and the Institute of Agrochemistry and Food technology of CSIC have designed and tested the effectiveness of a new apple snack impregnated with tangerine juice that reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease in obese children
and improves their physiological well-being. The snack developed at laboratory scale at the premises of the Institute of Food engineering for Development of the Universitat Politã cnica de Valã ncia stands out for its high antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential.
According to the researchers forty grams of this product provide the bioactive components of a glass of fresh tangerine juice.
The results of this work have been published recently in the journal International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition Nutriciã n hospitalaria and Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies.
To analyse the properties and functional value of the snack a study was conducted involving 48 obese children aged 9 to 15 who were being treated at the Department of Paediatrics of the University Hospital Doctor Peset.
From this study researchers found that the incorporation of the functional food to the children's diet improved systolic blood pressure
To obtain the snack researchers enriched apple slices with mandarin juice using a technology of impregnation developed
and patented by the UPV team that allows incorporating additional ingredients to the structure of porous foods as in the case of fruits and vegetables.
This work is part of the thesis of Esther Betoret also researcher of the Institute of Food engineering for Development of the Universitat Politã cnica de Valã ncia
Researchers from Virginia Tech the Georg-August University of Gottingen Germany and the Jackson Laboratory of Bar Harbor Maine have discovered how check valves in wood cells control sap flow
while also helping to prevent embolisms--the spread of air pockets in the tree. In wood fallen to the forest floor it controls the rate that fungi advance through the wood cells to cause decay
and fractionation difficult--the first step in extracting natural chemicals from wood to make products ranging from medicinal polymers to sugars that are the basis for bioenergy systems.
The mineral is a critical nutrient for healthy tree growth and new research shows that adding it to the soil helps reverse the decades-long decline of forests ailing from the effects of acid rain.
The iconic sugar maple--the source of maple syrup--was the tree species that responded most strongly to the restoration of calcium in the soil.
The mountainous regions in the Northeast have thin soils that are already acidic so they have limited ability to withstand the assaults of nutrient-dissolving acid rain.
Similar depletion of soil nutrients by acid precipitation has occurred in much of eastern Canada and Europe.
and food supply of caiman thereby reducing the health of this predator. As long-lived species atop the food chain crocodilians provide an integrated assessment of the fate of pesticides in tropical areas
and can be indicative of pesticide damage throughout the ecosystem. Caiman and other aquatic species have been exposed to pesticides from upstream banana plantations even in remote areas of a national wilderness area concluded Grant.
We did not test for MRSA in meat in 2012 as there is still no indication that meat is a souce for transmission of MRSA in humans.
and the occurrence of this MRSA type in tank milk may be attributable to contamination from pig production explains Yvonne Agersã¸Senior Researcher at National Food Institute Technical University of Denmark.
and that MRSA spread to other areas of livestock production she adds. FACTSMRSA bacteria MRSA is short for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
Animal and meat production in Denmark A large majority of the meat products produced in Denmark come from pigs.
In 2012 Denmark produced a total of 29047000 pigs corresponding to 1902 million kg of pork
along with 111080000 broiler chickens corresponding to 168 million kg of chicken meat and 539000 cattle corresponding to 138 million kg of beef.
In addition there were 580000 dairy cattle in Denmark producing 4928 million kg of milk. Meat was examined for MRSA in the period 2009-11
but this was done not in 2012. The risk of meat constituting a source of MRSA infection in humans is considered still to be very small.
The DANMAP report is available in PDF format at www. danmap. org. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Technical University of Denmark (DTU.
But few know that these real caddiesflies spin an adhesive silk underwater to build nets to capture food and build protective shelter.
Caddisfly silk is phosphoratelated meaning that after the amino acid chain that makes up the silk is created phosphate molecules bond to the chain.
Phosphates can act as bonding agents and are used to make some water resistant paints. The next step is to see how we might be able to mimic nature with this new motif we discovered Yarger says.
or shortening phases of the muscle. Think of it as a ball finally bouncing on that trampoline.
and decelerating wings during flight is enormous and no insect would be able to maintain that kind of energy output.
The potential and challenges of producing food in citiesin many cities around the world patrons of high-end restaurants want quality food that is flavorful and fresh.
and closer to home--to locally grown produce from neighboring farms or even from their own restaurant-owned gardens.
You can't find fresher food anywhere says Sam Wortman assistant professor at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Chefs are literally picking produce the same day they're cooking it in the restaurants.
As the concept of local food and urban gardening gains popularity urban agriculture with its benefits and obstacles is coming to many cities.
The issues surrounding food production in urban areas are outlined in a paper recently published by Wortman and Sarah Taylor Lovell in the September-October issue of Journal of Environmental Quality.
Urban food production also means that healthy fresh produce is readily available to city dwellers.
what we're exposed to from drinking water says Wortman. Direct ingestion of soil containing lead is a bigger threat than plant uptake.
Practices such as washing food well before eating and covering soils with mulch can help decrease these risks.
and when it's needed can help conserve water. Reusing rainwater and wastewater can provide additional water
and atmospheric states on food production Wortman and his colleagues have a project underway. They are looking at six sites on a gradient from downtown Chicago to 40 miles west of the city.
Finding more efficient ways to produce food in cities will help control costs. Research to increase both the productivity
if fresh produce is to be available not just in high-end restaurants but to anyone looking for local food options.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by American Society of Agronomy. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
and even death in humans are spread by consuming contaminated food and water or by contact with livestock feces in the environment.
and food product recalls due to E coli O157 can cost hundreds of millions of dollars each year. Treating cattle in order to reduce the number of human cases certainly makes sense from a human health perspective
Recent water quality monitoring in the region has found widespread incidents of NO3 levels that exceed the Federal Drinking water standard.
#Diet is associated with risk of depressiona healthy diet may reduce the risk of severe depression according to a prospective follow-up study of more than 2000 men conducted at the University of Eastern Finland.
The study reinforces the hypothesis that a healthy diet has potential not only in the warding off of depression
Depressed individuals often have a poor quality of diet and decreased intake of nutrients. However it has been unclear
whether the diet and the intake of foods and nutrients are associated with the risk of depression in healthy individuals.
Those following a healthy diet are less at riska healthy diet characterized by vegetables fruits berries whole-grains poultry fish
and low-fat cheese was associated with a lower prevalence of depressive symptoms and a lower risk of depression during the follow-up period.
Vegetables fruits berries whole-grains meat and liver are the most important dietary sources of folate.
Junk food sugar and processed meats may increase depressive symptomsadherence to an unhealthy diet characterized by a high consumption of sausages processed meats sugar-containing desserts
and snacks sugary drinks manufactured foods French rolls and baked or processed potatoes was associated with an increased prevalence of elevated depressive symptoms.
Contrary to some earlier observations Vitamin b12 intake serum concentrations of n-3 PUFAS serum ratio of n-6 to n-3 PUFAS tea drinking and total caffeine
Their diet was measured by food records and food frequency questionnaires and information on cases of depression was obtained from the National Hospital Discharge Register.
The effects of the three-year lifestyle intervention on depressive symptoms were investigated in the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study (DPS) with 140 middle-aged men
http://epublications. uef. fi/pub/urn isbn 978-952-61-1201-5/urn isbn 978-952-61-1201-5. pdfstory Source:
According to the U s. Food and Drug Administration nearly 80 percent of antibiotics in the United states are sold for use in livestock feeds.
Patients received an exposure score based on their distance from the production the number of animals at livestock operations the amount of manure spread on crop fields and the size of the field.
while simultaneously making others more maize-friendly according to a new report prepared by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central africa (ASARECA).
and Food security (CCAFS) at a high-level event with Kenya's agriculture and environment ministries finds that overall Kenyan farmers--who make up 75 percent of the country's labor force--may not only survive
and food security in Kenya between now and 2050 is one chapter in an upcoming book produced by IFPRI and CCAFS East African Agriculture and Climate Change
and food security The chapter on Kenya will help frame Kenya's landmark National Adaptation Planning (NAP) conference that gets underway today in Naivasha.
what is expected to be a series of consultations to consider how Kenya should proactively deal with food production challenges
so they can boost food production even as growing conditions change. The analysis also offers a mix of good news and bad news for another important food crop:
wheat. It shows a potential for wheat yields to fall in areas north of Mount Kenya and east of Mount Elgon while increasing in a small area of the Central Rift valley and neighboring Central Province.
One climate smart village established in 2011 in Western Kenya's Nyando Basin--one of the most food insecure regions of Kenya that is prone to droughts
and chickens along with improved cassava varieties that resist a deadly virus. They also are growing high-value crops like tomatoes onions and watermelons.
Eventually they could be adopted by farmers throughout Kenya to boost overall food production even in the face of more difficult growing conditions.
and the Ministry of Agriculture to introduce sorghum pigeon peas cowpeas green grams and sweet potatoes to supplement maize and other traditional staples.
Honeybees are one of the most important bee species in the world in terms of their contribution to food production through pollination.
The model suggests that just under half of the 2010 Jersey infection spread was attributed to transmission by owners between their own hives.
The researchers suggest that distance between colonies was another important factor in the spread of the disease with the disease mostly spreading between hives less than 2km apart.
The researchers hope now to expand their model to investigate the spread of European Foulbrood a more common bee disease in the UK.
and a carbo-loading bacteria may determine how well tropical forests can absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere according to a Princeton university-based study.
Tracts of land that were pasture only 12 years before had accumulated already as much as 40 percent of the carbon found in fully mature forests.
It defies the widespread notion that livestock are necessarily in the minus column of any food security and environmental calculation.
Grassland pastures are the single biggest use of agricultural land--covering 3. 2 billion hectares out of a global total of 4. 9 billion.
and affordability of meat milk and fish for poor consumers and raise the incomes of smallholders producing these commodities.
and causing food supply problems if other benefits and disbenefits from revegetating agricultural landscapes are taken not also into account in land-use decisions according to an article published in the October issue of Bioscience.
The single-celled amoebas crawl through the soil eating bacteria until food becomes scarce. Then the amoebas gather by the tens of thousands to form a multicellular slug
It looked like the amoebas were carrying the bacteria around to make sure they would always have food.
when they picked up the food bacteria? Were they pathogens that were making the amoebas sick?
If food is abundant nonfarmers alone produce more spores than farmers alone. The reason is that farming is costly.
Farmers save roughly half the bacteria available to them forgoing considerable food to save some for dispersal at a new site.
however if food is scarce --if the amoebas are dispersed to a site without a good source--farmers produce more spores than nonfarmers
Stuck in a Hot Placethe habitats of most Andean plants-and therefore the habitats of the organisms that use them for food and shelter-are determined largely by temperature.
The problem with this is the trees can only go so far as higher elevation grasslands bar the path upslope.
and damage 9-20%of stored food crops and several species are resistant to available insecticides.
You don't want to mess with something with claws and teeth Thuppil said. They're acting in a very intelligent way Coss said.
This work has powerful implications for efforts to increase the yield of basic food crops like maize
#New cell component important to tea and wine-makingscientists have discovered where plants build tannins complex chemicals used by plants for defence and protection.
Aside from their protective roles in plants tannins are also important in making tea and red wine taste the way they Do it isn't every day that a new organelle is identified
but this goes to show that something as commonplace and seemingly familiar as the cell still has secrets to be discovered.
Infections in domestic chickens most commonly result in mild disease. In rare cases if introduced from wild birds to poultry some viruses of the H5
To assess if a typical influenza virus subtype from gull can infect chickens Tønnessen inoculated chickens with an H16n3 virus obtained from herring gull.
Influenza virus was detected in the oropharynx of 2 of the 19 virus inoculated chickens and specific antibodies against H16 were found in the same two chickens.
The chickens did not become ill and the virus did not infect the contact chickens.
These results suggest that H16n3 virus from gull can cause a limited infection in chickens.
In order to find out why influenza viruses of the H13 and H16 subtypes primarily infect gulls Tønnessen examined
whether the internal proteins of these viruses have particular signatures (amino acid composition) possibly related to host adaptation.
#The research was conducted at the Department of Food safety and Infection Biology at the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science and at Section for Virology at the Norwegian Veterinary Institute.
these substances allow a supply of nutrients and water. The fungi that provide benefits says Olalde Portugal are called the myccorrhizal.
and aroma of grapefruit--already used in fruit juices citrus-flavored beverages and prestige perfumes and colognes--may be heading for a new use in battling mosquitoes ticks head lice
Nootkatone has been used for years to give beverages a grapefruit flavor. It is safe to eat has a pleasant citrus flavor is not greasy both repels
and has been on the U s. Food and Drug Administration's list of substances generally recognized as safe for use in food.
It has been in commercial use for years as a flavoring for foods and beverages and as a fragrance ingredient in perfumes.
Those applications require only tiny amounts of nootkatone and price--$25 per ounce when extracted from grapefruit--was not a major concern.
and vegetablesthe scientist who turned fresh-cut apple slices into a popular convenience food available ready-to-eat in grocery stores school cafeterias and fast-food restaurants today described advances in keeping other foods fresh flavorful
and vegetables--as health-conscious consumers look for more foods that require minimal preparation like cut fruit
and premixed salads he noted. Fruits and vegetables have skins that provide natural protection against drying out discoloration
It's visible within minutes for foods like apples and bananas but occurs without any outward sign for other fruits and vegetables.
and sometimes improving on it with new edible coatings that protect the quality and nutritional value of food.
Those coatings consist of a thin layer of edible material applied to the surface of a food product to preserve freshness.
That wax also gives sugar-coated chocolate candy an appealing gloss. Other common edible coatings include starch alginate carrageenan gluten whey and beeswax.
Pavlath and his group invented the technology that enabled schoolchildren and other consumers to enjoy a new apple treat--refrigerated packaged apple slices that last 2-3 weeks without turning brown or losing crispness.
if the foods are handled under sterile conditions when they are cut in the factory Pavlath said.
Workers either spray on the films or immerse the foods in the liquid coating after cutting.
and other food crops and toward corn cobs stalks and other non-food plant material.
and other food crops for fuel production may raise food prices or lead to shortages of food.
Brown pointed out that corn stalks corn cobs and other plant material not used for food production would be better sources of ethanol.
However that currently requires special processing to break down the tough lignocellulose material in plant waste and other crops such as switchgrass grown specifically for ethanol production.
Not only do pandas digest a diet of bamboo but have a short digestive tract that requires bacteria with unusually potent enzymes for breaking down lignocellulose.
The time from eating to defecation is comparatively short in the panda so their microbes have to be very efficient to get nutritional value out of the bamboo Brown said.
Working with scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Brown's team identified bacteria that break down lignocellulose into simple sugars which can be fermented into bioethanol.
They also found bacteria that can take those sugars and transform them into oils and fats for biodiesel production.
and nutrition is extremely important from a conservation standpoint as fewer than 2500 giant pandas are left in the wild and only 200 are in captivity.
#Progress and challenges for reinventing food packaging for sustainabilitynature has provided the food industry with the perfect packages to imitate in the drive to embrace a new genre of boxes bottles fast-food clam shells and other sustainable packaging material for the 21st century
of the food inside. We face a huge challenge in developing new packaging materials that protect food all through the supply chain
while being produced recyclable compostable with renewable energy or even edible Risch explained. Nature has set the standard
Apples oranges bananas nuts--all come in packaging that is edible or compostable. Risch said that the food industry clearly is embracing sustainable packaging.
Although definitions vary sustainable packaging often means packaging that can be composted recycled or reused and is produced transported
But along with other food packaging they account for about one-third of the 250 million pounds of solid waste that people in the United states produce annually.
Risch cites compostable plastic bottles food trays and cutlery as an example of the challenges that lie ahead.
One fast-food chain in Brazil late last year posted an online video of its customers eating burgers--paper wrap
and several companies are experimenting with food wraps made from dried fruit mushrooms nuts and other material.
Is the drive for sustainable packaging moving society toward the day where that entire box of breakfast cereal six-pack of beer bottle of wine
and frozen pizza will be edible or compostable--package as well as contents? I do not see this happening any time soon Risch said.
and water that are needed typically for foods. Without that protection the packaged food won't be sustainable.
It will have a short shelf-life and spoil quickly. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by American Chemical Society (ACS.
That would severely impact consumers affecting the price of some of the healthiest and most desirable foods.
Some of the leading theories about the cause of CCD include the use of certain pesticides parasites diseases and overall hive nutrition.
If colonies continue declining Fell believes that there will be an increase in the use of other species including the bumble bee and alfalfa leafcutter bee.
or solitary bee species such as the alfalfa leafcutter bee explained Fell. If we can gain a better understanding of the factors causing honeybee decline we may be able to apply this knowledge to protecting other species. Fell cited funding from the Virginia Department of agriculture and Consumer Services the National Honey Board the Virginia Agricultural
Council and the U s. Department of agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by American Chemical Society (ACS.
#Commercial baby foods dont meet infants weaning needsuk commercial baby foods don't meet infants'dietary weaning needs
because they are predominantly sweet foods that provide little extra nutritional goodness over breast milk indicates research published online in Archives of Disease in Childhood.
They wanted to find out what sort of products are available in the UK for weaning infants from a predominantly milk based diet to a family food based diet
and flavours to encourage them to accept different foods and to boost their energy and nutrient intake. UK government recommendations on weaning foods stipulate that these should be introduced gradually starting with cereals vegetables
and fruits followed by protein-rich foods and should not be started before six months in line with recommendations for exclusive breastfeeding until that time.
The authors therefore analysed the nutritional content of all infant foods intended for weaning and produced by four major UK manufacturers and two specialist suppliers between October 2010 and February 2011.
The products included ready-made soft wet foods powdered meals to be reconstituted with milk or water breakfast cereals and finger foods such as rusks.
The authors collected their information on the calorie density added salt and sugar and the protein iron calcium
and carbohydrate content from the manufacturers'websites labels on products in store and via direct email inquiry.
Most (79%)of the 462 stand-alone products assessed were made ready spoonable foods almost half of which (44%;
Analysis of the 410 spoonable foods revealed that their energy content (282 kilojoules per 100 grams) was almost identical to that of breast milk (283kj/100g.
Products containing meat had the highest iron content but this was again no higher than formula milk
and not much higher than products that did not contain meat. Dry finger foods had a much higher energy
and nutrient density overall but they were also particularly high in sugar. Around two thirds (65%)of the stand-alone products were sweet foods.
Babies have an innate preference for sweet foods which might explain why sweet ingredients feature so prominently in commercial products say the authors.
However repeated exposure to foods during infancy promotes acceptance and preferences they write and the inclusion of fruit sugars rather than refined sugars won't make any difference in terms of the risk of tooth decay they say.
The nutritional content of the shop-bought products was compared with that of typical family homemade foods commonly given to infants and toddlers.
The savoury ready-made spoonable foods generally had much lower nutrient density than typical homemade foods with the exception of iron content.
But it still means that 50g of a spoonable family food would probably supply the same amount of energy
and protein as 100g of a similar commercial product say the authors. They emphasise that the main point of weaning foods is to increase the energy content of the diet
and provide richer sources of nutrients such as iron. Yet the most commonly used commercial foods considered in this study supply no more energy than breast
or formula milk and yet they are promoted at an age when they will replace the breast (or formula milk)
which is all that babies under six months really need they explain. While it is understandable that parents may choose to use these products early in the weaning process health professionals should be aware that such food will not add to the nutrient density of a milk diet they conclude.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by BMJ-British Medical Journal. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
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