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Vitamin drinks contain too much sugar: CHOICE review

According to consumer group CHOICE the available vitamin-enhanced water products, produced by such companies as Nutrient Water, Smart Water and Vitamin Water, often contain high levels of sugar and in some cases were branded in a way that suggested they contained ingredients that were non-existent.

11 Jan 2011

BiAqua, DSM enter partnership for strain and process development of BiAqua Ferritin

DSM BioSolutions, Royal DSM's microbial fermentation contract manufacturing business, and BiAqua B.V., an innovator in delivering bio-based solutions for serious water contamination issues, today announced that they have entered into an agreement for strain development, process development and production of "BiAqua Ferritin" for BiAqua's core technology to address bio-fouling and arsenic contamination in the water sector.

11 Jan 2011

Food price rise will affect 'millions,' FAO economist says

Abdolreza Abbassian, an economist with the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), on Friday "warned of a 'worrying rise' in food prices which will affect millions of people following unexpected shortfalls in major cereals owing to bad weather in 2010," Agence France-Presse reports.

10 Jan 2011

Professor Puchta receives ERC's Advanced Researcher Grant

Tomatoes that resist pests and extreme weather while still tasting like tomatoes are among Professor Holger Puchtas long-term research goals. The molecular biologist develops techniques that will allow him to control inheritance in plants to selectively improve the properties of different species through nature's existing gene pool. For his fundamental research, Puchta now is awarded an Advanced Researcher Grant by the European Research Council.

10 Jan 2011

No smokers in Britain by 2050

According to a major investment bank there would be no smokers in Britain by 2050. According to Citigroup analyst Adam Spielman the decline is sharp and sure and would show up as no smokers in 30 to 50 years time. The analyses used data to reveal that the percentage of adult smokers in the UK has fallen from 53 per cent in 1960 to 21 per cent in 2008. Spielman said, “If these trends continue, then by 2050 many important tobacco markets will have gone to zero smoking.”

9 Jan 2011

Gigantism gene inherited by hundreds: Study

A gene that predicted gigantism in humans was identified in the DNA of the 18th-century man known as the Irish Giant, who was more than 7 feet 7 inches tall. Copies of the same mutation have been found in patients today who suffer from excessive growth, and scientists have concluded they all inherited the gene from a common ancestor.

9 Jan 2011

News outlets examine potential implications of record high food price levels

Though world food prices "jumped to a record high" in the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) latest index, the agency "is drawing comfort from the absence of widespread riots, usually the defining element of a food crisis," the Financial Times reports looking at the factors that have led some food prices to rise significantly without sparking international panic.

7 Jan 2011

Oxfam, Amnesty International release reports almost one year since Haiti's earthquake

"A new report from international aid agency Oxfam says reconstruction work has barely begun in Haiti following the country's catastrophic earthquake a year ago," RTE News reports (1/6).

7 Jan 2011

New York Times reports on rise, fall of microloans in developing countries

The New York Times reports on how microlending has "prompted political hostility in Bangladesh, India, Nicaragua and other developing countries." Such negativity "toward microfinance is a sharp reversal from the praise and good will that politicians, social workers and bankers showered on the sector in the last decade."

7 Jan 2011

Tobacco product regulations announced by FDA

This Wednesday the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released guidelines regarding agency approval for certain types of new products to be obtained by tobacco-product makers. FDA announced that products such as cigarettes, roll-your-own tobacco and smokeless products that were introduced or changed after Feb. 15, 2007 must be reviewed by the agency to show that they are “substantially equivalent” to products commercially available on Feb. 15, 2007.

6 Jan 2011

Report urges Minnesotans to protect, preserve water resources

The University of Minnesota's Water Resources Center has authored a first-ever, comprehensive report designed to protect and preserve Minnesota's lakes, rivers and groundwater for the 21st century and beyond.

6 Jan 2011

Reuters examines foreign aid's prospects in new Congress; Foreign Policy looks at Clinton's State Dept. staff memo

Reuters examines how the efforts of "budget-minded lawmakers [in the new U.S. Congress who will] seek to curb costs without undercutting military operations" could impact U.S.-backed aid programs, including those in Afghanistan.

6 Jan 2011

UFCW applauds President Obama for signing new food safety regulations

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union today applauded President Obama for signing into law a new overhaul of our nation's food safety system, which was passed by Congress last year. U.S. food safety regulations have been sorely in need of updating and this new law makes significant progress by strengthening oversight and consumer protection.

6 Jan 2011

Scientists devise new technique to make deuterium-depleted drinking water

Scientists in China are reporting development of a less expensive, more eco-friendly method for making deuterium-depleted drinking water, citing studies suggesting that it may be a more healthful form of water.

6 Jan 2011

FAO's food price index for December 2010 exceeds 2007-2008 levels

"Food prices hit a record high" in December, exceeding 2007-2008 levels when price spikes resulted in riots around the world, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said Wednesday in its monthly Food Price Index, the Financial Times reports (Blas, 1/5).

6 Jan 2011

Survey finds high levels of personal happiness, optimism among Americans during 2010

The results of a national telephone survey, conducted by Precision Opinion, of adults 18 and older found very high levels of personal happiness at the end of 2010, despite all the news and rhetoric and somewhat higher levels of optimism going into 2011.

5 Jan 2011

Behavioural changes suggested for preventing binge drinking

Richard Thaler, a professor at Chicago University, and a key adviser to the British Prime Minister on behavioural economics has suggested that large group of drinkers should forgo the long-standing tradition where each one has to buy a drink for the entire party in order to stop binge drinking. This is a part of the “nudge policy.”

5 Jan 2011

Brits get free healthy food vouchers in 2011

As the festive season comes to a close the British government has announced a £250 million ($390 million) industry-financed plan to promote healthy eating. Now millions of people will receive vouchers offering discounts on healthy foods. It is a part of the coalition government’s ‘Change4Life’ programme that is targeting Britain’s growing rates of obesity. The Change4Life campaign was initially begun in 2009 by the previous Labour government, which said that if the plan failed to reduce obesity within three years it might look at regulating the food industry. Now the eight month old Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition feels regulations do not do the job but a gentle push towards healthy habits may help.

3 Jan 2011

Fear of the fat promoted to curb obesity

The Australian Medical Association has recommended the use of graphic television advertisements in Victoria to warn people about the risks of eating fatty foods. Rising rates of obesity has prompted these extreme measures. The proposed ads in television and newspaper would cost $25 million and would show the effects of fat on the body’s internal organs. The AMA’s proposals are part of a submission calling for $63 million to fight obesity.

3 Jan 2011

Tips to prevent a hangover

Dr. Andrew Yacht, director of the division of general medicine and vice chair of medicine for education at Maimonides Medical Center in New York City said, “Alcohol clearly causes hangovers, but why it causes hangovers isn’t very well understood…Part of the suspected cause is dehydration and an electrolyte and hormonal imbalance. Some of the symptoms may be caused by low blood sugar. Or, it may be that the direct toxic effects of alcohol are causing the symptoms.”

2 Jan 2011