Anyone who's seen Gordon Ramsay in action will be aware that working in a restaurant is far from easy going. Whether the outspoken chef is better known for his cooking or his expletive outbursts is debatable. His language may be more colourful than a pack of smarties, but he claims that it's restaurant protocol to curse. "Swearing is industry language," he was once quoted as saying. "You've got to be boisterous to get results."

The past year has seen a significant increase in prebiotic, probiotic and synbiotic products. According to prebiotic ingredients supplier Orafti, in 2005 there were 74 European launches of prebiotics, the fuel for probiotics, rising to 115 in 2006. Launches of synbiotic products, combining probiotic and prebiotic ingredients, rose from just one to 17. But the major focus of activity remains probiotics, the friendly bacteria that maintain our health, where launches rose from 197 to 244.

As an industry with seemingly unstoppable success rates, the soft drinks sector is hard to beat. Despite huge year-on-year growth, this is an area which still manages to launch new triumphs and has apparently endless scope for innovation. It's a healthy, vibrant sector every bit as fizzy as the latest cola drink and the best, it seems, may be yet to come.

Five years ago, a weary Sainsbury caved into Chris Hook's dogged demands. He wasn't a briber, a kidnapper, or even a powerful supplier. He was the founder of gluten-free food manufacturer Nutrition Point and a rebel with a cause - to convince the company to stock free-from products. Whether its eventual acquiescence was to shut him up or because the retailer believed there was a real category opportunity to be had, it was the start of something big.

While almost every other food category has cashed in on health trends, consumers have taken a little more persuasion to latch on to the idea that ready meals may actually be good for them.

What is the food group with the broadest range of health benefits but which consumers seem to have the greatest difficulty in incorporating regularly into their diets?

Most people care about the environmental impact of the food and drink they buy. But, according to a new survey carried out for Food Manufacture, while most would like to see some form of eco-labelling to inform their choice, far fewer claim it would definitely influence what they buy.

Naturally occurring in citrus fruits and other fruits and vegetables, vitamin C has now been launched by DSM Nutritional Products as a high-quality additive. Its Quali-C range, which is produced in Europe's only vitamin C plant - in Dalry, Scotland - will enable soft drinks manufacturers to tap into a product that offers reliability and consistency of supply, the company says.

Swiss firm Frutarom has launched an omega-3 preparation for dairy products, which can be used in yoghurt drinks.

To support the drive towards the removal of additives in food, Indian colourings specialist Roha has developed extracts that deliver colour in beverages, but are listed as foods on ingredients labels, not E-numbers.

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