It's been a good week for ...

red wine drinkers

Researchers at the University of Barcelona have discovered that natural antioxidant compounds in red wine are good for your heart and can cut blood pressure.

As ever with news that seems too good to be true, it is too good to be true. The red wine magic only works if the alcohol is removed first.

Still, it beats supping green tea with a nice meal.

It's been a bad week for -

deep-fried confectionery

Chocolate giant Mars has distanced itself from the infamous deep-fried Mars bar by seeking a disclaimer. The Carron Fish Bar in Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, claims to be the birthplace of the recipe, having first had the bright idea to plop a battered Mars bar into the deep fat fryer almost two decades ago.

The fish bar was so proud of the delicacy, there were plans to bid for EU protected geographical status, to bring it in line with the likes of Champagne and Gorgonzola. Alas, the plans have now been dropped.

Meanwhile, Mars has written to the owners saying the product is not authorised or endorsed as it does not fit the company's promotion of healthy living.

A menu disclaimer is being sought, to make people aware that deep-frying is not what the confectioner has in mind for its product.

A Mars spokesperson said: "We are really flattered that customers of Carron Fish Bar like our product so much that it has now become a flagship product for the store. No application for a protected geographical indication has been filed to date.

"Should an application be filed, unfortunately, we wouldn't be able to support it as deep-frying one of our products would go against our commitment to promoting healthy, active lifestyles."

Lorraine Watson from the Carron Fish Bar said she had written to Mars to say she was happy to put up a disclaimer notice in the shop.

It would be unfortunate if customers got muddled up and forgot how healthy chocolate bars are.

For the really health-conscious, there's always the deep-fried muesli bar.