Food Production News and Research

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Heaviest meals on the menu

According to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) this week the accuracy of caloric counts from restaurants is unknown. On the same day, the Center for Science in the Public Interest released its annual ‘Xtreme Eating Awards’ to eight menu items on the restaurant menus.

20 Jul 2011

Global food production needs to double by 2050 to achieve food security, survey shows

Global food production will have to increase 70 to 100 percent by 2050 to feed the world's predicted nine billion people, and that increase is only possible if more sustainable farming methods are used, according to the U.N.'s annual World Economic and Social Survey released on Tuesday, VOA News reports.

7 Jul 2011

Former Brazilian food security minister elected to head FAO

"Brazil's one-time food security minister, Jose Graziano da Silva, was elected Sunday director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization, the U.N. agency tasked with reducing world hunger at a time of near-record high food prices," the Associated Press reports.

28 Jun 2011

Small 'antifreeze' molecules more effective in protecting proteins than larger ones

Scientists have made an important step forward in their understanding of cryoprotectants - compounds that act as natural 'antifreeze' to protect drugs, food and tissues stored at sub-zero temperatures.

24 Jun 2011

Randox Drug Residues release newly improved Multi-Sulphonamide Testing Platform

Randox Drug Residues have released their newly improved Antimicrobial Array I. This comprehensive multiplex testing platform allows for the simultaneous detection of 15 of the most commonly abused sulphonamides in food production and agricultural industries.

From Randox Laboratories Ltd. 23 Jun 2011

FDA to beef up monitoring of imports

As Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner, Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg has been trying to correct inadequately controlled imported food and drugs overwhelming her organization’s ability to monitor them.

21 Jun 2011

G20 should examine larger food issues

"The inefficiencies in food production, transport and wastage are not only hazardous from a financial and environmental perspective; they are equally tragic on a moral level," independent consultant and writer Cynthia Schweer writes in a post on Foreign Policy Blogs.

17 Jun 2011

Instability and global food prices

In this report from the Center for Strategic & International Studies, part of its Global Forecast 2011, Johanna Nesseth Tuttle writes, "As food prices have risen - to a new, all-time high in 2011 - it is clear that, although we are not inevitably destined for instability as a result of declining food stocks, without serious commitment and focus we will be hard-pressed to manage the dramatic increase in food production that will be needed to meet global demand".

17 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

Yikes! 5,085 kilojoules and 80.5 grams of fat in one burger

After the naming of a Hungry Jack's burger as the unhealthiest in the nation, all state governments are planning to introduce legislation requiring fast food outlets to list the energy content on their menus.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific launches new triple quadrupole gas chromatography-mass spectrometry system

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has announced the launch of its new triple quadrupole gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) system designed to offer best-in-class selectivity, analytical performance and productivity. The Thermo Scientific TSQ Quantum XLS Ultra delivers the increased matrix selectivity needed for challenging applications that require lower levels of quantitation in extremely complex matrix extracts. With its exceptional sensitivity, easy detection and reliable peak integration, the system provides superior performance for the most difficult of matrix challenges.

From Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. 7 Jun 2011

Moderate consumption of desserts with low glycemic index and glycemic load may help treat pediatric obesity

Overweight girls lose more weight and can better stay on a healthy diet if they eat sugar-free, low-fat desserts several times weekly, as opposed to any dessert once a week, a new study finds. The results will be reported Monday at The Endocrine Society's 93rd Annual Meeting in Boston.

7 Jun 2011

E coli outbreak linked to tainted bean sprouts

It has been announced by German officials late Sunday that domestically grown bean sprouts may be the source of the Escherichia coli (E. coli) outbreak that has killed 22 people and sickened at least 1,600. All but one of the deaths occurred in Germany, the source of the entero haemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) outbreak that has affected 12 countries. The other victim died in Sweden.

5 Jun 2011

Fungi help increase food-production without the need for massive amounts of fertilizers

The next agricultural revolution may be sparked by fungi, helping to greatly increase food-production for the growing needs of the planet without the need for massive amounts of fertilizers according to research presented today at the 111th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in New Orleans.

24 May 2011

Also in Global Health News: WHO highlights health care-associated infections; Niger food shortages, health care workers; Latin American food security

The WHO on Thursday highlighted the importance of hand washing and other efforts to prevent health care-associated infections (HAIs), which affect millions of people annually, with developing countries carrying the greatest burden of such infections, CIDRAP News reports.

7 May 2011

Group of foundations launches food, agriculture policy research initiative

A group of foundations on Tuesday in Washington launched AGree, a food and agriculture research initiative, Bloomberg reports.

5 May 2011

Food poisoning costs the United States billions: Report

According to a new report published Thursday, 14 different pathogens causing food poisoning cost the United States $14 billion annually in terms of human disease. The report comes from the University of Florida Emerging Pathogens Institute that found that out of all the pathogen-food combinations they studied, campylobacter in poultry was the single worst offender, causing more than 600,000 illnesses per year, hospitalizing more than 7,000 people and costing, annually, $1.3 billion and 9,500 quality-of-life years.

29 Apr 2011

University of Arkansas receives USDA grant for childhood obesity project

University of Arkansas scientists and educators are attacking childhood obesity in a project funded by a $4.78 million grant for five years from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

26 Apr 2011

Drug resistant bug plaguing the meat industry: Study

It has been found that nearly half of the meat and poultry (47 percent) sold in U.S. grocery stores is contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus (“Staph”), a bacteria linked to a wide range of human diseases, and this bacteria is resistant to at least three classes of antibiotics in more than half (52 percent) of contaminated samples. This comes from a nationwide study by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) published this week in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

17 Apr 2011