THE launch of Heinz tinned spaghetti carbonara has caused uproar in Rome.

Preparing this classic Roman dish without using guanciale, eggs, pecorino cheese and black pepper is nothing short of sacrilege. The authorities don’t take infringement of their food culture lightly. Food legislation in Europe, and especially Italy, is well-established and enforced.

There’ll be a battle. Big money is involved. A recent investigation into food supply has highlighted that the operating margins and profits of the 'Big Food' producers, the likes of Mars, Nestle, Unilever and Berkshire Hathaway (who own Heinz) are now much larger even than those of the mere supermarkets who sell their stuff.

No longer part of the European Union and with less power to our elbow, we are in real danger of having our food supply being overrun by such profit-grabbing companies. They use skilfully targeted marketing and in-built addiction in their products so that we willingly feed their coffers. The returning queues of school kids outside the supermarkets and fast-food shops with their booty of crisps, chips, chocolates and sugared drinks is a testament to their success.

Our governments have blagged their way through the first quarter of the 21st century with innumerable research papers, fresh food initiatives and charters but access to real unprocessed, nutritious food is still a token gesture for most families.

The latest initiative, ‘Local Food for Everyone: Our Journey’, is the Scottish Government’s newest local food strategy. “This strategy builds upon the ideas and suggestions from the Local Food for Everyone: A Discussion consultation and reflects some of the policy developments and actions that are already under way.” Gobbledygook!

With obesity and diabetes statistics surging across the western world and in our young people, we need action, not initiatives. Government needs to put its foot down and get on with the job. We need policies that give us access to well-priced local food so we can finally start to break our dependence on the profiteering food conglomerates and take back healthy control of our diet.