprint even when the main sugars look normal on their own. Stable isotope analysis (IRMS). Isotope ratio mass spectrometry is the carbon test described above, used to look for sugars from both C4 and C3 sources that shouldn't be there. Pollen analysis. Honey carries pollen from the plants the bees visited. Identifying and counting it confirms the botanical source. This matters most for single-variety honeys such as acacia or linden, where the name on the jar is a promise about which flowers the bees worked. HPLC sugar profiling. High-performance liquid chromatography separates the individual sugars in a sample and measures each one. Genuine honey has a characteristic balance of fructose, glucose and smaller sugars. Syrups tend to disturb that balance or leave traces of sugars that have no business being in honey. The same batches are also tested for residues. Glyphosate, pesticides, heavy metals and a full panel of antibiotics all come back as not detected. What "organic" means for honey Bees fly wherever they please, so organic certification for honey works differently from organic certification for carrots. Under the EU's organic regulation, Regulation (EU) 2018/848, the rules reach out beyond the hive: Within 3 km of the hives, the bees' forage has to consist essentially of organic crops or wild vegetation. The hives themselves have to be built mainly from natural materials. Synthetic chemical repellents can't be used while the honey is being extracted. Colonies must be left with enough of their own honey and pollen to get through the winter. Feeding is only allowed if a colony's survival is at risk, and then only with organic honey, organic sugar or organic sugar syrup. Our honey is certified organic under that regulation by certification body BG-BIO-02. How to shop for honey you can trust You can't run an NMR scan in your kitchen. You can read a label properly, though, and a few habits go a long way. Look for a stated origin. A named country tells you more than a blend statement ever will. Look for a single producer. Honey from one producer can be traced back to its source. Honey pooled from many suppliers is much harder to vouch for. Look for an organic certification code. Certified organic honey carries the code of the body that inspected it. It's small, but it's there. Don't rely on kitchen tests. You may have come across advice about dropping honey into a glass of water, dabbing it on your thumb or trying to set it alight. None of these reliably detects added syrup. A thick, well-made adulterated honey can pass every one of them, and some genuine honeys fail. Crystallisation isn't a purity test either: it's perfectly normal for real honey, but it proves nothing on its own. We explain why in our guide to why honey goes solid. Be wary of a price that seems too good. Honey costs real money to make. A very cheap jar of it had to come from somewhere. Why our honey is sourced this way Everything above explains how the RAWGORILLA honey range is put together: a single European producer, certified organic beekeeping, and four separate authenticity tests on every batch. There are five honeys in the range, and they're very different from one another: Organic Acacia Honey, pale, mild and slow to set Organic Linden Honey, intensely aromatic with a herbal finish Organic Wildflower Honey, the everyday jar, varying gently with the seasons Organic Forest Honey, dark, malty and made from honeydew rather than nectar Organic Blossom Honey with Honeycomb, liquid honey with a hand-cut piece of comb in the jar If you're not sure where to start, our guide to choosing a honey takes you through all five, from the palest jar to the darkest.

Packing a school lunchbox is a daily puzzle at the best of times. Add a nut-free rule to the mix, whether because of an allergy at home or a whole-school policy, and it can feel like your options shrink overnight. The good news is that a nut-free lunchbox can still be varied, filling and, crucially, one your child will actually eat. Here are plenty of ideas to keep things easy all term. The nut-free hero: seed butters If the ban on nuts has taken your peanut butter off the table, seed butters are the answer. They spread just like a nut butter, taste creamy and satisfying, and are completely nut-free. Our Raw Organic Sunflower Seed Butter is made from nothing but organic sunflower seeds, which makes it perfect for lunchboxes and nut-free classrooms alike. Spread it on wholemeal bread with sliced banana, swirl it with a little fruit jam, or use it as a dip for apple and carrot sticks. For a change, our hemp seed butter does the same job with its own nutty character. Simple sandwiches and wraps The humble sandwich still does the heavy lifting, so keep it interesting. Beyond seed butter and banana, try hummus with grated carrot or cucumber, mashed avocado with a squeeze of lemon, cream cheese with sliced tomato, or a wrap rolled around hummus and roasted vegetables. Cutting sandwiches into fingers, triangles or shapes genuinely helps with younger children, and swapping bread for a wrap, pitta or oatcakes now and then keeps lunch from feeling repetitive. Naturally nut-free snacks This is where a well-stocked cupboard pays off. Dried fruit such as raisins, apricots and dried mango satisfies a sweet tooth without a sugary wrapper. Seeds like pumpkin and sunflower add crunch and are a safe nut-free alternative for lunchboxes. Plain popcorn is light and fun, oatcakes and wholegrain crackers travel well, and a little pot of natural yoghurt with fruit rounds things off. Add some chopped fresh fruit and a few veg sticks, and the box is looking colourful already. Easy homemade treats A batch of homemade snacks at the weekend saves money and means you know exactly what is in them. Seed-butter oat energy balls come together in minutes: mix sunflower seed butter with oats, a little honey or mashed banana, seeds and dried fruit, roll into balls and chill. Flapjacks made with oats and seeds are a lunchbox classic, and homemade granola bars beat the shop-bought kind hands down. All of these are naturally nut-free when you build them around oats, seeds and dried fruit rather than nuts. A few tips to make it stick Getting children to eat what you pack is half the battle, so a little strategy helps. Let them help choose and assemble their lunch, since a child who picked it is far more likely to eat it. Keep some variety across the week so nothing gets boring, and don't be afraid to repeat the things they love. Above all, keep it simple: a nut-free lunchbox does not have to be elaborate to be healthy and happily eaten. With a jar of seed butter, a cupboard of dried fruit, seeds and oats, and a few easy homemade treats, nut-free lunches stop being a chore and start being genuinely enjoyable, for them and for you.

Every September, organic food and farming get their moment in the spotlight. Organic September is a nationwide campaign that runs throughout the month, encouraging people to give organic a go and to think a little more about where their food comes from. You don't need to overhaul your whole shop to take part. A few simple swaps are the whole idea. Here is what it's about, and why it might be worth joining in. What does organic actually mean? Organic is a way of growing and producing food to a certified set of standards. In practice, that means farming without synthetic pesticides and manufactured fertilisers, no genetically modified ingredients, and stricter rules on additives. Organic livestock is reared to higher animal-welfare standards, with more space and no routine use of antibiotics. When a product is labelled organic, it has been independently certified against these rules, so the word carries real meaning rather than being marketing language. Healthy soil, healthy food At the heart of organic farming is something easy to overlook: the soil. Rather than relying on synthetic chemicals, organic growers work to build healthy, living soil, using crop rotation, natural compost and careful land management. The thinking is simple and powerful. Healthy soil grows healthy plants, healthy plants make nourishing food, and the whole system supports the wildlife, insects and pollinators that our food ultimately depends on. Choosing organic is a vote for that way of doing things. Why people choose organic People come to organic for different reasons, and most are perfectly sound. Some want to reduce their exposure to synthetic pesticide residues, particularly on foods with thin, edible skins. Many choose it for the environment, because organic farming tends to support more wildlife, cleaner water and healthier soil. Others care most about animal welfare. It's worth being balanced here: the evidence that organic food is dramatically more nutritious is mixed, so the strongest case for organic is really about how the food is produced and its impact on nature, rather than a promise of a nutritional miracle. How to take part without overhauling everything The spirit of Organic September is small, doable changes, not perfection. The easiest place to start is with the foods you buy most often, since a swap you make every week adds up. Store-cupboard staples are perfect: think organic oats for breakfast, organic flour for baking, organic dried fruit, pulses and grains, and organic oils. Our organic range, certified to recognised organic standards, is full of exactly these everyday basics, from Organic Jumbo Oats to organic pulses and organic olive oil to organic flour. Eating organic on a budget Organic sometimes has a reputation for being expensive, but it doesn't have to be. The trick is to focus your organic spending where it matters most and to buy smart. Choosing organic versions of the staples you get through in quantity, and buying them in larger, better-value sizes, keeps the cost down. Members save more too, since our free Club unlocks lower prices across the range. Eating a little more organic really can fit a normal weekly budget. Organic September is simply an invitation to try. Swap one or two everyday items, notice how it feels, and see whether it becomes a habit that lasts beyond the month. It fits neatly with our own Whole Plate idea, that most of your plate, most of the time, should be real, thoughtfully produced food. Pick a couple of swaps, and you've already begun.

Take a look inside a typical school lunchbox and you'll often find the same cast of characters: a bag of crisps, a shiny cereal bar, a fruit-flavoured yoghurt, maybe a packet of sweets dressed up as fruit. They're convenient, and children like them, but most are ultra-processed, and British children now get a striking share of their calories from these kinds of foods. The good news is that you don't need a total overhaul to change that. A handful of simple swaps can quietly whole-food your child's lunchbox, without a fight at the kitchen table. Why bother swapping? Ultra-processed snacks tend to be high in sugar, salt and additives, and low on the fibre and goodness of real food. They're also designed to be moreish, which is exactly why the packet always comes home empty. Swapping them for simple whole-food alternatives means fewer hidden sugars, more of the nutrients growing children need, and often a smaller bill too. And because the swaps below are built around foods kids already enjoy, they rarely notice they've been made. Swap crisps for popcorn, seeds or oatcakes The lunchtime crisp packet is the obvious place to start. Plain popcorn gives you the same light, crunchy, moreish appeal for a fraction of the cost, and you can pop a big batch at home in minutes using our Organic Popping Corn. Roasted pumpkin or sunflower seeds are another satisfying, crunchy option that happens to be nut-free, which suits most school policies. Wholegrain oatcakes and crackers do the job too, especially with a little hummus or cheese. Swap sugary cereal bars for homemade oat bars Cereal bars sound wholesome, but many are closer to a biscuit, held together with syrups and sugars. Homemade oat bars and flapjacks are far better, and genuinely easy to make. A tray of flapjacks made from oats, a little honey or mashed banana, seeds and dried fruit will fill lunchboxes all week for pennies. Our Organic Jumbo Oats are the base for these, as well as for no-bake energy balls, which children love helping to roll. Swap sweets for dried fruit and fresh fruit Those brightly packaged fruit sweets and winders are usually more sugar than fruit. Real dried fruit satisfies the same sweet craving with fibre and nutrients along for the ride. Raisins, chopped apricots and dried mango all travel brilliantly and keep for ages, so a bag of our organic raisins in the cupboard is a lunchbox lifesaver. Add some fresh fruit too, cut into easy-to-eat pieces, and the sweet slot is more than covered. Dried fruit is sticky and sugary, mind, so it's best packed alongside a meal rather than grazed on all day. Swap fruit-flavoured yoghurts for plain yoghurt and fruit Flavoured children's yoghurts can carry a surprising amount of sugar. A pot of plain natural yoghurt, topped at home with fresh or dried fruit and a sprinkle of seeds, gives you all the creaminess with none of the syrup, and lets you control the sweetness. A drizzle of honey keeps fussier eaters happy. Swap biscuits and chocolate for simple homemade treats Lunch doesn't have to be joyless, and a treat has its place. Rather than shop-bought biscuits, tuck in a homemade oat cookie or an energy ball made with seeds and dried fruit. If it's chocolate they're after, a couple of squares of good dark chocolate, or a homemade seed-and-fruit bar, does the trick with far less sugar than most lunchbox chocolate bars. Make it easy on yourself None of this has to mean more work on a Monday morning. The secret is a little batch cooking at the weekend: make a tray of flapjacks or a jar of energy balls, portion up dried fruit and popcorn into small tubs, and the week more or less packs itself. Get the children involved in choosing and making their snacks, and they're far more likely to eat them. And don't aim for a perfect lunchbox every day, just a bit more real food and a bit less of the ultra-processed sort. Small swaps like these are the everyday heart of our Whole Plate idea, that most of your plate, most of the time, should be real food. Start with one or two, build from there, and before long the lunchbox looks after itself. If you'd like more gentle ideas, our free Whole Plate Pledge shares a simple swap or recipe a day.

Cayenne pepper is one of those spices that quietly earns its place at the front of the rack. A small jar delivers a lot of heat, a warm depth of flavour, and a splash of colour to all sorts of dishes. If you have a jar sitting unused, or you are wondering what all the fuss is about, here is a practical, evidence-based guide to organic cayenne pepper: what it is, how to cook with it, and what the science says about its benefits. What is organic cayenne pepper? Cayenne pepper is made from dried, ground cayenne chillies, a type of hot red chilli pepper. It sits in the medium-to-hot range on the Scoville scale, which measures chilli heat, so it is noticeably fiery without being extreme. The heat comes from a natural compound called capsaicin, which is what gives all hot chillies their kick. Beyond the heat, cayenne brings a warm, slightly fruity, earthy flavour that works across a huge range of cooking. How to cook with cayenne Cayenne is wonderfully versatile, and a little goes a very long way. Stir a pinch into curries, chillies, stews and soups for warmth and depth. Use it in spice rubs and marinades for roasted vegetables, tofu or meat, where it forms a lovely savoury crust. Add a small amount to sauces, salad dressings and dips to wake them up, or sprinkle it over eggs, roasted potatoes and popcorn. For something different, a tiny pinch in hot chocolate or a rich chilli-chocolate bake brings a gentle, warming heat. The key is restraint. Start with less than you think you need, taste, and build up, because you can always add more but you cannot take it out. If a dish becomes too hot, a little dairy, acid such as lemon or lime, or a touch of sweetness helps to balance the heat. Our Organic Cayenne Pepper Powder is a good, versatile choice for everyday cooking, and our Wild Elephant Organic Cayenne Pepper Powder is another quality option to keep to hand. Does organic cayenne have health benefits? Cayenne, and the capsaicin it contains, has been the subject of a fair amount of research, and there are some interesting findings, though it is worth keeping expectations realistic. Capsaicin has been studied for a modest effect on metabolism and appetite, and it is widely used in topical creams for pain relief. Chillies also contain vitamins and antioxidant plant compounds, although because cayenne is used in such small amounts, its contribution to your overall nutrition is minor. The honest summary is that cayenne is a flavourful spice with some promising but modest research behind it, best enjoyed as part of a varied diet rather than treated as a remedy. A note of caution too: for some people, spicy food can aggravate heartburn, reflux or a sensitive stomach, so if that applies to you, use it sparingly and see how you get on. Getting the most from your cayenne Like all ground spices, cayenne is at its best when fresh, so store it in an airtight container away from heat and light, and buy sensible quantities you will use within a reasonable time. Adding it earlier in cooking mellows and spreads the heat through a dish, while adding it near the end keeps the kick sharper, so you can adjust to taste. Toasting it very briefly in a little oil at the start of a curry helps release its flavour. Organic cayenne pepper is a small spice with a big impact: genuine heat, warm flavour and real versatility, all from a single jar. Use it with a light hand, build the heat gradually, and enjoy it as a flavourful part of your everyday cooking. Whether you like a gentle warmth or a proper kick, cayenne is one of the most useful spices you can own.

Cutting down on sugar is one of the most common health goals, and the shelves are full of alternatives promising to help. But not all sweeteners are created equal, and some of the "healthy" ones are less different from sugar than the marketing suggests. Here is an evidence-based look at which sweeteners are worth considering, which are best limited, and what the science actually says. First, why limit sugar at all? The concern is mainly about free sugars: the sugars added to food and drink, plus those naturally present in honey, syrups and fruit juice. Health bodies including the World Health Organization recommend keeping free sugars to less than 10 percent of daily energy, and ideally below 5 percent, because high intakes are linked to tooth decay, weight gain and related health problems. Importantly, this applies to most "natural" sugars too. Honey and maple syrup still count as free sugars, a point that often gets lost. The better everyday options If you want to sweeten food with something less refined, a few whole-food based options have small advantages, mostly because they bring a little flavour and trace nutrients rather than pure sweetness alone. Coconut sugar has a slightly lower glycaemic index than table sugar and retains small amounts of minerals, though nutritionally it is still very close to ordinary sugar and should be used in the same modest amounts. It works well as a like-for-like swap in baking. Our Organic Coconut Sugar is a popular choice for exactly this. Dates and date syrup are another useful option, since they bring fibre and a rich caramel flavour, which is why blended dates are so popular in energy balls and baking. Honey and maple syrup can add distinctive flavour, so you may use less of them, but they remain free sugars and offer no meaningful nutritional free pass. If flavour is the reason you reach for honey, it is worth choosing one with enough character that a smaller spoonful does the job. A strongly aromatic honey such as organic linden honey, or a dark, malty organic forest honey, carries far more flavour per gram than a bland blend. That is a matter of taste rather than nutrition, and the free sugars still count the same, but it does make moderation easier in practice. You can compare the options in our honey range. Non-nutritive sweeteners: the sugar-free route Sweeteners that provide little or no calories are a different category. Stevia, a plant-derived sweetener, and sugar alcohols such as erythritol and xylitol deliver sweetness with minimal effect on blood sugar, which is why they are common in low-sugar and keto products. For people managing blood glucose or cutting calories, these can be genuinely useful swaps. A couple of caveats are worth knowing. Sugar alcohols can cause bloating or a laxative effect in larger amounts, and xylitol is highly toxic to dogs, so keep it well away from pets. It is also worth noting that the World Health Organization has advised against relying on non-sugar sweeteners for long-term weight control, since the evidence that they help is limited. They are best seen as a tool for reducing sugar, not a health food in their own right. The ones to limit most At the other end of the scale sit the sweeteners with the least to recommend them. High-fructose corn syrup, common in mass-produced soft drinks and processed foods, is a concentrated source of free sugars with no nutritional benefit and is strongly associated with excess calorie intake. Ordinary refined white sugar is not "toxic," but it delivers pure free sugars with nothing else, so it is the one most of us should cut back on. Agave syrup deserves a mention too: often marketed as a healthy choice, it is very high in fructose, so it is best treated like any other syrup rather than a virtuous upgrade. The most powerful change is not swapping one sweetener for another but gradually reducing how much sweetness you use and expect. Our taste for sweetness adapts over time, and palates adjust when given the chance. Whole-food options like coconut sugar and dates can be a helpful step, and non-nutritive sweeteners have their place for specific goals, but no sweetener is a licence to over-indulge. Used thoughtfully and in moderation, though, the right swaps can make cutting back on sugar a good deal easier. If you are managing a condition such as diabetes, it is always worth discussing sweetener choices with a healthcare professional or dietitian.

Peanut and almond butter get all the attention, but there's a quieter spread that deserves a spot in your cupboard: sunflower seed butter. It's creamy, rich and satisfying, it works anywhere a nut butter would, and it has one big advantage the others can't match. It's completely nut-free. If you've never tried it, here's why it might just become a new favourite. What is sunflower seed butter? Sunflower seed butter is exactly what it sounds like: sunflower seeds ground into a smooth, spreadable butter. The best versions keep it simple. Our Raw Organic Sunflower Seed Butter from RAWGORILLA is made from carefully selected organic sunflower seeds, stone-ground raw at a low temperature into a smooth spread, with nothing else added. No sugar, no palm oil, no salt. Just seeds. The nut-free advantage This is where sunflower seed butter really comes into its own. For anyone with a nut allergy, or feeding a family where nuts are off the menu, it's a genuine game-changer. It brings all the creamy, nutty satisfaction of peanut butter with none of the actual nuts, which makes it perfect for lunchboxes, nut-free schools and shared kitchens. Everyone can enjoy it, and nobody has to read the label with their heart in their mouth. Seriously good nutrition Sunflower seeds pack a lot into a small kernel, and that goodness carries straight into the butter. It's a natural source of healthy unsaturated fats and plant protein, and sunflower seeds are one of the best food sources of vitamin E, an antioxidant that supports the body's cells. They also bring magnesium and other minerals along for the ride. As with any butter it's calorie-dense, so a spoonful rather than a ladleful, but what you get in that spoonful is genuinely nourishing. What does it taste like? People are often surprised by their first taste. Sunflower seed butter is mild, smooth and pleasantly nutty, with a gentle earthiness and a hint of natural sweetness. It's a little lighter than peanut butter and less rich than almond, which makes it wonderfully easy to use across sweet and savoury dishes without taking over. How to use it Anywhere you'd reach for peanut butter, reach for this instead. Spread it thick on toast or oatcakes, swirl it through porridge, or blend a spoonful into a smoothie for staying power. It's brilliant in baking and no-bake treats, from flapjacks and cookies to energy balls. On the savoury side, loosen it with a little soy sauce, lime and garlic for a nut-free satay-style sauce or dip, or drizzle it over roasted vegetables and grain bowls. It also makes a lovely partner for sliced apple or banana as a quick snack. A note on natural separation Because there's nothing added to hold it together, a layer of natural oil will often rise to the top of the jar. That's a good sign, not a fault. It simply means the butter is pure seeds with no stabilisers. Give it a good stir before the first use and you're ready to go. Keep it in a cool cupboard, or in the fridge if you prefer it firmer. Sunflower seed butter is one of those simple swaps that quietly makes life easier: allergy-friendly, nutritious, endlessly versatile, and made from a single humble ingredient. Whether you're avoiding nuts or just fancy a change from the usual jar, it's well worth a place on your shelf.

Have you ever opened a bag of crisps, a chocolate bar or a box of cereal and felt sure it used to be bigger? You are probably right. The pack looks much the same, the price is much the same, but there is less inside. This quiet shrinking of products is common enough to have earned its own name: shrinkflation. Here is what it is, why it happens, and how to spot it so you always know what you are really paying. What is shrinkflation? Shrinkflation is when a product gets smaller while its price stays the same or falls only slightly. Instead of raising the sticker price, the manufacturer reduces the quantity, so you pay the same money for less food. The result is a higher price per gram or per kilogram, even though the headline price on the shelf has not moved. It is, in effect, a price rise in disguise. Why companies do it The honest driver is cost. When the price of ingredients, energy, packaging, labour or transport rises, manufacturers face a choice: raise prices, accept lower profit, or give you less for your money. Research into shopper behaviour consistently shows that people are very sensitive to the headline price of a product but far less likely to notice a small change in weight or the number of items in a pack. Shrinking the product is therefore the change customers are least likely to spot and object to. It is a way of passing on higher costs without triggering the reaction a visible price increase would. Where you'll notice it most Shrinkflation tends to show up in packaged, branded and processed foods, where the pack design does the talking and the exact contents are easy to adjust. Multipacks quietly lose an item, chocolate bars lose a chunk, and packets are filled with a little more air. Because the packaging often stays the same size, the change can be almost invisible unless you check the weight printed on the front. The products least affected are usually simple, unbranded staples sold by weight, where the quantity is the whole point and there is nowhere to hide. How to spot it The single most useful habit is to look at the unit price rather than the pack price. In UK shops, shelf labels are generally required to show the price per unit of weight or volume, such as price per 100g or per litre, usually in small print beneath the main price. That figure lets you compare products fairly regardless of pack size, and it is where shrinkflation shows up clearly. If the pack price has held steady but the price per 100g has crept up, the pack has almost certainly shrunk. It is also worth glancing at the stated weight now and then on the products you buy regularly, so a quiet reduction does not slip past you. How to protect your basket A few simple habits make a real difference. Compare on unit price, not pack price, every time. Be a little wary of clever packaging that looks generous but weighs less than you expect. And where you can, favour simple foods sold by weight over heavily packaged ones, because they make it far harder to hide a reduction. Buying larger formats of the staples you use often is one of the most effective defences, since the price per kilo is usually lower and there is no shrinking pack to worry about. Our Organic Jumbo Oats, for example, come in sizes from a modest bag up to bulk, all priced by weight, so you can see exactly what you are getting and what it costs per kilo. The Whole Food Earth way: sold by weight, honestly This is exactly why we sell the way we do. At Whole Food Earth, our foods come in a clear range of weight-based sizes, from a small bag right up to bulk, so you choose the exact amount you want and pay a straightforward price per kilo. There is no clever packaging disguising a smaller portion, because the weight is the whole point and it is printed plainly on every product. What the label says is what you get. When you buy by weight from us, shrinkflation simply has nowhere to hide. Shrinkflation is not a conspiracy, it is a predictable response to rising costs and to the fact that we notice prices more than portion sizes. The good news is that it only works while it goes unnoticed. Check the unit price, keep an eye on pack weights, and lean towards simple foods sold by weight, and you will always know whether you are getting a fair deal, however the packaging changes.

What you drink is shaped, more than we like to admit, by what happens to be in the cupboard. When the easiest thing to hand is a sugary fizzy drink, that's what gets poured. Stock the good stuff instead, and the healthy choice becomes the lazy one. Here are four kinds of drink worth keeping in permanently, so there's always something better than a can of pop within reach. Magnesium water Magnesium water has become a bit of a wellness talking point, and there's a sensible idea underneath the hype. Magnesium is a mineral the body needs for normal muscle and nervous-system function, and plenty of us don't quite get enough of it from food. Magnesium water simply means water with extra magnesium in it, whether that's a naturally magnesium-rich mineral water or plain water with a drinking-grade magnesium or electrolyte supplement stirred in. It's a gentle way to top up while you hydrate. One important safety point. Magnesium water for drinking is not the same as Epsom salts, which are magnesium sulphate meant for the bath, never the glass. If you want to try it, use a product made and labelled for drinking, follow the dose on the pack, and check with a pharmacist or doctor first if you take medication or have kidney problems. Natural juices A good natural juice earns its place too. The ones worth keeping are 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice with nothing added, rather than the sweetened "juice drinks" that are mostly sugar and water. A splash brings flavour, a little natural sweetness and some vitamins to breakfast, smoothies or a jug of water. Two honest caveats. Juice still counts as free sugars, so it's a small glass alongside a meal rather than something to sip all day. And it's no replacement for whole fruit, which brings the fibre juice leaves behind. One juice that pulls its weight is prune juice, a traditional aid for digestion. Our prune juice is a handy one to keep in the door of the fridge. Fermented drinks If there's one category to add to your cupboard this year, make it fermented drinks. Kombucha and kefir are lightly fizzy, tangy and full of the live cultures associated with a healthy gut. They make a genuinely satisfying swap for a soft drink, with far less sugar and a lot more character. The research on gut health is still developing, so treat them as a tasty part of a varied diet rather than a cure, but they're an easy, enjoyable habit to build. Our kombucha range runs from classic ginger to zesty citrus and low-sugar options, so our Organic Ginger Kombucha is a good place to start. And for a version that lives in the cupboard rather than the fridge, our instant kombucha sachets stir straight into water, ready whenever you want one. Plant-based milk Plant-based milk is the quiet workhorse of a well-stocked pantry. Oat, soya, coconut and almond drinks all keep unopened for months in their ambient cartons, which makes them ideal to buy ahead and always have in. You'll reach for them constantly: in coffee and tea, over cereal and porridge, blended into smoothies, and in cooking and baking wherever a recipe calls for milk. A couple of pointers when you choose one. Go for unsweetened where you can, and look for versions fortified with calcium and vitamins if plant milk is a regular part of your diet. Oat drinks are the most versatile all-rounder, so a carton of organic oat milk is a sound default to keep on the shelf. Building your drinks cupboard You don't need all of these at once. Pick the ones that suit how you actually drink, keep a small stock in, and let them become the easy option. A carton of oat milk for the everyday, a bottle of real juice for flavour, a kombucha for when you fancy something fizzy, and a magnesium or electrolyte drink to hydrate with. Fill the cupboard with the right things and the rest takes care of itself.

Prune juice has a reputation as a bit of a grandparent's remedy, wheeled out only when digestion needs a nudge. That sells it short. This dark, sweet, surprisingly versatile drink has real, science-backed benefits and plenty of uses beyond a morning glass. Here is an honest, evidence-based look at what prune juice does, how it compares to whole prunes, and the best ways to enjoy it. What is prune juice? Prune juice is made from dried plums, or prunes. The prunes are rehydrated and the juice is extracted with water, producing a thick, dark, naturally sweet drink. Because it starts from an already concentrated dried fruit, prune juice is rich in flavour and natural sugars, which is why a small glass goes a long way. What prune juice actually does The best-known benefit of prune juice is supporting healthy digestion, and there is good reason behind it. Prunes, and the juice made from them, are naturally high in sorbitol, a sugar alcohol that draws water into the gut and has a gentle softening effect. This is the main reason prune juice is such a well-known, traditional aid for keeping things regular. It is one of the few home remedies with a genuine, understandable mechanism rather than just folklore. Prune juice also provides some useful nutrients, including potassium, which supports normal muscle and nerve function, along with plant compounds that act as antioxidants. It is worth being realistic, though: prune juice is a helpful, natural option for occasional digestive support, not a treatment for any medical condition. If you have ongoing digestive problems, it is worth speaking to a healthcare professional. Prune juice or whole prunes? This is the key question, and the honest answer is that they do slightly different jobs. Whole prunes keep all of the fruit's fibre, which juice largely loses during extraction, so whole prunes are the better choice if you want the full fibre benefit and a satisfying snack. Prune juice, on the other hand, still delivers plenty of sorbitol, is quick and easy to drink, and suits people who find it hard to chew dried fruit or who simply prefer a drink. Many people use both. If you would like to try them, our prune juice is an easy way to enjoy the benefits in liquid form, while our Organic Pitted Prunes give you the whole fruit and its fibre. For more on the fruit itself, our guide to the health benefits of prunes goes into more detail. How much prune juice should you drink? A small glass, around 120 to 150ml, is a sensible serving. If you are new to it, start with a smaller amount and see how you get on, because the same sorbitol that helps digestion can cause wind or a loose stomach if you drink a lot at once. Many people find a small glass in the morning works well, and you can always warm it gently, which some prefer on a cold day. Clever ways to use prune juice Prune juice is far more versatile than its reputation suggests. Beyond drinking it neat, try it in these ways. Blend a splash into a smoothie for natural sweetness and a digestive boost, especially alongside banana and oats. Use it in place of some of the sugar or liquid in baking, where it adds moisture and a deep, fruity sweetness to cakes, loaves and flapjacks. Reduce it gently in a pan to make a rich, sticky glaze or sauce for roast meats, which works beautifully with pork or lamb. Or drizzle a little over porridge or yoghurt instead of honey or syrup. If you enjoy cooking with the fruit, our guide to cooking and baking with prunes has plenty more ideas. A few sensible things to know Prune juice is a natural product, but a little honesty helps. It is concentrated, so it is naturally high in sugar, and juice sugars count as free sugars, the kind UK guidance suggests we keep an eye on. Stick to a small glass rather than drinking it like water, and be mindful of teeth, as with any sweet drink. Prune juice is not suitable as a remedy for babies or young children without medical advice, and if you are managing a health condition or taking medication, it is worth checking with a healthcare professional first. Prune juice deserves better than its dusty reputation. It is a naturally sweet, easy-to-use drink with a genuine, well-understood benefit for digestion, and it earns its place in the kitchen as much as the medicine cupboard. Enjoy it in a small glass, or get creative with smoothies, bakes and glazes, and this old-fashioned favourite quickly starts to feel a lot more modern.