Agriculture ministers from around the world are gathering in
Sacramento, California today for the start of a three-day
conference on genetically engineered food and farming. With the
breakdown of discussions last week between the...
The Chinese herb gastrodine is at the centre of new findings that
suggest it could improve memory, orientation and language in people
who have mild to moderate vascular dementia as the result of a
stroke.
The smallest rice chromosome has nearly twice as many predicted
genes as the draft DNA sequence had indicated, claims a rice genome
sequencing team in the US.
As consumer groups in Europe and the US call on food manufacturers
to cut the quantity of trans fats in food products, Swedish
vegetable oils supplier Karlshamns has come up with a cocoa butter
replacer with a low trans fatty acid...
A variety of factors play a role in whether food-borne bacteria
actually make people sick, and a better understanding of the
infection process from food-borne bacteria could certainly lead to
ways to stop such illnesses from occurring,...
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should require food
manufacturers to limit the amount of the potential carcinogen
acrylamide in their products, said the Center for Science in the
Public Interest (CSPI), a nonprofit US organisation,...
Despite tension on both sides of the Atlantic over genetically
modified foods, scientists in the US bring a note of optimism - and
common sense - to the debate, reporting this week that, for the
first time, parties on both sides of...
Research continues into the potential benefits that oats and barley
could have on our health with new findings from the US suggesting
that diets high in barley could lower total cholesterol levels, and
could be of particular benefit...
Creatine serum supplements may have no effect on muscle ATP or
creatine stores, say researchers, who report that one particular
liquid serum had no effect on 40 subjects tested.
Does iron fortification work ? And if so, how ? Scientists from the
US government are working on a new study to investigate the
absorption and utilisation - the bioavailability - of various iron
sources used to fortify foods today.
In the US, the American Association of Cereal Chemists (AACC) is up
in arms this week claiming that new definitions for dietary fibre
compiled by Food Nutrition Board (FNB) are totally inadequate.
US caramel colour company DD Williamson announced this week that it
has launched a new, oil-dispersible caramel colour blend to provide
sticking power for snack and confectionery applications.
The humble, yet nutritious, raisin could well be the next rival to
sodium nitrite in the food preservative stakes, claim researchers
from the US this week who have just completed research on the
celebrated beef jerky.
A wide range of products are on display at this week's Vitafoods
exhibition in Geneva. One such product is edible film strips, a
novel delivery system from Watson Foods.
No more browning in cut lettuce, or so scientists in the US would
have us believe following the development of a new technology.
Their discovery could shortly have an impact on the $2 billion
(€1.76) bagged salad industry in the US,...
In a bid to meet increasing demands from sponge cake manufacturers
for a healthier version of their traditionally calorific products,
French starch derivative manufacturer Cerestar, now under the wings
of US giant Cargill, claims...
The pursuit of genome sequencing continues with the news this week
that scientists from seven nations have revealed the genome
sequence of the bread mould Neurospora crassa.
Adding to a growing body of evidence that suggests environmental
pollution may have an impact on the proportion of male births
around the world, a new study from the US states that women exposed
to polychlorinated biphenyls may be...
Implicit vote for the celebrated, and some might say controversial
Atkins diet, with new evidence that suggests a high-protein diet
containing mostly meat does not have adverse effects on women's
ability to retain calcium.
The importance of adequate nutrition levels for women at the time
of conception is under the spotlight as new animal research
suggests even modest restrictions in maternal nutrition around the
time of conception can lead to premature...
A new chickpea variety called Sierra has been released by
Agricultural Research Service scientists and their co-operators in
the US. Sierra's high yield and disease resistance to Ascochyta
blight are expected to appeal to the...
How exactly do peanuts contribute to preventing cardiovascular
disease? A new study from the US finds that peanuts may improve
total diet quality by increasing a number of nutrients.
A sweeping review of research on low carbohydrate diets over the
past thirty years casts a shadow over the long term effects of this
immensly popular dietary regime,
International Flavours & Fragrances is to launch CoolTek, a
high-intensity cooling technology designed to add 'fun and
originality' for a wide variety of products including food,
beverages and even pharmaceutical products.
The debate on the yield superiority of traditional crops over
organic crops is set to continue as a recent study reveals that
corn and soybeans were only minimally reduced when organic
production practices were used instead of conventional...
The benefits of fruit and fruit drink consumption could be
seriously compromised by the use of herbicides and pesticides,
cites a new study from researchers in Honolulu that investigated
high fruit consumption and the risk of Parkinson's...
The death of three hunters from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is likely
to heighten fears that people in North America are contracting a
new form of the fatal brain disorder from deer, reports the New
Scientist.
Earlier this week we reported on news on the powerful
selenium-sulphoraphane duo in preventing disease. New research in
the same domain suggests that gene silencing a specific gene could
optimise on sulphoraphane, a potent anti-cancer...
Why can vitamin A help immune systems to fight back when under
attack by some food-poisoning organisms but not, for example, the
common cold? Researchers in the US try to unravel the mystery.
New insights about the foundations of our health could soon be
revealed thanks to the recent completion of the genome sequence of
one of the most prevalent bacteria that live in the human intestine
- Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron.
Dieting and over-eating - two potent issues at the heart of today's
health driven society. One slice of the population - women - is
particularly bombarded by images of the ideal weight. But exactly
how much energy do they actually...
Confirming reports from the European Commission yesterday that the
European consumer is sceptical about food-related biotechnologies,
are the findings of a joint UK-US study into GE biscuits.
Researchers found European shoppers to...
Is it possible that soy foods could influence human reproductive
development? A new study released this week reports that male rats
whose mothers were fed diets containing genistein - a chemical
found in soybeans - developed abnormal...
In a bid to limit the contamination of food crops by pharmaceutical
plants the US Department of Agriculture has issued a new guidance
to tighten the rules covering the permittance process for companies
to plant and produce plant-made...
With legislators across the world currently discussing the issue of
food allergens and labelling, scientists are busy in the labs
investigating solutions to this increasing health problem. But new
research released this week could...
The American arm of Danish food ingredients company Danisco this
week announced the launch of a flavour concept designed to target
the ice cream and frozen novelty segment and to maximise on the
persuasion techniques of children.