premium US retail giant Wal-Mart is selling organic fruit and vegetables at famously low prices, charging only a 10% premium over non-organic produce.The company announced the move last April and stock has now arrived on the shelves in the US.

Wal-Mart is bringing premium fruits and vegetables to parts of America where they have not been readily accessible before.

The move is among several signs that Americans are beginning to think more seriously about what they eat. A total of 17% of children and teenagers in the US are overweight, and 66% of adults, of whom 32% are obese. 78% of adults admit that they do not eat enough fruit and vegetables.

Mushrooms – the new superfood UK sector body, The Mushroom Bureau, has signed up leading UK nutritionist and cordon bleu chef Jane Clarke to front a new PR consumer campaign, “Mushrooms – the Magic Ingredient”, to promote the health, taste and versatility of the product.

The campaign aims to capitalise on recent research from Pennsylvania State University in the US, which revealed that the most commonly cultivated white mushrooms – which make up 95% of all UK sales – are one of the richest sources of the powerful antioxidant ergothioneine and therefore more than worthy of the sought-after superfood status.

New research is suggesting that mushrooms, or substances extracted from mushrooms, may have the potential to help fight cancer and heart disease. Mushrooms have at least 10-20%, and possibly as much as 50%, more ergothioneine than chicken liver or wheat germ (previously recognised as the biggest sources) and three times the antioxidant properties of a tomato.

Mushrooms are also a good source of B vitamins and essential minerals potassium, selenium, copper and phosphorous, as well as being low in calories, fat and sodium.