Thursday, January 13, 2011

Torrefacto-roasted Coffee Has Higher Antioxidant Properties


Torrefacto-roasted coffee has higher antioxidant properties than natural roast, according to the dissertation defended by a biologist of the University of Navarra. She has emphasized in her study that the addition of sugar during the roasting process increases the development of compounds with high antioxidant activity.
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The researcher of Department of Food Sciences, Physiology and Toxicology of the University of Navarra analyzed eleven varieties of commercial coffee for her study, which was entitled “The Influence of Torrefacto Roasting on the Principal Components of Coffee and its Antioxidant and Pro-oxidant Capacity.”

As this scientist of the School of Sciences emphasized, numerous studies have shown the benefits of this drink. In particular, it is considered to be one of the best sources for antioxidants in the diet; these substances help to protect us against free radicals, which are a cause of premature aging and certain diseases. Coffee has an antioxidant capacity which is ten times higher than other drinks, such as red wine and tea.

In order to carry out this research, Isabel López analyzed the coffee consumption habits of the inhabitants of Navarra, via 300 surveys. The results showed that Navarrans consume an average of 125 ml of coffee per day, with consumption slightly higher among women. In addition, they primarily consume ground coffee resulting from a mixture of natural roast and torrefacto-roast coffees, and the coffee is generally prepared with Italian or mocha coffee makers, followed by the filter, espresso and pump methods.
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Artificial Butter Flavor In Popcorn May Cause Life-threatening Lung Diseases

A new study says that the chemical component of artificial butter flavoring can lead to serious lung diseases.

Scientists at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health, found that exposure to diacetyl can cause a serious condition that can lead to obliterative bronchiolitis or "popcorn lung."
Experiments showed that mice that inhaled diacetyl vapors for three months developed lymphocytic bronchiolitis—a potential precursor of obliterative bronchiolitis.

None of the mice, however, were diagnosed with the more-serious disorder.

Obliterative bronchiolitis is a life-threatening lung disease that has been detected in workers who inhale significant concentrations of the flavoring in microwave popcorn packaging plants.

"This is one of the first studies to evaluate the respiratory toxicity of diacetyl at levels relevant to human health. Mice were exposed to diacetyl at concentrations and durations comparable to what may be inhaled at some microwave popcorn packaging plants," said Daniel L. Morgan, Ph.D., head of the Respiratory Toxicology Group at the NIEHS and co-author in a release on the study.

Although exposure of laboratory animals by inhalation closely duplicates the way humans are exposed to airborne toxicants, the study points out that some anatomical differences between the mice and humans may account for why the nasal cavity of mice is more susceptible to reactive vapors than that of humans. Another reason may be that mice breathe exclusively through their noses.
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Boosting the Flavour of Food may Help to Lose Weight

Boosting the Flavour of Food may Help to Lose Weight

Boosting the Flavour of Food may Help to Lose Weight
Boosting the flavour of your food with calorie-free seasonings and sweeteners may help in shedding those extra pounds, according to a new study.

According to Dr Alan Hirsch, founder and neurologic director of the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago, flavouring food with calorie-free seasonings and sweeteners, may make people feel full faster and cut down their consumption.

The subjects in study lost an average of nearly 15 percent of their body weight.

Researchers focussed their study on "tastants," substances that can stimulate the sense of taste.

During the research, 2,436 overweight or obese individuals were to sprinkle a variety of savoury or sweet crystals on their food before eating their meals during the 6-month study period.

The subjects put liberal applications of the salt-free savoury flavors on salty foods and applied the sugar-free sweet crystals on sweet or neutral-tasting foods.

They did not know what the flavours were other than salty or sweet. The hidden flavours of the savoury tastants were cheddar cheese, onion, horseradish, ranch dressing, taco, or Parmesan. Sweet flavours were cocoa, spearmint, banana, strawberry, raspberry, and malt. A control group of 100 volunteers did not use tastants

Hirsch measured weight and body mass index (BMI), a measure of height and weight of the subjects before and after the study

The team found that the treatment group had an average weight of 208 pounds and average BMI of 34, which is considered obese.


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Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Food Safety Body may Review Its Clearance of Baby Bottle Chemical


The EU food safety watchdog EFSA said Tuesday it may review its clearance of bisphenol A for use in the manufacture of plastic baby bottles after Canada moved to ban the substance.

"EFSA is aware of the studies on bisphenol published in the United States and Canada," spokeswoman Anne-Laure Gassin told AFP. "The agency will examine whether it should review its opinion on this product, which dates from January 2007."

The European Food Safety Authority, headquartered in Parma, northern Italy, will reach a decision soon, she said.

The Canadian government announced last month that it was seeking public comment on whether to ban baby bottles made using bisphenol, considered "potentially harmful."

It would become the first country to ban the chemical compound.

A US government report last month also found that bisphenol A could endanger reproductive health and the nervous system.

EFSA said in its January 2007 risk assessment that a daily intake of 0.05 milligrammes of bisphenol A per kilogramme of body weight was tolerable, and that this amount was much greater than that ingested by infants in an average day.

Source-AFP
SRM
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Preservatives and Colorings Increases Hyper Activity in Kids


Eliminating artificial colours and preservatives from the diets of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) should be considered a first-line treatment to reduce hyperactivity, says an editorial in the British Medical Journal.

Professor Andrew Kemp from the Children's Hospital at Westmead, in Sydney, says there is good scientific evidence that preservatives and colourings increased hyperactive behaviour.

However, removing them is still considered as an alternative rather than a standard treatment for ADHD, writes Professor Kemp.

In contrast, despite a lack of evidence for its effectiveness, the use of alternative medicine is widespread-up to 50 percent of children attending tertiary children's hospitals in the UK and Australia have used it in the past year.

Of the three main treatments for ADHD in children-drugs, behavioural therapy, and dietary modification-only drugs and dietary modification are supported by data from several trials. Yet, behavioural therapy, which has no scientific evidence base, is still thought of as necessary for "adequate treatment", Kemp says.

So why, despite evidence to the contrary, does the removal of food additives remain an alternative rather than a standard part of treatment for ADHD, asks Kemp.

Data published in 2007 showed that normal (not hyperactive) children were significantly more hyperactive after they ate a mixture of food colourings and a preservative (sodium benzoate), with obvious implications for children with ADHD.

In light of these findings, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) reviewed the evidence linking preservatives and colourings with hyperactive behaviours from 22 studies between 1975 and 1994 and two additional meta-analyses.

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Monday, January 10, 2011

High-risk Food Safety Violations in US Restaurants


 ‘Dirty Dining’, a report by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has ranked 20 U.S. cities for restaurant health. Austin, Texas, and Boston, Massachusetts rank worst, while Tucson, Arizona and San Francisco, California rank best.

Chicken salad stored at 50 degrees in Atlanta, insufficient hand-washing in Boston, mouse droppings in a Minneapolis ice machine, a live cockroach scampering across a Pittsburgh cutting board, are some of the dirty details disclosed in the CSPI’s inspection reports of 539 restaurants from 20 cities.

The report observes that improper hand washing, probably due to a lack of hot water at a sink, can spread Hepatitis A, Shigella, or norovirus to diners. Food not held at the proper temperature can encourage the growth of dangerous bacteria such as Clostridium perfringen or Staphylococus aureus. Salmonella or E. Coli O157:H7 can infect diners when meat or poultry is undercooked, or when raw food items are placed on unclean food surfaces.

Today CSPI, the nonprofit nutrition and food-safety watchdog group, is calling on state and local governments to exhort restaurants to display food safety letter grades in their front windows as done in Los Angeles, Los Vegas and St.Louis.

"Americans are eating outside the home and entrusting their health to restaurant workers more than ever before," said Sarah Klein, CSPI food-safety attorney and co-author of the report. "We want to work with state legislators, city councilors, and public health officials around the country to implement these consumer-friendly letter grades. They’d go a long way toward preventing unnecessary illnesses," she added.



Source-Medindia
THK/M
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Debunks Health Benefits of Organic Food


Organically produced foods are not nutritionally superior to conventionally produced foodstuffs, according to researchers.

Consumers appear willing to pay higher prices for organic foods based on their perceived health and nutrition benefits, however, the new study from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found no evidence for superior nutritional content of organic food.

During the review, a total of 162 relevant studies were compared for nutrient content of organically and conventionally produced foodstuffs.

For 10 out of the 13 nutrient categories analysed, there were no significant differences between production methods in nutrient content.

The differences that were detected were most likely to be due to differences in fertilizer use (nitrogen, phosphorus), and ripeness at harvest (acidity), and it is unlikely that consuming these nutrients at the levels reported in organic foods would provide any health benefit.

"A small number of differences in nutrient content were found to exist between organically and conventionally produced foodstuffs, but these are unlikely to be of any public health relevance," said Alan Dangour, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine's Nutrition and Public Health Intervention Research Unit, and one of the report's authors.

"Our review indicates that there is currently no evidence to support the selection of organically over conventionally produced foods on the basis of nutritional superiority.

"Research in this area would benefit from greater scientific rigour and a better understanding of the various factors that determine the nutrient content of foodstuffs," Dangour added.

The study is published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Source-ANI
SR
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