Bringing you the latest news on British products in the supermarkets and other major items of interest about British food; here is our round-up for February.

• British pig farmers have accused Asda of betraying its UK suppliers. The share of British pork sold by Asda plummeted in the weeks before Christmas last year with only 13 per cent of leg roasting joints on sale being British – down from 97 per cent the previous year.


• But it's not all bad news for the pork industry! It seems Britain has swapped beef and lamb for pork, with sales of the British pork market on the up! Pork remains considerably cheaper than beef or lamb and pork shoulder and rolled joints have sold particularly well as consumers look to cut down their food bills.


• Sales of English apples have soared by 21 per cent. Increases in production of English Gala and Braeburn by 21 and 40 per cent in the first half of the season helped push sales; and there was a significant increase also of newer varieties such as Cameo, Kanzi, Jazz, Rubens, Junami and Zari.


• It is predicted that for the first time this year we will buy more free-range eggs than those from caged birds. In 1995 86 per cent of British eggs came from battery cages but in 2012 49 per cent will come from free-range hens allowed to roam outdoors, compared with 48 per cent from hens cooped up in cages.


• Tesco has launched a range of ‘affordable artisan cheeses’ in a bid to encourage more shoppers to try less mainstream British cheese. The range is produced by Cheshire-based cheesemaker, Joseph Heler, and includes handmade Mature Cheddar, Red Leicester, Double Gloucester, White Cheshire, Cheshire with Spring Onion, Smoked Red Leicester and Toasted Hop Cheddar.


• UK Wheat exports have reached a 3 year high with 442,797 tonnes sold abroad. Most of the UK's wheat is sold to other EU countries.


• Sainsbury's is stocking UK grown fresh Kaffir lime leaves, produced by Len Atkins in Colchester, Essex. The lime leaves are available year round and are popular in Thai and Indonesian dishes.


• Northern Ireland Comber potatoes have been granted European Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status.


• A 23 year old has launched The Grand Old Duke of Pork – an online company that allows consumers to create their own sausages. The company aims to use local produce and offers a choice of 50 ingredients that shoppers can combine to create unique sausages. The website hopes to start trading beginning of April on www.thedukeofpork.co.uk


• Walkers crisps has launched three new crisp flavours this month – but won't tell shoppers what they are. The mystery crisps are inspired by popular British ingredients and recipes and the consumers who correctly guess the flavours will be entered into a draw with a £50,000 prize for each variant.


• The MP for Thanet South, Laura Sandys, is calling for mis-shapen fruit and vegetables to be specially promoted and sold in supermarkets under the brand name ‘Ugly’. An estimated 20 per cent of British harvest is thrown away to comply with EU regulations and this is calculated to add as much as 40 per cent to the price of some vegetables!


• Morrisons has become the first supermarket to stock the new Yorkshire Sausage. The sausage won a county-wide search for the best sausage last year and is made from pork and spices.


• Women's Institutes' range of jams and chutneys has hit Waitrose shelves. The range includes strawberry, raspberry and blackberry jams as well as marmalade.


• Supermarkets are knocking on the doors of craft lager brewers as sales of speciality beer soar. The market volume for speciality beer has grown by 6.5 per cent in recent years and Freedom Brewery, which produces four bottled English lagers, reported a 50 per cent rise in sales last year.


• Fruit and Vegetable consumption by poorer families has fallen by 30 per cent. Rising food prices and the recession has resulted in lower income families cutting their 5-A-DAY consumption to just over half of the government recommendation.


• Farrington's Farm Shop in Somerset has been named Retailer of the Year at the UK Farm Retail Awards. The award goes to a farm shop, farmers' market, farm attraction site etc which highlights a passion for local food, a commitment to farming and a talent to retail.


• Finally, the English now eat more haggis than the Scots! Makers of the national dish reveal 60 per cent of haggis is sent south of the boarder selling particularly well in London and the southeast.

Seasonal foods at their best to look out for in the supermarkets this month: 
Vegetables: beetroot, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, carrots, celeriac, celery, chicory, horseradish, Jerusalem artichoke, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, onions, parsnips, potatoes (maincrop), purple sprouting broccoli, radishes, rhubarb, rocket, salsify, shallots, spinach, swede and turnips.
Fruit: apples and pears.
Herbs: chives, coriander, mushrooms (cultivated) and parsley (curly).
Meat: beef, chicken, guinea fowl, hare, mallard, partridge, pork, rabbit, turkey, venison and wood pigeon.
Fish: brill, clams,cockles, crab, dab, dover sole, haddock, halibut, hake, john dory, langoustine, lemon sole, lobster, mackerel, mussels, oysters, salmon, scallops, shrimp, skate, turbot, whitebait and winkles.
See at the touch of a button all the British produce currently available in the supermarkets - [search Want to Buy British by product or by supermarket].