It used to be that sugar was the sweetest, most useful thing in our larder, a crystalline ambrosia that could make almost any food taste better and last longer.

I am using this jar of Strawberry Marshmallow Fluff to christen a new food category for my column called "Loud and Proud".

The future wellbeing of millions of Africans may rest in the unlikely hands of a vegan hippy scientist working for a sweet company who plans to map and then give away the genetic data of 100 traditional crops.

People reaching for a protein bar, thinking it's a healthy snack, may be unwittingly adding to their waist lines.

Today, we know that lifestyle and environment interact with diet to affect our health, writes Charlotte Martin.

I was asked to look into Nutella by a reader whose children consume "vast quantities" of this spread every day and who is concerned it might be bad for them, despite the fact that it is made out of hazelnuts.

Vincent Chen brews up a brilliant idea in the form of the world's most pure tea, grown here in Waikato.

The Government is more interested in Prince Charles' visit than in finding ways to combat the "major epidemic" of diabetes, nutrition and diabetes expert Prof Jim Mann says.

A mother has blamed her teenage son's secret energy drink habit for a breakdown in his mental health. He drank up to 16 cans a day.

Research supports the ability of this potent bulb to fight bacteria and help us ward off disease.

"Smoking, alcohol - is sugar the next thing we need to be saved from?" asks Dita Di Boni.

Each week, Wendyl Nissen takes a packaged food item and decodes what the label says about contents. This week: Chocolate dipping sauce.