== Strong Essentials ==

Waitrose experienced sales growth of 10.2% according to the latest 12-week grocery market figures from TNS. The supermarket said the success of its Essentials range was a main contributor to the growth, with Essentials bakery sales (units) up 21% year-on-year (lines that have moved into the Waitrose Essentials range), according to a spokesperson for the retailer. Top-selling Essentials products include baguettes, crumpets and English muffins.

== Welsh shop reopens ==

A former William’s Bakery shop in Wales, which closed at the beginning of August, has reopened as Brutons Bakery. The Glebe Street shop in Penarth was part of the William’s Bakery estate, which included a second shop on Cornerswell Road and the bakery on Plassey Street, all of which were forced to close due to the current economic climate.

== M&S man retires ==

Barry Stocker retired on the 28 August after 21 years as senior bakery technologist at Marks & Spencer and over 45 years since starting his apprenticeship at Dunn’s of Crouch End. During his bakery career, he worked for the Spillers group, British Home Stores, Tate & Lyle, and was a founder member of AB Ingredients before joining M&S in 1988.

== Low-carb diet study ==

A new study by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical Center in the US, has suggested that low-carb diets are linked to a negative effect on vascular health. Tests carried out on mice revealed that those on a low-carb/ high-protein diet had higher levels of atherosclerosis, a build-up of plaque in the heart’s arteries and a leading cause of heart attack and stroke.

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