The Independent | Food and Drink | Latest Information on all Topics Food and Drink Related

On the scrapheap: food discarded by a supermarket in central London

The big waste scandal

We know our eating habits are careless. But shocking new research lifts the lid on the masses of food dumped before it even reaches the shops. Martin Hickman reports

Cocktails remixed: Exotic molecular mixology

They've come a long way since Tom Cruise's heyday – more molecular mixology than happy hour. Claire Soares learns how to shake and stir with Britain's best bartender

Inside Food & Drink

Win a case of beer with BeerHere.co.uk

Don't miss...

The guilty secrets of palm oil
Are you unwittingly contributing to the devastation of the rain forests? Martin Hickman investigates the production of the 'invisible ingredient', palm oil

Meet, eat, drink and be merry
Food festivals are offering flavours to suit every taste this summer

Ten Best Olive Oils
Grease every meal to perfection
It's time to Eat
Terry Durack's delicious column

IndyBest
From egg cups to cupcakes; summer wines to winter ales, IndyBest is a celebration of the finest food and drink products and services on offer

Chef's special
From fried egges with cima di rapa to Eton mess... Tuck into our A-to-Z of recipes

Rich pickings: Mark Hix turns culinary cast-offs into delicious summer dishes

As a nation we waste an awful lot of food. Some of this is due to over-buying on the part of supermarkets, who bin the lot when the sell-by date is up; and some of it is down to shoppers who buy too much food and let it rot in the fridge. Restaurant and hotel kitchens are just as bad and I so often see greengrocers binning produce that is still good to eat.

Fishy Fishy, 25 East Street, Brighton

Dermot O'Leary has always shown great professional timing. His rise from youth TV to the shiny floors of Saturday night has been as smooth as the suits he wears on The X Factor. But as a first-time restaurateur, his timing is lousy. What bad luck to open a fish restaurant just as The End of the Line hits UK screens, the film which has taken tuna and cod off the menu for all right-thinking people.