Berlin, March 28 (TIWN) The death rate among Covid-19 patients in German university hospitals fell significantly over the course of 2020, according to a new study.

Before the pandemic, food and drink groups were on a self-interested path towards making more virtuous products, removing artificial ingredients (Kraft did so with macaroni and cheese) and touting health benefits. Cadbury’s owner Mondelez International this week acquired a majority stake in Grenade, UK maker of Carb Killa, the best-selling protein bars. 

They are now having second thoughts. AG Barr, the Scottish drinks group, halved the sugar in Irn-Bru, its fizzy orange-coloured soda, three years ago, replacing some with low-calorie sweetener. This week, it rolled out Irn-Bru 1901, a spin-off based on an old recipe, which contains even more sugar than the original version. 

It is understandable that people have done a lot of comfort eating in the past year, from mac and cheese to takeaway pizza. Many needed a dose of pleasure in the face of anxiety, loneliness and stress; as Cervantes wrote in Don Quixote, “all sorrows are less with bread”.