- Soybean genetic treasure trove found in Swedish village
The first screening by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists of the American ancestors of soybeans for tolerance to ozone and other stresses had an eye-opening result: The world superstars of stress resistance hailed...
(Issue date: 03 August 2011)
- JRC develops new testing methods for contaminated sports drinks from Taiwan
The European Commission's Joint Research Centre has developed three new methods to detect an illegal clouding agent which can be found in sports drinks imported from Taiwan. In late May, the Taiwanese authorities informed...
(Issue date: 03 August 2011)
- Seventy per cent of eight-month-olds consume too much salt
Seventy per cent of eight-month-old babies have a salt (sodium chloride) intake higher than the recommended UK maximum level, due to being fed salty and processed foods like yeast extract, gravy, baked beans and tinned spaghetti....
(Issue date: 03 August 2011)
- Calorie counts on menus 'prompt healthy choices
Putting calorie information on menus encourages healthy eating - but only in a limited way, a review of the scheme in the US shows. Researchers quizzed customers before and after a law was passed in New York in 2008 forcing...
(Issue date: 03 August 2011)
- Shift in practices for marketing food products with health benefits imminent in EU
Advertising messages across the functional food market will be moving in a new direction in 2012 as the European Commission begins to finalise its draft article 13.1 “Union List” of permitted health claims, an industry adviser...
(Issue date: 02 August 2011)
- Modelling plant metabolism to optimise oil production
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed a computational model for analysing the metabolic processes in rapeseed plants — particularly those related to the production of...
(Issue date: 27 July 2011)
- Scientists learn startling new truth about sugar
Flying in the face of years of scientific belief, University of Illinois researchers have demonstrated that sugar doesn't melt, it decomposes."This discovery is important to food scientists and candy lovers because it will...
(Issue date: 27 July 2011)
- Hiding vegetables in kids' foods can increase vegetable intake
Pre-school children consumed nearly twice as many vegetables and 11 percent fewer calories over the course of a day when researchers from Penn State added pureed vegetables to the children's favourite foods. "Childhood...
(Issue date: 27 July 2011)
- How to tell real whisky from fake- faster
Methods for distinguishing between authentic and counterfeit Scotch whisky brands have been devised by scientists at Strathclyde. Researchers from the Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry have found new ways to compare...
(Issue date: 27 July 2011)
- Weight makes for tastier food
Want your food to make a good impression? Then use a heavier bowl or plate.That’s the suggestion from research by Charles Spence from Oxford University’s Department of Experimental Psychology and colleagues in Oxford and Spain,...
(Issue date: 27 July 2011)
- Beehive fences as effective deterrents for crop-raiding Elephants:
Increasing elephant populations in Kenya since 1989 have been widely praised as a conservation success story. However, where elephants and agricultural land overlap, incidents of human–elephant conflict are on the increase....
(Issue date: 20 July 2011)
- Body image change and improved eating self-regulation in a weight management intervention in women
Successful weight management involves the regulation of eating behaviour. However, the specific mechanisms underlying its successful regulation remain unclear. This study examined one potential mechanism by testing a model in...
(Issue date: 20 July 2011)
- Natural chemical found in grapes may protect against Alzheimer's disease
Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found that grape seed polyphenols—a natural antioxidant—may help prevent the development or delay the progression of Alzheimer's disease. The research wasled by Giulio Maria...
(Issue date: 20 July 2011)
- Scientists identify gene for resistance to parasitic 'Witchweed'
The parasitic flowering plant Striga, or "witchweed," attacks the roots of host plants, draining needed water and nutrients and leaving them unable to grow and produce any grains. Witchweed is endemic throughout...
(Issue date: 20 July 2011)
- Westerners 'programmed for fatty foods and alcohol'
Westerners could be genetically programmed to consume fatty foods and alcohol more than those from the east, researchers have claimed. Scientists at the University of Aberdeen say a genetic switch - DNA which turns genes on or...
(Issue date: 20 July 2011)
- New method for making human-based gelatin
Scientists are reporting development of a new approach for producing large quantities of human-derived gelatin that could become a substitute for some of the 300,000 tons of animal-based gelatin produced annually for gelatin-type...
(Issue date: 13 July 2011)
- Nestlé opens CHF 45 million Purina factory extension in Hungary
Nestlé has opened a new pet food factory extension in Hungary producing Purina brands such as Felix, Friskies and Gourmet. With an investment of over CHF 45 million (HUF 10 billion), the 10,000 sq.-metre factory extension –...
(Issue date: 13 July 2011)
- A Mother’s salt intake could be key to prenatal kidney development
A new animal study from Europe has drawn an association between pregnant mothers’ sodium intake and their newborn’s kidney development. Among the most significant aspects of the study’s findings is that either too much or...
(Issue date: 13 July 2011)
- Increased protection urgently needed for tunas
For the first time, all species of scombrids (tunas, bonitos, mackerels and Spanish mackerels) and billfishes (swordfish and marlins) have been assessed for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Of the 61 known species, seven...
(Issue date: 13 July 2011)
- A plant oil reduces the harmful early effects of obesity
Obesity changes a person's glucose and fat metabolism, leading to insulin resistance that triggers chronic diseases like Type 2 Diabetes and cardiovascular illness. James Perfield, assistant professor at the University of...
(Issue date: 13 July 2011)