An environmental study has found that some bottles of wine from France are contaminated with pesticides. The survey analysed 40 bottles of wine and found that 34 bottles contained pesticides, some of which are classified by the EU as health threatening. Among the affected wines were three Bordeaux cru classé wines and a Burgundy Santenay. On average the bottles tested contained more than four different pesticides but they were found to exceed EU pesticide limits.

It appears that free range eggs are becoming more popular as sales have overtaken those from battery farms for the first time. The British Egg Information Service said that 51% of eggs brought last month were free range whilst 41% came from caged hens; the remainder came from a mixture of barn and organic farms. Some supermarkets such as Waitrose and Marks and Spencer now sell only free range eggs.

Just five months after putting 200 lines of clothing on its Tesco Direct website the group has abandoned the service. Tesco say that they only intended to sell clothing online for a trial period but will not say whether the service will resume.

Six cough syrups are being removed from sale after five children from overdoses. The medicines regulator has warned that the medicines should not be given to children under the age of two and has ordered that the products can be sold only under the supervision of a pharmacist until the labels are changed. The six medicines are Asda Children’s Chesty Cough Syrup, Boots Chesty Cough Syrup 1 Year Plus, Boots Sore Throat and Cough Linctus 1 Year Plus, Buttercup Infant Cough Syrup, CalCough Chesty and Bell’s Children’s Chesty Cough.

The Italian government has recalled buffalo mozzarella that has been linked to a dioxin contamination. The affected cheese comes from 25 producers in the Campania region near Naples. They have traced the farms at the source of the contamination and have destroyed their milk as a precaution.

Japan has banned imports of mozzarella over the recent toxin scare. Carcinogenic dioxins have been discovered at several farms in Campania and there are fears that the herds of water buffalo could be ingesting poisons from illegally dumped rubbish. Japan has impounded all mozzarella from Italy. This follows similar action from South Korea which banned the cheese after 29 toxic samples were found.

The high street pub chain which owns the Slug and Lettuce and Litten Tree chain has gone into administration after failing to find a buyer. The group currently has 90 loss making bars within the 330 site group. 239 of the pubs and restaurants were immediately brought from the administrators but 90 sites will remain under their control.

It appears there are procedures for cleaning up an energy saving light bulb if it breaks. A Government department has said that if you do break one you should leave the room for at least 15 minutes. Apparently this is because the mercury inside the bulb can cause problems such as migraines and dizziness. The Department for Environment has said that a broken bulb should not be vacuumed up but should be swept up by someone wearing rubber gloves. It should also be put in a sealed bag and disposed of at a council dump rather than in a household bin. Is this an example of extreme government regulations or are these light bulbs actually toxic?

Tesco has launched an inquiry to investigate claims that its overseas workers are paid as little as 8p and hour. There have been reports that job agencies have been charging migrants up to £1,500 in order to place them in a job at Tesco in Malaysia. The agencies also tell the workers that they will earn between £180 and £215 a month. However in practice, they find that they end up working 360 hours a month for only £20 to £50 after various deductions have been made. Tesco have promised to investigate the claims and have said they will make improvements if necessary.

The fashion chain Morgan will close all 40 of its UK stores because of losses. The chain has suffered because of competition from cheaper rivals and the slowdown in consumer spending.

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