Food-Wine

(ANSA) - Rome, November 19 - A dark chocolate developed by a company near Turin has been proven to be effective in protecting the skin from ultra violet(UV) rays, according to recent studies carried out in London.

The chocolate, named Oxicoa, was found to have three times the amount of the natural antioxidant polyphenol found in normal dark chocolate and ten grams of it has the same amount of antioxidants as three full glasses of blueberries, two cups of green tea or a 3kg watermelon.

(ANSA) - Rome, November 18 - Italian confectioner Ferrero confirmed on Wednesday that it was considering joining American chocolate titan Hershey in a joint bid to acquire Britain's Cadbury.

In a statement released at the London Stock Exchange, the maker of Ferrero Rochet pralines and Nutella spread said it was "in the preliminary stages of evaluating its options in regard to Cadbury".

(ANSA) - Rome, November 17 - Group of Eight and other countries which joined the L'Aquila Food Security Initiative will meet in Rome, probably at the start of 2010, Italian Agriculture Minister Luca Zaia said on Tuesday.

Speaking to ANSA on the sidelines of the United Nations World Summit on Food Security, Zaia said the meeting would focus on channeling the resources for food security agreed to during the July G8 summit in L'Aquila, which Italy hosted in its role of rotating president for 2009.

(ANSA) - Rome, November 17 - Day two of an international food summit in Rome opened Tuesday with an address by Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe.

Addressing the 60 international delegations present to discuss the plight of the world's one billion hungry, the controversial African leader demanded that "western countries lift the illegal sanctions" imposed on his government.

Mugabe is banned from visiting the European Union except under special circumstances including United Nations business.

(ANSA) - Rome, November 16 - World leaders taking part in the the United Nations World Summit on Food Security here unanimously adopted a declaration on Monday pledging renewed commitment to eradicate hunger in the world sustainably and at the earliest date.

(ANSA) - Rome, November 16 - Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi was in fine form as he chaired Monday's world hunger summit in Rome, ribbing Libya's Colonel Gaddafi about his famously long speeches and telling a joke about Kark Marx.

"Five minutes from Colonel Gaddafi would be too much to hope for but I appeal to his good nature," Berlusconi said in calling the Libyan leader to the rostrum.

(ANSA) - Rome, November 16 - World food summits in the past have failed to make any real progress in stamping out hunger, Libyan leader Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi said Monday.

Addressing the 60 heads of state who turned out for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's food security summit in Rome, Gaddafi said that ''all of the resolutions and promises made during previous summits have been made in vain''.

(ANSA) - Rome, November 16 - Pope Benedict XVI on Monday said that "opulence and waste" were unacceptable when there was so much hunger in the world.

Giving a keynote speech here at the World Summit on Food Security, organised by the Rome-based United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Benedict criticised what he defined as "egotism and speculation" on food as well as "nutritional models aimed only at consumption".

(ANSA) - Rome, November 16 - A world food summit aimed at helping the one billion people who suffer chronic hunger around the world opened in Rome Monday.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon opened the summit by telling delegates that more than 17,000 children will starve to death today.

''One every five seconds. Five million each year''.

''This is no longer acceptable. We must act".

He stressed that food security was ''profoundly linked'' to climate change.

(ANSA) - Rome, November 13 - Everything is ready in the Italian capital for next week's World Summit on Food Security, organised by the Rome-based United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The Colosseum will be lit up all night Sunday ahead of the November 16-18 summit.

Over 60 heads of state are set to take part in the summit which on Monday will see Pope Benedict XVI give the keynote speech.

Addresses will also be given by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon and FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf.

FAO said it had organised the World Food Security Summit ''to give a new momentum to the fight against hunger and malnutrition affecting 1.02 billion people''.

(ANSA) - Modena, November 4 - Police in Modena on Wednesday seized over one million euros of balsamic vinegar produced in violation of the traditional recipe.

According to police, the batch of 161,000 litres was bottled without first being aged in wooden casks for two months, a fundamental requirement for the internationally protected label.

Police said the 323,000 confiscated bottles would be relabled and distributed as simple salad dressing.

(ANSA) - Verona, November 3 - Everything is ready for the premiere of this year's Vino Novello, the Italian cousin of the better known French Beaujolais Nouveau, which takes place Thursday and Friday at the Verona trade fair grounds.

While the novelty of Novello has worn off in recent years and production continues to decline, the wine maintains a strong following and has carved out its own market niche.

(ANSA) - New York, November 2 - Exports of sparkling Italian spumante and prosecco wines have overtaken those of French champagne by as much as 30%, according to the Italian Wine & food Institute (IWFI).

Italian bubbly exports surpassed those of champagne, IWFI explained, ''due to an increase in the volume of the Italian wine exported to the USA, up 9%, while those of French champagne fell sharply, -27% in the first eight months of 2009.

(ANSA) - Rome, October 30 - Pumpkin sales this year are holding up in Italy, farmers union Coldiretti announced Friday ahead of Halloween weekend.

Higher yields and lower prices have helped keep demand high, said the organization, noting that consumers appeared to be buying pumpkins more for traditional autumn recipes than for Halloween.

Grown throughout the country, pumpkin makes a popular pasta filling during the fall months and the main ingredient of a vegetable stew typical of the northern region of Lombardy.

(ANSA) - Brussels, October 29 - A traditional sour cherry jam produced near Modena has become the latest Italian food speciality to obtain a European Union protected label for its unique quality.

The Amarene Brusche di Modena jam was awarded a PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) seal by the European Commission on Thursday along with 'grelos' turnips from northern Spain and meat-and-vegetable-filled dumplings from Germany, 'Schwabische Maultaschen'.