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IITA launches initiative to prevent aflatoxin contamination in African crops

African agricultural research groups led by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and partners have launched a project seeking to provide farmers with a natural, safe, and cost-effective solution to prevent contamination of maize and peanut by a deadly cancer-causing poison, aflatoxin, in a bid to improve the health and income of families in Nigeria and Kenya.

17 Jun 2011

Low-level antibiotic exposure may cause E. coli bacteria to develop resistance

E. coli bacteria exposed to three common antibiotics were more likely to develop antibiotic resistance following low-level antibiotic exposure than after exposure to high concentrations that would kill the bacteria or inhibit their growth, according to a timely article in Microbial Drug Resistance, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

15 Jun 2011

Where does non-emergency food aid fit in development?

"Pre-positioning food stocks has some important advantages besides saving time: it can lower program costs for the food itself and shipping. Mostly, however, it's crazy that the Congress still requires that U.S. food aid be bought here and transported around the world on U.S.-flagged ships," Kimberly Ann Elliott, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, writes on the "Views from the Center" blog.

15 Jun 2011

FAO initiative aims to expand sustainable crop production methods among small farmers

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released a report on Monday outlining a new initiative that aims to expand sustainable crop production, Wall Street Journal's "The Source" blog reports.

15 Jun 2011

California adults increase fruit and vegetable consumption from 1997-2007

According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services' Healthy People 2010 objectives, adequate fruit and vegetable consumption is a national public health priority for disease prevention and maintenance of good health.

15 Jun 2011

Poor maternal nutrition predisposes offspring to type 2 diabetes

A new study published by the American Physiological Society offers the strongest evidence yet that vulnerability to type 2 diabetes can begin in the womb, giving new insight into the mechanisms that underlie a potentially devastating disease at the center of a worldwide epidemic.

14 Jun 2011

Sociologist studies why families in China choose to abort girls

Why are female foetuses aborted in China? Boys are considered a greater asset for farming, but why has the number of families in the cities who want a boy at any cost doubled? Sociologist Lisa Eklund from Lund University in Sweden has studied why families in China choose to abort girls.

14 Jun 2011

Government officials, civil society leaders and activists to combat child malnutrition

More than 350 high-level government officials, leaders of civil society organizations, and activists from around the world will convene in Washington, DC, on June 13 to build political momentum for nutrition efforts that will help save the lives of at least 1 million children annually.

13 Jun 2011

German officials again claim sprouts as source of E. coli outbreak

"After days of confusion, German authorities finally concluded on Friday that an E. coli infection, which has claimed at least 29 lives, unsettled the nation and thrown European agriculture into disarray, had been caused by contaminated bean sprouts and not, as first was feared, by other produce," the New York Times reports.

13 Jun 2011

Climate change to reduce water available for agriculture, report says

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) "on Thursday warned climate change will restrict the availability of water for farming in decades to come, including in the Mediterranean region, and urged governments to take action," Agence France-Presse reports.

13 Jun 2011

Life Technologies enters exclusive agreement for TAL Effector Technology license

Life Technologies Corporation has signed an exclusive license agreement for novel technology that enables synthetic biologists to effectively program and control the genetic circuitry in engineered pathways and organisms.

10 Jun 2011

G20 to launch initiative to reduce food price volatility

The G20 plans to launch an initiative aimed at reducing food price volatility when the group's agriculture ministers meet this month in France, the Financial Times reports. According to the newspaper, G20 agriculture ministers will discuss the details of the Agriculture Market Information System (AMIS) initiative during their meeting in Paris, which begins on June 22.

10 Jun 2011

Childhood obesity study points to fathers' nutritional ignorance

This Father's Day, dad's choice of where to eat could literally tip the scales on his children's health. A father's use of restaurants and his perceptions of family meals carry more weight, so to speak, than mothers', according to a Texas AgriLife Research study, published recently in The Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior.

10 Jun 2011

Pall's GeneDisc System helps German authorities screen for deadly E.coli strain

Pall Corporation's GeneDisc System is helping German authorities screen for a deadly strain of E.coli that has sickened nearly 3000 people and disrupted that nation's food industry. Pall's GeneDisc technology is being used by Germany's national reference laboratory to expedite testing of food samples for the toxic strain of the pathogen known as E.coli O104:H4.

From Pall Corporation 10 Jun 2011

Volatile food prices likely to continue, threatening food security in developing world, FAO says

"Drought in some areas and heavy rain in others are keeping world food prices near record levels, threatening the food supply for poorer, food-importing countries," the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in its biannual report on Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reports.

9 Jun 2011

Food poisoning with E coli low but Salmonella high

According to public health officials this Tuesday, progress has been made in combating the microbes behind 50 million yearly U.S. food poisoning cases. These affect one in six Americans. This comes from the newest federal FoodNet report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that shows that total food-borne illnesses dropped by nearly a quarter in the last decade and a half, but salmonella infections have steadily refused to drop, climbing slightly in recent years.

8 Jun 2011

UC Davis and BGI partner to conduct large-scale genome sequencing and functional genomics programs

The University of California, Davis, and BGI, the world's largest genome sequencing institute, agreed today (June 8) to form a partnership to conduct large-scale genome sequencing and functional genomics programs, focusing initially on the areas of food security; human and animal health and wellness; and biodiversity and environmental health.

8 Jun 2011

New book explores food and eating habits among prehistoric people

From the paleolithic diet to the raw food diet, many health-conscious Americans now want to eat the way they believe our ancient ancestors ate.

8 Jun 2011

Health officials rule out sprouts as source of German E. coli outbreak

Health officials in Germany are continuing to search for the source of an E. coli outbreak after tests on suspected sprouts from a farm in the north of the country came back negative, Deutsche Welle reports. The outbreak has killed 22 people and sickened more than 2,000 (Hallam/Penfold, 6/6).

8 Jun 2011

Mother's blueberry consumption can improve mammary gland health in offspring

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)-funded studies of mammary gland development in laboratory rats fed blueberries or other foods of interest may aid breast cancer research.

8 Jun 2011