Eating "Unclaimed Babies" and sweet acts of pseudo-cannibalism

Sweet success: Unravelling the Jelly Baby's dark past - As you pinch the last Jelly Baby out of the bag and sink your teeth into its plump little body, have you ever stopped to wonder if there's a method to your mastication madness. Do you, for instance, nibble away at its arms and legs until you are left with a helpless torso? Or are you the ruthless type that goes straight for the kill and chops off its head, Henry VIII-style? ... The process by which you eat these innocent-sounding sweets has probably never occurred to you, least of all struck you as bordering on the macabre. But this act of pseudo-cannibalism isn't the only disturbing chapter in the history of the much-loved jelly baby. Confectionery historians believe the earliest jelly baby was the work of an Austrian confectioner who worked for Fryers of Lancashire. It is thought that in 1864 he was asked to make a mould for jelly bears, but the resulting sweets looked more like newborn infants and were subsequently given the ghoulish name, Unclaimed Babies.

Italy's youth shun the Mediterranean diet - The fabled Mediterranean diet is at risk of dying out, according to a new study which claims just 33 percent of all young Italians are now eating according to tradition. The study, published in the journal Eating and Weight Disorders this month, revealed that less than half of all Italians now follow the Mediterranean diet, with only a third of those aged 15-24 conforming to the traditional and healthy way of eating. The famed Mediterranean diet is less a strict set of dishes and more a general nutritional model based around seasonal fresh fruit and vegetables, olive oil, pulses and seafood. But the study, carried out by scientists at Rome's University of Tor Vergata, suggests that these dishes are disappearing from Italian tables.

Is it a beer? Is it a wine? Marlborough craft wine to hit stores next year - Chili, chocolate and hop flavoured wines will be available in off-licence stores in February, thanks to a Marlborough wine company. Allan Scott Family Winemakers have been making craft wines, inspired by the experimentation of craft beer, since March this year. The first of these, the Green Hopped Gooseberry Bomb Sauvignon Blanc, combines Marlborough sauvignon blanc grapes with green sauvin hops from Nelson, while other varieties have added chili, coffee and chocolate.

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Still life with entremets - Delicious depictions of antique feasts – and medieval displays at the table, including squirting fountains, mechanical swans and musicians bursting out of pies

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