FreeFrom Food Awards Shortlist Is Out!

  One of my favourite times of year this because we get to see what wonderful new foods have been invented and launched for our delectation! Don’t know about you, but I fancy the new mango and passionfruit coconut yogurt, the mung bean pasta and the chia seed muffin mix. Yum!

Sadly, I couldn’t go and judge this year because my mouth was playing up and I am in the middle of the few foods elimination diet (see here); I usually do the Innovation category at the end as that’s what really excites me. However, I am knee-deep in non-toxic skincare for the 2014 FreeFrom SkinCare Awards, doing my usual moaning, groaning, whooping and scratching of chin!

Here are some highlights for you and you can go here to see the full shortlist in each category.

After two weeks of heavy duty tasting and arguing the merits of sunflower ‘peanut butter’ over coconut yogurts, the FreeFrom Food Awards judges have chosen over 240 products to shortlist this year.

‘Once again we had a very encouraging increase in the number of entries,’ says Michelle Berriedale-Johnson, director of the FreeFrom Awards who chairs the judging sessions, ‘but it was the range of products that was really exciting. Not just the exotic chia bread mixes and asparagus pasta pastes but the down to earth staples: gluten and dairy-free fish cakes, chicken bites, pork pies, Genoa slab cake and even a dairy-free white chocolate which would have been perfect for that dairy-free episode of the GBBO!!’

 ..here, in no significant order except alphabetical, are a few of the ‘highlights’ – (NB, there are links to each one but for some reason the colour’s not showing up, just hover over each manufacturer name)

• Bessant & Drury Alphonse mango & passionfruit coconut yogurt

• Bfree Brown seeded rolls

• Celtic Chocolates Choices dairy-free white chocolate rondellos

• Creative Nature Heavenly cacao superfood bar

• Explore Asian Mung bean fettuccini

• Focaccia Per Tutti Gluten and dairy-free Focaccia Mediterranean

• Foodamentalists Gluten and dairy-free Fidget pie

• Love Smoothies The Hulk smoothie

• Newburn Bakehouse Seeded wraps

• Okobay Coconut water and pineapple ice

• Primal Joy Foods Cinnamon nut crunch – no grains breakfast ‘cereal’

• Scarlet Rosita Gluten and dairy-free Pinenut biscotti

• Tesco Free From fresh seeded bread

• Tobia Teff Teff meal breakfast cereal

• Truly Simple Foods Coconut curry and spinach cooking sauce

• Udi’s Cinnamon & raisin bagel

• Ugg Foods Chia muffin mix

• Voakes Freefrom gluten-free traditional pork pie

• Waitrose Gluten free chicken salad roll

 

 What are the FreeFrom Food Awards?

 The FreeFrom Food Awards, now in their 7^th very successful year, are the industry’s only award for ‘freefrom food’ – gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, soya-free etc.  FreeFrom Food Awards judges included professional foodies (manufacturers, chefs and cookery writers), medics (dietitians and nutritionists) coeliacs and allergy sufferers, a dozen or so keen freefrom bloggers and a good sprinkling of ‘outsiders’ to benchmark the products against ‘normal’, non-freefrom equivalents. See the awards site for more details.

 The winners of the 2014 FreeFrom Food Awards will be announced and presented with their certificates by Antony Worrall Thompson at an invitation-only party in central London on March 25th.

OK, so get a cuppa, sit down and have an explore: hope you find something yummy that suits your diet needs. Happy munching – well done to all judges and good luck to the companies!