Maple syrup boasts a whole range of health benefits which actually make it the perfect year-round sweet treat and not just for Pancake Day.

According to Bob Clark, founder of the UK’s leading maple syrup producer Clarks, the pure product which is made from the boiled sap of the Canadian maple tree, truly justifies its ‘super food’ status, ranking it right alongside the more traditionally listed foods which have massively increased in profile as a result – broccoli and blueberries being just two well-known examples.

All this goodness but far fewer of the calories associated with similar products as maple syrup contains just 52 calories per tablespoon – a lot less than the equivalent amount of honey or sugar!

For all its clear health benefits, maple syrup is also a very versatile ingredient.

There are numerous ways to incorporate it into a whole host of recipes – poured over roasting vegetables – particularly good for parsnips and carrots – over crispy cured bacon to really bring out the flavour, as a dressing for salmon or simply as a sugar replacement over breakfast cereal.

Clarke’s produce two versions – Clarks Pure Maple Syrup (100% Maple Syrup) and Clarks Original Maple Syrup (35% Maple Syrup blended with Carob Fruit Syrup). Clarks is the biggest producer and supplier of maple syrup in the UK, capturing 60 per cent of the market in just three years. The Wales-based firm supplies all the big four supermarket groups of Tesco (on the ‘Ambient dessert’ fixture), Asda (on the the ‘Jam and marmalade’ fixture), Sainsbury’s (on the ‘Ice cream accompaniment’ fixture) and Morrisons (on the ‘Ambient dessert’ fixture).

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Coldpress fruit juice is a new drink from Closed Loop Foods made from 100% fruit juice with four times the shelf life of conventional chilled fruit juices.

Having launched successfully and being stocked immediately by in excess of 200 Waitrose outlets and being positioned competitively as a credible alternative to the ordinary range of juices Coldpress is fast expanding across the United Kingdom.

Coldpress provides a more thirst quenching, better tasting juice that is much high nutrition value than it’s competitors. By using a cold pressure as opposed to boiling the juices the brand retains a lot of its existing aromas and textures that the heated juices do not hold. Its unique bottle design sees it being an exciting and breath of fresh air in what is a fairly crowded market in the UK.

Coldpress is available in 250ml and 750ml bottles designed for the consumer market and retail routes as well as the new ‘Bag in a Box’ product that is far more cost effective to the restaurant, bars, clubs and other outlets.

Coldpress Fruit Juice is available in seven flavours that include – Pink Lady, Golden Delicious, Valencia Orange, Apple & Lemon, Apple & Passionfruit, Apple & Raspberry, Apple & Strawberry.

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If you are trying to make your diet a little lighter in 2012 then look no further than Tate and Lyle Light at Heart. It’s an all-natural cane sugar and Stevia blend that has twice the great sweetness of sugar but with only half the calories when you use it. All you need to do when adding to drinks, sprinkling on cereal, or even baking your favourite desserts is simply halve what you normally use. It couldn’t be simpler! Light at Heart even offers a choice of white or brown varieties, so is versatile enough for every recipe.

Light at Heart is an all-natural blend of pure cane sugar and extract from the Stevia plant leaf. Cooking with Light at Heart is simple and gives you the same volume, texture and taste you get when using regular sugar. All you need to remember is to just use half as much!

The natural sugar and Stevia blend is stable at cooking temperatures and so quite simply it works the same way as sugar when you cook with it.

Stevia is an amazing natural ingredient. It is a herb that grows wild as a small shrub in parts of Para-guay and Brazil. Its leaves contain naturally occurring substances called glycosides. These are incred-ibly sweet and when we refine the extracts of Stevia – which are called steviosides – the result has two remarkable attributes: it is 200-300 times sweeter than sugar, yet it contains virtually no calo-ries. You can use the Stevia and natural cane sugar combination just like regular sugar simply by re-ducing the amount you would normally use by half.

Available nationwide in all major supermarkets.

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Gourmet Garden, the experts in fresh herbs and flavours, can now be found in one of the world’s largest retailers in an all new 75kg size. Tesco will be stocking six of the fresh herb and spice range – Basil, Chilli, Coriander, Garlic, Ginger and Thai Spices – all of which can be found in store in the chilled section or online.

To celebrate these latest products Gourmet Garden is giving one lucky winner the chance to win a gourmet adventure holiday to Noosa, Australia. Not only will the winner win two return flights to Brisbane and seven nights’ accommodation on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, they will also get the chance to visit the Audi 2012 Noosa Food and Wine Festival and the Australia Zoo, owned by the family of the late Steve Irwin.

If that wasn’t enough, the winner will get the chance to tour the Gourmet Garden factory and receive a ‘Cooking with Herbs’ master class with some of Australia’s favourite chefs.

Gourmet Garden offers a totally unique and ultimate solution for cooking with fresh flavours – fresh herbs and spices in a tube that are bursting with just-picked flavour for creating mouth-watering fresh meals in minutes.

The perfect alternative to using dried herbs and spices, the herbs are simply picked, washed, chopped, blended and packed into tubes to maintain all their fresh taste and nutrition.

There are nine individual herb and spice blends available in the core range – Basil, Hot Chilli, Coriander, Chives, Garlic, Ginger, Italian Herbs, Lemon Grass, and Parsley – with no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives. Use them to flavour sauces, soups and dressings, for seasoning meat, seafood and stir fries, and to add a kick to curries, stews, noodle and pasta dishes.

Ideal for busy cooks who don’t want to lose out on flavour, these handy tubes are stored in the fridge and keep their fresh taste for 3 months, and can also be used straight from the freezer.

Priced at RRP £2.19 per tube, Gourmet Garden products are now stored in Tesco nationwide. For more information and to enter the competition, please visit www.gourmetgarden.com or www.facebook.com/Gourmet-Garden-UK.

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Ocado, the online supermarket, are proud to announce that they now stock the delicious Reflets de France range from Carrefour, offering over 100 items from a huge selection of delicious French favourites, from cured meats and tasty cheeses to fruity jams and rich pates, to UK shoppers.

The Reflets de France range includes baked goods such as brioche, galettes and cakes, biscuits, butter and cheeses, tinned goods, pastas, preserves, cured meats and patés, sausages and so on. Price-wise the Reflets de France Orange & Clementine Jam, great for making a Wallingford Tart, is £2.99 for example, a jar of Reflets de France Campagne Rough Pate is £2.25 and a Reflets de France Plated Brioche Loaf is £3.29.

The full range of products can be viewed/purchased from a dedicated Ocado Reflets de France page.

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Giovanni Rana – Italy’s number one fresh pasta brand, famed for its delicious tortellini, is launching a new range of fresh unfilled pastas this month. It will also be bringing to the shelves a selection of delectable fresh sauces to accompany them perfectly.

Launched in selected ASDA stores nationwide from this month, as well as at convenience stores throughout the country, the new unfilled range comprises Spaghetti, Tagliatelle, Penne and Fusilli – all of which use specially selected flour and a minimum of 20% fresh eggs. Authentically Italian and high quality, the pasta features a unique rough texture (called sfogliagrezza) which makes it better for picking up more sauce adding to the flavour in every mouthful. Ready in just five minutes, the pastas make a simple, quick and tasty meal.

Giovanni Rana will also be introducing, for the first time, a new range of fresh pasta sauces that encompass the authentic taste of Italy. The intensely flavoured range in distinctive, eye-catching packaging includes: creamy Parmigiano Reggiano sauce, developed specifically to accompany filled pasta; distinctive and robust Porcini Mushroom with a rich, nutty flavour; fragrant Genovese Basil Pesto; and Italian Bolognese Sauce, sweetened with ripe cherry tomatoes and complemented by freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano.

Giovanni Rana’s new range of fresh unfilled pasta and sauces are easy to prepare – simply place the pasta in a pot of boiling water for a few minutes until al dente (there is a time guide on each of the packets) and drain. The sauces can be heated in the microwave or on the hob and stirred into the pasta; both are perfectly portioned for two people.

A Giovanni Rana spokesperson comments: “We’re really excited and passionate about the launch of these new products. This is the first time that Giovanni Rana – a true innovator of pasta – has created a range of deliciously different sauces that complement our new line of fresh unfilled pastas as well as our existing range of tortellini. In terms of a taste experience, these new offerings are designed to go together for a complete, authentic Italian meal.”

The launch of Giovanni Rana’s fresh pasta sauces and unfilled fresh pasta follows the recent launch of its new Fresh Filled Pasta Creations range – a delicious selection of filled pasta ready meals with fresh sauces and garnishes designed to be cooked to al dente perfection in the microwave.

Giovanni Rana’s Fresh Pasta (RRP from £0.98) Penne, Spaghetti, Tagliatelle and Fusilli and Giovanni Rana’s Fresh Pasta Sauces (RRP from £1.98) available in Parmigiano Reggiano, Porcini Mushroom, Basil Pesto and Bolognese Sauce are available in selected ASDA and convenience stores nationwide from May 2011. For more information on the Giovanni Rana range, as well as recipes ideas, visit www.giovannirana.co.uk.

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Just launched is everyday easy, a free 52-page instore magazine from Sainsbury’s offering affordable inspiration to all customers, available in store now.

Combining the best elements from Sainsbury’s earlier free publications, Try Something New and Fresh ideas, everyday easy is Sainsbury’s biggest free instore publication to date, with a circulation of 1 million.

Available to customers for up to 6 weeks, the new magazine is packed with new launches, features and easy recipes, that highlight the great range of products available at Sainsbury’s. With strong value messages, the publication appeals to all Sainsbury’s customers and provides inspiration, guiding readers step-by-step through easy, low-cost recipes, whilst offering hints and tips for shopping, meaning everyone can eat on a budget.

Dorcas Jamieson of Seven says: ‘Everyday Easy supports Sainsbury’s across the entire business, including food, non-food, and on-line services, by creating a friend-to- friend conversation between Sainsbury’s and its customers, to effectively engage and retain them.‘

Seven also produces Sainsbury’s Magazine, now the UK’s most widely read, paid-for title. With just under 4 million readers every month (NRS), Sainsbury’s Magazine is the only title to be a three time winner of the covetable PPA Customer Magazine Award at the annual Periodical Publishers’ Association (PPA) Awards.

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British high streets have long had strawberry, raspberry, damson, blackcurrant, apricot, plum, fig, cherry and other jams but until now never apple.

Now Master Preserver Michelle McKenna, (aka Clippy) is about to put that right when her Clippy’s Apples range of six apple conserves hit 800 Tesco stores this week.

The award-winning range of mind-bogglingly tasty conserves are made using the quintessential British apple and have a significantly higher fruit content than other brands dominating the shelves, making them a healthier option. Clippy’s Apples products are packed with juicy fruits and other indulgent ingredients such as fresh ginger and cinnamon to create unique flavour combinations. The conserves now available in Tesco include: Apple & Strawberry; Apple & Figgy Diggy; Apple, Rudebarb & Ginger; Apple Pie and Apple & Blueberry.

Clippy’s Apples conserves are hugely versatile and not just for spreading on toast! The labels highlight serving suggestions: try the Apple Pie conserve with waffles, the Apple, Rudebarb & Ginger conserve with roast pork or the Apple & Figgy Diggy conserve with cheese! Delicious! Their products appear on the menus of both Harvey Nichols and The National Trust.

Clippy’s Apples is the brainchild of Master Preserver Michelle McKenna (aka Clippy) who set up Clippy’s Apples with a mission to save the British Apple and to create a range of versatile, indulgent preserves that are healthier, less sugary and down-right tasty.

Believed to be the smallest National Brand in the UK!

Clippy and her partner Paul Gorman, who work out of their tiny spare room, are not only Tesco’s but quite probably the UK’s smallest national supplier reaching shoppers from the south coast of England to north Scotland.

And they have achieved creating their own brand of British-apple based preserves with an original outlay of just £100, keeping overheads to a minimum by working from their home.

Effervescent founder Clippy brings the brand to life and has been cited as the new face of preserves in the UK, re-invigorating the stagnant market with this versatile, indulgent, healthier range of family-friendly products, a great alternative to all the sugary brands currently on the shelves. Using only British apples and other fruits together the brand boasts provenance and a feel-good factor.

Clippy’s Apples products are also available to purchase in Asda in the North West (88+ stores), Harvey Nichols, Fortnum & Mason, John Lewis, Ocado, EH Booths in addition to 800 Tesco stores nationwide. BBC Countryfile listed Clippy’s Apples as the ‘pick of the best’ preserving companies!

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By naturally compressing ground coffee into a unique bean shape straight after roasting Douwe Egberts Aromettes lock in the best of the taste and aroma. Simply add Aromettes to your cafetiere or filter machine in place of goround coffee. As soon as the Aromettes come into contact with hot water, the fresh taste and aroma is released, giving you a delicious coffee that’s full of flavour. With Douwe Egberts Aromettes you can be sure of a delicious perfectly brewed cup of coffee every time.

Each Aromettes can contains 30 individually pressed ground coffee servings in the shape of a coffee bean – the first product of its kind in the UK.

They’re now available in two varieties exclusively from Tesco.

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Fancy sampling some of the finest extra virgin olive oils? Then you won’t want to miss joining the Interprofessional Olive Oil from Spain (the professional body representing the olive oil industry in Spain) at London’s premium annual food and drink festival, Taste of London, from 16th – 19th June.

Taste of London brings together some of the finest food and drink in a relaxed boutique food market atmosphere. The Interprofessional Olive Oil from Spain will be on stand number SO2 for the full four days, offering information about extra virgin olive oil, recipe suggestions as well as hints and tips. A chef will also be preparing a selection of delicious sauces and dips to taste.

The Interprofessional Olive Oil from Spain will also be at Asda’s Wembley store on 21st June and Sainsbury’s Fulham store on 22nd June. Guests who purchase a bottle of extra virgin olive oil will be given the opportunity to win a fantastic 5 day holiday for two in one of four extra virgin olive oil producing regions in Spain – Andalucía, La Rioja, Navarra and Catalonia*. There will also be a selection of olive oil merchandise available (while stocks last). And, if that’s not enough, the first 1,000 consumers to register at (www.oliveoilsfromeurope.com) will receive an exclusive book about extra virgin olive oil.

Taste of London marks the launch of the second national promotional tour, highlighting the quality and versatility of extra virgin olive oils. An attractive catering facility, with an outside seating area, will visit food festivals, specific supermarket grounds and city centres across the country.

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The Foodie List - Foodie stuff from around the UK