Dutch researchers have discovered that two types of fatty acids – omega 3 and omega 6 – produced by stem cells in the blood and found in commercially-available fish oil supplements make cancer cells insensitive to chemotherapy. In experiments conducted in mice, malignant tumors became insensitive to chemotherapy after administration of normal amounts of fish oil. Natural products that include fish oil are frequently used by cancer patients in addition to their regular treatment. But an oncologist who supervised the research advised cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy to avoid fish oil supplements.

Swiss nutritional ingredients maker DSM says it has created a business unit that combines Martek’s algal DHA omega-3 and ARA omega-6 products and DSM’s polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFAs) product portfolio. The Nutritional Lipids unit will leverage Martek’s technology and market position in the U.S. and DSM’s global marketing and sales network. The company says scientific evidence shows that nutritional lipids offer significant health benefits and support brain, eye and cardiovascular health throughout life. Products from DSM's Nutritional Lipids portfolio are  found in more than 400 brands of infant formula, nutritional supplements, functional foods and animal feeds sold worldwide. Martek veteran Peter A. Nitze will serve as president, based in Columbia, Md.

Nestlé has partnered with Sydney University to develop a ten-minute online survey of 500,000 Australians seeking information on the key factors that contribute to health and happiness, and the complex relationship between the two. The interactive Happily Healthy Project will also give people ideas about how to change their lifestyles to make them happier and healthier, according to the company. The survey was developed with the help of Dr. Anthony Grant, an author and motivational psychologist. A key component of Nestlé’s Happily Healthy Project is the Happily Healthy Quotient (HHQ) which scores people on their level of fulfillment with life, both physically and emotionally. The company says 30,000 people have already completed the survey.

East Coast grocery retailer Stop & Shop has partnered with Unilever to donate $150,000 to Feeding America and member food banks during September to feed local children and families. The money will buy more than one million meals through hunger relief organizations such as regional food banks and pantries. Every dollar donated buys eight meals from Feeding America. Stop & Shop is conducting special promotional events in September in conjunction with the initiative, including Popsicle Parties and Stuff-A-Truck days. According to the companies, 25 percent of American children face hunger every day.

U.S. researchers have come up with an eco-friendly way to extract the antioxidants left behind when the skins, stems and seeds are filtered away during grape juice and wine production. About half of the beneficial antioxidants are left behind during the filtering process. By reclaiming the nutrients from the waste material – about 15 million tons are generated annually in the U.S. – the researchers believe they could benefit the health product industry. The new technology – known as subcritical water processing – uses pressurized water to extract the antioxidants, rather than expensive and potentially toxic organic solvents. The extraction method is not only more efficient, and “greener,” the resulting antioxidant compounds are smaller and more effectively adsorbed by the body.

Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) supplier Unilever says it has achieved its goal of becoming a "zero to landfill" manufacturer in the U.K. because none of its factories send non-hazardous waste to landfills. The company achieved its target by contracting with waste supplier Veolia to recycle 97 percent of its waste. The remaining three percent will be converted into usable energy.  The arrangement also helps Unilever meet its waste-to-landfill targets beyond the U.K., because the company’s 11 manufacturing sites produce about 25 per cent of its overall European waste. The company says it has reduced its total waste in manufacturing per ton of production by 77 percent since 1995.

Researchers in the U.S. have developed a simple commercial processing technology – exposure to ultraviolet light – to  boost the vitamin D content of mushrooms without affecting other nutrients. Though not many natural foods are rich in vitamin D, and vitamin D fortification has its limitations, mushrooms are high in the vitamin. Comparing button mushrooms exposed to UVB rays to mushrooms exposed to natural sunlight and those grown in the dark, the researchers found that the vitamin D content of the UVB group was 700 percent higher than that of mushrooms grown without light. Moreover, the UVB rays did not harm other nutrients in the mushrooms, such as vitamin C, folate, riboflavin, niacin, etc.

A Cochrane review of eight clinical trials involving nearly 4,000 infants in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean found that semi-solid foods enriched with nutrient-packed powder reduces the risk of anemia. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies among infants are a major global health problem. Fortifying the diets of children aged two months to one year with powders containing several vitamins and minerals, including iron, zinc and vitamin A, reduced the risk of anemia by 31 percent and iron deficiency by 51 percent compared with no intervention or a placebo. However, the researchers cautioned that using the powders requires basic sanitation. And food hygiene and handling needs to be done properly with safe water.

Chondroitin sulfate is sold in the U.S. as a supplement, often with glucosamine,  for relief of  joint pain associated with osteoarthritis (OA), which affects more than 27 million Americans. Now clinical research in Switzerland provides evidence that chondroitin sulfate safely improves hand function, and relieves morning stiffness and pain caused by osteoarthritis. The placebo-controlled trial involved 162 patients with radiographic hand OA. Participants received either 800 mg of chondroitin sulfate (80 patients) or a placebo (82 patients) once daily for six months. The researchers found that patients in the chondroitin group had a significant decrease in global hand pain compared with the placebo group.

Software and IT services firm Solarsoft Business Systems announced that Unilever is extending implementation of Solarsoft’s manufacturing intelligence solutions to all Unilever manufacturing sites in the Americas. Informance software tracks real-time performance in manufacturing environments. Unilever says it has been using the solutions to accelerate and enhance its total productive maintenance (TPM) program in ten ice cream plants in North America and will install the software in 35 additional factories in 13 countries in 2011. The company says the software installed at the ten ice cream plants where it was tested brought “real-time actionable insights.”

An Israeli company has developed a package coating and spray derived from natural plant extracts that repel insects. According to Bio[pack] co-founder Shlomo Navarro, the compound is natural, safe and long-lasting. In addition, bugs are unlikely to develop a resistance to it. The product, which combines numerous natural repellant compounds, is being used as a repellant in factories and warehouses to keep food safe during production and storage. And the compound can be incorporated into plastic, aluminum wrap, cardboard and other types of food packaging to repel insects on store shelves. The company says its product is being evaluated by U.S. government agencies for marketing in the U.S.

One of the problems faced by probiotics manufacturers is protecting beneficial bacteria as they navigate the harsh acidic conditions of the stomach on their way to the intestines. Now researchers in the U.K. have developed a protective biopolymer coating that taxis probiotics to the intestines unharmed. The researchers say the biopolymer could provide a major boost for the probiotics industry, which in the U.K. is valued at £200 million ($319 million) a year. The novel biopolymer is completely biodegradable, but remains intact in the stomach. It continues to the intestine, disintegrates and releases the bacteria. In the lab, lactobacillus and bifidobacteria strains survived in simulated gastric juices for four hours when coated with the polymer.

Seeking to boost market presence in the fast-growing Indian market, French food and beverage firm Danone is introducing a creamy yogurt in the country. The new product follows other product introductions over the past two years, including smoothies, flavored yogurts and dahi. Danone’s joint venture with Japan’s Yakult Honsha, dubbed Yakult Danone, produces and markets probiotic drinks in India. Yakult Danone and Danone India distribute products in different states and cities. Danone is also trying to figure out a way to market healthy dairy products to consumers at the lower end of India’s economic spectrum.

Twenty-five percent of food samples tested recently in a lab in the Indian state of Bihar were found to be contaminated or adulterated. Products such as cereals, wheat and wheat flour, graham flour, refined flour and “sattu,” rice and grams were contaminated with dust, insects and fungus. Milk and milk products were found to be adulterated with starch and sodium bicarbonate. Spices and condiments were adulterated with artificial yellow color, lead chromate, brick powder and dust. Under India’s Food Safety and Standard Act, which took effect last month, people caught selling adulterated food can be fined and/or imprisoned. Genetically modified food, organic food, health food and dietary supplements, alcohol and beverages can be tested under the law act, along with tea, coffee, soft drinks, jelly, ketchup, etc.

Canadian researchers have discovered that the powerful antioxidant found in red grapes and other common foods such as fruits and nuts prevents a growth syndrome in some offspring that can lead to health issues such as diabetes in later life. For the study, the young offspring of rats were fed resveratrol after weaning. Administration of resveratrol prevented development of a metabolic syndrome marked by glucose intolerance, insulin resistance and greater deposits of abdominal fat. According to the researchers, "infancy is a potential window of opportunity to intervene and prevent the future development of metabolic diseases" using antioxidants such as resveratrol.

A new nutritional ingredient developed by British food technology company Provexis and made from ripe tomato extract will be exhibited at a Hong Kong trade show this month. Fruitflow is being touted as a way to prevent unwanted blood clots that cause heart attacks, stroke and venous thrombosis. The syrupy extract prevents blood platelets from clumping and aggregating, which often happens as the results of smoking, obesity and other factors. Fruitflow, whose  health claim has been approved by the European Food Safety Authority, is water soluble, fat and protein-free, easy to mask in foods and beverages, has a long shelf life and can be added to a variety of foods, beverages and dietary supplements.

The U.K. Parliament’s Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (EFRA) has issued a report warning the European Commission that about a third of Europe’s egg production will violate new animal welfare standards taking effect on January 1, 2012. According to the report, U.K. egg producers have spent £400 million to improve conditions for laying hens – money that would be wasted if cheaper, illegal and non-compliant shell eggs and egg products are imported to the U.K. from other European countries. The committee urges the U.K. government to push for a ban on the export of non-compliant eggs and egg products, and urges the EU Commission to enforce the rules in cases where caged egg producers remain non-compliant.

Though many scientists and consumers are convinced that a salty diet is the primary contributor to high blood pressure – and increased risk of cardiovascular disease – in the Western world, recent studies cast doubt on that view, and even suggest that cutting salt intake may be harmful. One blood pressure expert in the U.K. called the evidence of the harm caused by salt intake “actually pretty flimsy.” The salt industry, of course, agrees, and one food manufacturer has started adding salt back into its products. According to this Reuters special report, the outcome of the debate will have a big impact on business. There’s the U.S. snack foods industry with annual revenue of $27 billion, for example, and the blood pressure medications industry with worldwide sales of $35 billion in 2009. But scientists have yet to come to a consensus on salt’s harmful or beneficial effects. Evidence is slight and often contradictory. So the debate rages on.

A Harris Interactive poll conducted for the American Meat Institute (AMI) has found that 80 percent of American adults do not use a thermometer to determine doneness when grilling hamburgers or poultry burgers. Three-fourths rely on sight to tell whether their meat is fully cooked. And 57 percent simply rely on the clock to determine when to take the meat off the grill – “not an accurate indicator of doneness,” AMI says. The organization notes that U.S. meat products are among the safest in the world, but like all raw foods, they can contain some potentially harmful bacteria. “It is important to take time to remind consumers about safe handling and cooking practices,” AMI says.

Warren Struhl, CEO of a company marketing dissolvable tongue strips that deliver a fast jolt of caffeine and B vitamins, tells FoodNavigator-USA that his product and others like it could become a $1 billion market within three years. Sheets Energy Strips from PureBrands have already won the backing of NBA star LeBron James and other celebrities, while response from retailers (Walmart, CircleK, GNC) has been “overwhelmingly positive.” Struhl expects to launch a family of similar dissolvable strip products next year. The energy delivery version costs much less than energy shot drinks while delivering 200 percent of daily value of vitamin B6 and B12, 100 percent of vitamin B5, and 100 mg of caffeine per two-sheet serving.

Though nutricosmetics haven’t caught on in other parts of the world, market data from Datamonitor show high per capita spending in Asia, particularly in Japan. Nutricosmetics sales are  growing especially strongly in China, which is  expected to overtake Japan by 2015, according to market researcher Frost & Sullivan. Driving the phenomenon in China are rising disposable incomes, increased concerns about beauty, and strong cultural acceptance of the beauty-from-within concept, thanks to centuries of use of herbs and plants to cure beauty-related problems. In this report, Happi.com outlines nutricosmetics market opportunities for both established companies and new entrants in the Asian region.

Despite an underwhelming Russian interest in organic foods, German baby food maker HiPP has opened a factory in Kaliningrad to manufacture its all-organic products. Organic foods account for less than one percent of the total food market in Russia. Nevertheless, the Hipp family continues to search for land close to fresh water and away from highways and conventional farms to avoid contaminating their crops. The annual baby food market for Russian children up to three years old is about $2.2 million, and growing at about eight percent a year, according to 2010 data from Nielsen. HiPP says its local market share is five percent. The company’s market share in Germany is 50 percent.

The Malt-O-Meal Company, maker of ready-to-eat and cooked breakfast cereals, has partnered with Terracycle in a program to reduce waste created by box packaging. The company offers its cereal products in plastic bags that result in 75 percent less consumer waste and save energy and fuel in the process. Its recycling initiative with Terracycle is designed to keep the cereal bags out of landfills. Terracycle collects hard-to-recycle materials and transforms them into usable products like messenger bags, fencing, coasters, stationery products and trash cans. For the program, consumers join the Cereal Bag Brigade and ship used bags to TerraCycle. Shipments from schools earn points that can be redeemed for $0.02 per bag.

Half of Americans drink sugar drinks – defined as fruit drinks, sodas, energy drinks, sports drinks, and sweetened bottled waters, but not diet drinks – each day, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A quarter of the U.S. population consumes at least 200 kcal of sugar drinks, equivalent to more than one 12-oz can of cola. Other findings: males consume more than females; teens and young adults consume more than other age groups; black children and adolescents consume more sugar drinks than Mexican- American kids; low-income people consume more sugar drinks in relation to their overall diet than those with higher income; and most sugar drinks consumed away from home come from stores, rather than schools or restaurants.

Vitamin C can have a beneficial effect on some, but not all, children with asthma, researchers in Finland and Egypt have found. The study analyzed the impact of 0.2 g of vitamin C on the forced expiratory volume (FEV1) of 60 young asthmatic children. They determined that age, the severity of the condition, and exposure to molds and dampness were the critical factors. Vitamin C increased the FEV1 of children aged seven to 8.2 years old, with no exposure to molds or dampness, by 37 percent. But in older children (8.3 to ten years old) who were exposed to molds or dampness in their bedrooms a year before the study, vitamin C increased the FEV1 level by only 21 percent.

Food and beverage company Dean Foods has launched a better-for-you chocolate milk made with white milk, but containing 20 percent less sugar, 40 more calories than regular milk per serving, and no high fructose corn syrup. Fat-free TruMoo contains 130 calories per serving and 10 grams of added sugar. Previous chocolate milk formulas made with high fructose corn syrup contained up to 180 calories and 16 grams of added sugar. Dean Foods said the nationwide launch follows successful retail and school testing in the Northeast and Pacific Coast regions. According to the company, Fairfax County Public Schools in Northern Virginia reversed a chocolate milk ban to bring TruMoo chocolate milk into school cafeterias. Wendy's restaurants also offer TruMoo coast to coast.

A report from the charitable arm of the AARP says that almost nine million Americans aged 50 and over were at risk of hunger in 2009, a 79 percent increase from 2001. People aged 50 to 59 are the youngest of the Baby Boomer generation – they are too young for Social Security and too old for programs targeting families with children. In 2009, 4.9 million 50- to 59-year-olds were at risk of hunger, representing a “staggering” 38 percent increase over 2007, AARP says.  Between 2007 and 2009, the most dramatic increase in food insecurity was among those with annual incomes more than twice the poverty line. “The recession has taken an especially large toll on older people, particularly those in the middle class,” says AARP Foundation President Jo Ann Jenkins.

French retail chain Carrefour reported a 2.3 percent increase in sales in the first half of 2011 to €39.6 billion ($56.3 billion), but a drop in profit of €927 million ($1.3 billion), compared to a profit of €14 million a year ago. The company attributed the drop in profit to “unsatisfactory performance” in France and a “tough environment” in Europe. Weak sales and unsatisfactory profit performance were the key problems in France, along with underperformance in Italy and Greece. Latin America, however, experienced solid growth in sales, and included an “encouraging turnaround” in Brazilian hypermarkets. The company also reported good growth in China and a confirmed recovery in Taiwan.

Taura Natural Ingredients announced it will be exhibiting innovative snack food ingredients that incorporate fruits and – for the first time – vegetables at the Food Ingredients Europe (FiE) conference in Paris in November-December. Processed using the URC (ultra rapid concentration) technology, the ingredients are formulated from 100 percent fruits and vegetables. The product line includes purees and non-deionised juices that allow snack manufacturers to create a range of nutrient-rich, clean label composite products such as fruit pieces, flakes and pastes for use in applications such as muesli, cereal or snack bars, baked goods, cereals and confectionery.

A group of disgruntled consumers has filed a class action lawsuit in a California federal court seeking compensatory and punitive damages against “all natural” foods maker Kashi Co., a subsidiary of Kellogg, for false advertising, violation of California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act, and other alleged transgressions. The plaintiffs argue that despite the “all natural” claims made by Kashi, its cereals and other products are “composed almost entirely of synthetic and unnaturally processed ingredients," such as sodium molybdate, phytonadione, sodium selenite, magnesium phosphate, niacinamide, etc. The attorney representing the lead plaintiff in the case said "in some cases" substances in Kashi products are "hazardous" and violate "both Kashi's and the FDA's definition of the term 'natural.'" 

Hypertension researchers at the University of Rochester (N.Y.) Medical Center conducted a review of so-called “natural” products marketed as treatments for high blood pressure, finding that a couple of dietary supplements and herbal remedies seem to show promise, at least on an individual basis. For example, the supplement coenzyme Q10, an antioxidant enzyme involved in energy production, significantly reduced blood pressure. Potassium also helps lower blood pressure, whether it comes from the foods or from a supplement. Promising herbal remedies included mistletoe extract, which can be toxic at high doses, and Hawthorn extract. Some herbal remedies on the other hand – St. John's wort, ephedra/ma huang, yohimbine and licorice – seem to increase blood pressure.

With the U.N. declaring countries in the so-called Horn of Africa (Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, etc.) in a state of crisis or emergency because of severe drought and famine, Unilever says it is working with disaster and emergency relief partners to determine how to boost relief efforts. East African countries are enduring the worst drought in six decades, according to the U.N. About 2.8 million people need immediate life-saving assistance; 450,000 are affected by the famine. The company says its local businesses in Kenya and South Africa have been donating cash and food products; the Unilever global business has pledged €500,000 in cash and food products through UNICEF, Save the Children, Oxfam, Population Services International (PSI) and WFP.

Makers of supplements and functional foods that claim to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease should be encouraged by recent Harvard University research findings that Alzheimer’s tops the list of most feared diseases among Americans and Europeans. A telephone survey of 2,678 adults also uncovered the fact that between 27 percent and 63 percent believe that some supplements can slow the onset and development of the dreaded disease. Couple that with the fact that large numbers of consumers are also searching for products that improve mood and relieve stress, and it’s no mystery why sales of “cognitive health ingredients” have increased by 12 percent. The main focus is on ingredients such as omega-3s; vitamins B, D and E; zinc; phosphatidylserine; coenzyme Q10; ginkgo biloba; St. John’s wort; SAM-e and kava.

British and Colombian researchers who looked at seven studies involving 100,000 people have found that consuming high levels of chocolate was associated with a 37 percent reduction in the risk of heart disease. The studies did not differentiate between dark or milk chocolate, and included consumption of chocolate bars, drinks, biscuits and desserts. But the researchers offered several caveats to their findings. More studies are needed to find out whether chocolate actually caused the reduction in heart disease risk or if some other unmeasured factor was involved. And they cautioned that commercially available chocolate is loaded with calories – around 500 calories for every 100 grams – and eating too much can cause weight gain, boosting  the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

Products in the digestive health category are selling well, thanks at least in part to Dannon’s aggressive marketing campaign for its Activia yogurt. Ads featuring actress Jamie Lee Curtis have made countless people aware of the importance of digestive health, says Danielle Harrison of National Enzyme Co. And probiotics aren’t the only beneficiary of the campaign. Nonprobiotic ingredients that have experienced an uptick in sales include aloe vera, fiber and enzymes. The business development manager at Xsto Solutions says his company’s products, including a Japanese chelated zinc and L-carnosine ingredient, is experiencing double-digit growth. PepZin GI, supports a healthy mucosal lining in the digestive system.

Expanding its commitment to Thailand, Nestlé announced it will invest more than CHF 98 million ($114 million) over the next two years to expand its factories and boost manufacturing of products such as coffee and ice cream. The money will also pay for construction of a new Nestlé Quality Assurance Centre. CEO Paul Bulcke said the company’s business in Thailand grew by more than 10 percent in 2010, thanks to domestic sales and the export of Thai-produced products to more than 44 countries around the world. Thailand also benefits from the Nescafé Plan, a CHF 500 million initiative unveiled last year addressing responsible farming, sourcing and consumption across its coffee supply chain.

U.S. research among obese people with hypertension has found that eating potatoes every day – just plain potatoes cooked in a microwave – reduces high blood pressure without inducing weight gain. For the study, 18 hypertensive overweight/obese patients ate six to eight golf ball-size purple potatoes twice a day for 30 days. Purple potatoes were used because the pigment is rich in beneficial phytochemicals. According to the researchers, the average diastolic blood pressure dropped by 4.3 percent and the systolic pressure decreased by 3.5 percent. The majority of subjects took anti-hypertensive drugs and still had a reduction in blood pressure. None of the study participants gained weight. A similar test is planned for white potatoes, and similar results are expected.

Retail grocer Tesco Homeplus announced it is opening what it says is the world’s first virtual store in a Seoul, South Korea, subway station. Commuters can point their Homeplus app-enhanced smartphones at the virtual displays of 500 products on the walls of the Seonreung station, scan the barcodes using their phones, and add the product to their virtual shopping cart. Selected products are then delivered to their homes, often the same day. If shoppers scan their grocery selections before 1:00 p.m., items will be delivered the same evening, according to the company. The initiative is part of a Tesco company strategy to increase market share in South Korea without adding physical stores.

Experiments conducted by French researchers have shown that the severity of brain damage following a stroke can be lessened if the diet is rich in omega-3 fatty acids. The study was conducted in mice that consumed the omega-3 fatty acid DHA daily for three months. The extent of brain damage after a stroke was reduced by 25 percent, compared to control animals. The researchers found that the DHA mice had reduced concentrations of molecules that stimulate tissue inflammation and larger quantities of molecules that prevent the activation of cell death. The researchers said it was the “first convincing demonstration of the powerful anti-inflammatory effect of DHA in the brain.”

After a meta-analysis of the results of 43 clinical trials involving 200,000 young children, British and Pakistani researchers are urging policymakers to provide vitamin A supplementation to children in low and middle income countries to prevent death and illness from conditions such as diarrhea and measles. Their analysis found vitamin A supplements reduced child mortality by 24 percent in low and middle income countries. These findings, they say, show that the benefits of vitamin A supplementation are conclusive, and further testing would be unethical. According to the authors, if the mortality risk for 190 million vitamin A deficient children were reduced by 24 percent, more than 600,000 lives would be saved each year.

Portuguese researchers report that coriander oil is toxic enough to a variety of harmful bacteria to be used in foods to prevent food-borne illnesses. The researchers tested coriander oil against 12 bacterial strains, including Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, Bacillus cereus and meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Solutions containing 1.6 percent coriander oil killed or reduced the growth of the tested bacterial strains. According to the researchers, coriander oil damages the membrane surrounding the bacterial cell, inhibits essential processes and ultimately causes cell death. They suggest that in addition to use in the food industry, coriander oil could be used as a natural alternative to antibiotics in lotions, mouth rinses and pills.

A study by Canadian researchers has found that people with high cholesterol who were advised to eat cholesterol-lowering foods for six months reduced their levels of bad cholesterol more than people who were advised to eat a low saturated fat diet. The 345 participants in the study received dietary advice on either a low saturated fat diet (control) or a cholesterol-lowering foods diet that included soy protein, nuts and plant sterols. The researchers found that low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels in the control diet dropped three percent (8 mg/dL) over six months. In the cholesterol-lowering foods diet, LDL-C levels dropped anywhere from 13.1 percent (24 mg/dL) to 13.8 percent (26 mg/dL).

Although Nestlé board chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe believes organic farmers and farming should be supported, they are ultimately not the answer to the world food supply problem and are not a priority for Nestlé, Fast Company reports. "There's no way you can support life on earth if you go straight from farm to table," Brabeck-Letmathe says, calling organic farming “a privilege” supported by wealthy people in Europe and the U.S. who can pay the higher prices. Organic farming is a "romantic" notion that is not scalable. Moreover, organic farming does not lead to more nutritious foods, he says, and can be dangerous because of the use of manure-based fertilizers.

Norwegian scientists have come up with an effective, fast and economical method of identifying infection sources such as bacteria, yeasts and molds in the food chain. Microorganisms that cause spoilage and deterioration can be found anywhere in the food processing system – for example, in the tubes that carry milk to cartons, or suspended in the air as sausages are being packed, etc. The new detection method is based on spectral readings of microbes collected from foods. Each microbe has a unique spectral profile that acts like a fingerprint for identification purposes. Using a spectrometer, scientists can detect microbes in finished food products and trace them back to the various steps in the production process.

Swedish researchers working with mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease have discovered that treatment with vitamin C dissolves the toxic protein aggregates – called amyloid plaques – that build up in the brain causing nerve cell death in Alzheimer's disease. The researchers also found that the vitamin C does not need to come from fresh fruit: it can be absorbed in larger quantities in the form of dehydroascorbic acid from juice that has been kept overnight in a refrigerator, for example. The researchers acknowledge that the idea that vitamin C can have a positive impact on Alzheimer’s is controversial, and suggest that further research is needed.

Nestlé announced that it has revised its Nutritional Compass food label imprint, found on 97 percent of its products globally, to help consumers “make more informed choices about a healthy balanced diet and lifestyle.” The Compass comprises four information boxes that form a circle around the corporate logo. The company has added a “Good Question” box with product specific queries that are answered in a “Good to Know” box. A “Good to Remember” box offering supporting information has been merged with a “Good to Talk” box providing company contact details. Lastly, a Nutritional Information box states nutrient content, such as amounts of protein, carbohydrate, fat and sugar.

Athletes and weight lifters can manipulate muscle metabolism after strenuous exercise by consuming whey protein enhanced with leucine, two studies have found. A multinational team of researchers in one study showed that consuming a single large dose of whey protein (25 g) immediately after exercise increased muscle protein synthesis more than 10 periodic smaller (2.5 g) “protein shots.” In the second study, muscle protein synthesis was boosted by 33 percent after consumption of a leucine-enriched protein beverage than after the lower-leucine drink.