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There are big changes to BBC's food site and people aren't happy

Plans to remove recipes cause anger and an online petition.

Gianluca Mezzofiore

on May 17, 2016

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

LONDON -- The BBC has confirmed it will close its popular BBC Food website though people will still be able to view its 11,000 recipes if they bookmark them.

The clarification follows earlier reports that the archived recipes were set to be removed after a review of the corporation's online output which promised to save £15 million ($21 million) a year.

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A source told the Guardian that the recipes are being "archived or mothballed" and would "fall off the face of the Internet after the site is closed."

The BBC said the Food site won't be updated but if you know the URL for a recipe you could still go to it.

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In a statement, the BBC also said several services will either be closed or scaled down, including iWonder, News Magazine, the Travel site and the Newsbeat site and app:

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

James Harding, Director of BBC News & Current Affairs, said: “The Internet requires the BBC to redefine itself, but not its mission: the BBC’s purpose online is to provide a distinctive public service that informs, educates and entertains."

The move comes as broadcasting union Bectu announced that 40 jobs had been put at risk by the review at the BBC.

A BBC source said online services had to be "high-quality, distinctive, and offer genuine public value."

"While our audiences expect us to be online, we have never sought to be all things to all people and the changes being announced will ensure that we are not."

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“These changes won’t be popular with all members of the public, but we think they are the right thing to do.”

The announcement follows the publication of a White Paper on overhauling the BBC. The government has scrapped the BBC Trust in favour of a single board with 12 to 14 members but has maintained the license fee.

Plans to remove the BBC Food site prompted chef and anti-poverty campaigner Jack Monroe to publish her recipes on a a free blog. She said on Facebook: “I learned to cook on the dole using free recipes online and for the BBC to reduce this vital service is an abomination.

“I hope I can go some way to filling the gap left for free, instructional, simple recipe resources and cookery guidance, which is vital for so many people.”

A petition to save the archive has already gathered 11,000 signatures.