The Blas na hEireann, National Irish Food Awards, which are supported by Invest NI and Andrew Ingredients, has just announced that there will be a special category for Baby Food at this year's Competition which will take place at the Dingle Peninsula Food Festival on the 4 - 7 October 2013. This is as a result of an exciting new sensory analysis programme which the Food Science Department of UCC has developed specifically to judge the taste and quality of baby food.
"This is an entirely different system of evaluation than the one used for other food products as quality baby food typically doesn't contain ingredients such as salt and sugar for example," says Artie Clifford, chair of the National Irish Food Awards.
"There has been huge growth in this area as time poor parents struggle with convenience versus quality in the foods that they give their babies at this vital stage of development. By creating a special category for babies and toddlers, which will be judged separately by a panel of sensory analysts overseen by Prof Joe Kerry of UCC, we will recognise and reward the best tasting and most nutritious baby foods made in the country. This can help reassure parents that they are giving their 'treasures' only the very best, when they are under time pressure to cook themselves."
There are over 40 categories of food products which producers can enter into the Blas Awards, ranging from chocolate to cheese, at the biggest blind tasting of Irish produce on the Island. These Awards have become the ultimate benchmark for quality Irish food, and the Blas Gold, Silver and Bronze logos on winning produce are eagerly sought out by shoppers.
The deadline for entering this year's Awards is the 15th July. For further information on how to enter, and what winning has meant to previous winners click on www.irishfoodawards.com. This year's winners will be announced on Saturday 5th October.
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