The first ever FreeFrom Food Awards were presented by Antony Worrall Thompson on Wednesday 21st May 2008 at his Notting Grill restaurant in west London.

A packed gathering of ‘free-from’ food manufacturers and food writers sipped pink champagne and nibbled succulent gluten, dairy and egg-free canapés while Foods Matter editor, Michelle Berriedale-Johnson, explained why Foods Matter had decided to launch the awards – and how their panel of judges had reached their conclusions.

The awards were divided into nine categories – eight covering the main free-from sectors (gluten/wheat free, dairy free, egg free etc) and one award for the most innovative new free-from product reviewed in the magazine in the last year.

The over all winner was presented with a fine marble bust by Scottish sculptor Tom Allan, commissioned for the awards by the Foundation for Allergy Research and Information (FAIR).

For details of all the winners and Michelle Berriedale-Johnson's presentation speech click here.

Pictures of the award winners and the guests coming very soon.

Free-from foods are foods which do not include one or more of the foods (wheat, gluten, dairy products, eggs, yeast, soya, sugar etc) associated with the many chronic health problems that plague 21st century 'developed' societies: allergies, eczema, asthma, IBS, ME and CFS, depression and mood swings and behavioural problems in children.

Even though awareness of food allergy and intolerance is still depressingly limited within the medical profession, food manufacturers have been a great deal more proactive and, over the last five years, the 'free-from foods' market has expanded dramatically, growing by over 300% according to market analysts, Mintel.

As the only magazine covering this area, Foods Matter felt that it was time to celebrate this growth - and that the best way to do so was to reward excellence among the many products now available to food allergic and intolerant customers.

Hence the Foods Matter Free-from Food Awards!

Foods Matter holds regular monthly tastings of all the major groups of free-from foods, and it is the results of these tastings (held in 2007-8) that will form the basis for our annual awards - although special judging sessions will be held to choose the overall winners and the most innovative products.

The Foods Matter Free-from Food Awards are being sponsored by:
NoMoo - dairy-free desserts
Lactofree - virtually lactose-free milk
Pure - dairy-free spreads
and
FAIR, the Foundation for Allergy Information and Research who have commissioned an original Tom Allan sculpture to be awarded to the overall winner.

Foods Matter has also been joined by other partner organisations working with food allergy and intolerance -

Action Against Allergy
Alert4Allergy
Allergy UK
AWT Enterprises
The Allergy and Gluten-Free Show
The Food and Drink Innovation Network

For more information on the categories which will be included in the awards click here.

For more information on the Foods Matter monthly taste tests click here.

To find out about sponsorship opportunities click here.

If you have any queries or would like to talk to us about the project - please contact:

Laura or Michelle on 020 7722 2866

laura@foodsmatter.com      michelle@foodsmatter.com