Sustainable use of organic resources for bioenergy, food and water provision in rural Sub-Saharan Africa

Acknowledgements We are grateful to the United Kingdom Economic and Social Research Council Nexus Network for funding this work.

Sustainable use of organic resources for bioenergy, food and water provision in rural Sub-Saharan Africa

Acknowledgements We are grateful to the United Kingdom Economic and Social Research Council Nexus Network for funding this work.

Sustainable use of organic resources for bioenergy, food and water provision in rural Sub-Saharan Africa

Acknowledgements We are grateful to the United Kingdom Economic and Social Research Council Nexus Network for funding this work.

Eating 'Green': Motivations behind organic food consumption in Australia

Central to the development of green lifestyles is the consumption of foods that by dint of their status as chemical-free, locally produced and/or free of genetically modified ingredients, reduce the environmental impact of food provision. Yet there are many other factors, such as health concerns, that may also encourage the consumption of 'green' foods. This paper explores the ways in which Australian consumers construct organic food-a sector of the food industry that is currently growing at between 20 and 50 percent per annum but is struggling to keep up with rising consumer demand. In order to examine the significance of 'green' signifiers in the consumption practices of Australian consumers a series of focus group interviews and a national consumer survey were conducted. These examined both those characteristics of food that were valued in general, and those meanings that were associated with organic food in particular. In very general terms, analysis reveals that while consumers believed organic foods to be healthy and environmentally sound-both of which were considered desirable-these characteristics were subsumed by an overarching concern with convenience. This does not mean that consumers did not hold genuinely positive environmental attitudes. Rather, it reflects a range of contradictory beliefs and practices that appeared to derive from the discursive conflict between conventional and organic food industries over environmental, health and safety claims. The paper concludes by identifying the barriers and opportunities for expanding the organic industry in Australia in the context of the ways organics is constructed by consumers.

Advertising of ultra-processed foods and beverages: children as a vulnerable population

The rapid nutrition transition occurring in Latin America has resulted in a sharp increase of childhood overweight and obesity. Recent evidence has shown that food and beverage advertising has a great influence on children’s eating behavior. This population has become a key target market for the ultra-processed foods and beverages industry, which is marketing products in an aggressive way. Evidence shows that Latin American countries have poor regulation of ultra-processed foods and beverages advertising, where the discourse of self-regulation still prevails over statutory regulations. The following commentary explores how advertising might play an important role in developing unhealthy dietary patterns and obesity in Latin American children, as well as the urgent need for government action and the involvement of civil society to tackle this public health issue.

Parental occupational exposure to organic solvents and anencephaly in Mexico

Objective: To assess the relationship between parental occupational exposure to organic solvents, and the risk of anencephaly in Mexico. Methods: A case-control study was conducted based on the registers of the Epidemiological Surveillance System for Neural Tube Defects in Mexico; 151 cases of anencephaly of ≥20 weeks’ gestation were included. A control, born alive and without any apparent congenital malformations at birth, was selected for each case in the same maternity service in which the case was born. Information on occupational exposures, lifestyle habits, reproductive history, use of medicines, supplementation with multivitamins and folic acid, was obtained by a general questionnaire; a food frequency questionnaire was also applied to obtain information of daily intake of folate and other B vitamins. Occupational exposure to organic solvents was based on job title as a proxy for exposure and analysed considering two critical periods around conception. Results: In logistic regression analysis, the odds of having a child with anencephaly was higher if the mother or the father was occupationally exposed to organic solvents during the periconceptional period, or when both parents or at least one of them were occupationally exposed during this period with an adjusted odds ratio of 2.97 (95% CI 1.36 to 6.52). Conclusions: The results support the hypothesis that both maternal and paternal occupational exposure to organic solvents can increase the probability of having a child with anencephaly.

Concentrations of resveratrol and derivatives in foods and estimation of dietary intake in a Spanish population: European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Spain cohort

Resveratrol has been shown to have beneficial effects on diseases related to oxidant and/or inflammatory processes and extends the lifespan of simple organisms including rodents. The objective of the present study was to estimate the dietary intake of resveratrol and piceid (R&P) present in foods, and to identify the principal dietary sources of these compounds in the Spanish adult population. For this purpose, a food composition database (FCDB) of R&P in Spanish foods was compiled. The study included 40 685 subjects aged 35–64 years from northern and southern regions of Spain who were included in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Spain cohort. Usual food intake was assessed by personal interviews using a computerised version of a validated diet history method. An FCDB with 160 items was compiled. The estimated median and mean of R&P intake were 100 and 933 μg/d respectively. Approximately, 32 % of the population did not consume R&P. The most abundant of the four stilbenes studied was trans-piceid (53·6 %), followed by trans-resveratrol (20·9 %), cis-piceid (19·3 %) and cis-resveratrol (6·2 %). The most important source of R&P was wines (98·4 %) and grape and grape juices (1·6 %), whereas peanuts, pistachios and berries contributed to less than 0·01 %. For this reason the pattern of intake of R&P was similar to the wine pattern. This is the first time that R&P intake has been estimated in a Mediterranean country.

A comparative study of the preventative effects exerted by two probiotics, Lactobacillus reuteri and Lactobacillus fermentum, in the trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid model of rat colitis

The intestinal anti-inflammatory effects of two probiotics isolated from breast milk, Lactobacillus reuteri and L. fermentum, were evaluated and compared in the trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS) model of rat colitis. Colitis was induced in rats by intracolonic administration of 10 mg TNBS dissolved in 50% ethanol (0.25 ml). Either L. reuteri or L. fermentum was daily administered orally (5 x 10(8) colony-forming units suspended in 0.5 ml skimmed milk) to each group of rats (n 10) for 3 weeks, starting 2 weeks before colitis induction. Colonic damage was evaluated histologically and biochemically, and the colonic luminal contents were used for bacterial studies and for SCFA production. Both probiotics showed intestinal anti-inflammatory effects in this model of experimental colitis, as evidenced histologically and by a significant reduction of colonic myeloperoxidase activity (P<0.05). L. fermentum significantly counteracted the colonic glutathione depletion induced by the inflammatory process. In addition, both probiotics lowered colonic TNFalpha levels (P<0.01) and inducible NO synthase expression when compared with non-treated rats; however, the decrease in colonic cyclo-oxygenase-2 expression was only achieved with L.fermentum administration. Finally, the two probiotics induced the growth of Lactobacilli species in comparison with control colitic rats, but the production of SCFA in colonic contents was only increased when L. fermentum was given. In conclusion, L. fermentum can exert beneficial immunomodulatory properties in inflammatory bowel disease, being more effective than L. reuteri, a probiotic with reputed efficacy in promoting beneficial effects on human health.

Nutrient patterns and their food sources in an International Study Setting: report from the EPIC study.

BACKGROUND Compared to food patterns, nutrient patterns have been rarely used particularly at international level. We studied, in the context of a multi-center study with heterogeneous data, the methodological challenges regarding pattern analyses. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We identified nutrient patterns from food frequency questionnaires (FFQ) in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Study and used 24-hour dietary recall (24-HDR) data to validate and describe the nutrient patterns and their related food sources. Associations between lifestyle factors and the nutrient patterns were also examined. Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied on 23 nutrients derived from country-specific FFQ combining data from all EPIC centers (N = 477,312). Harmonized 24-HDRs available for a representative sample of the EPIC populations (N = 34,436) provided accurate mean group estimates of nutrients and foods by quintiles of pattern scores, presented graphically. An overall PCA combining all data captured a good proportion of the variance explained in each EPIC center. Four nutrient patterns were identified explaining 67% of the total variance: Principle component (PC) 1 was characterized by a high contribution of nutrients from plant food sources and a low contribution of nutrients from animal food sources; PC2 by a high contribution of micro-nutrients and proteins; PC3 was characterized by polyunsaturated fatty acids and vitamin D; PC4 was characterized by calcium, proteins, riboflavin, and phosphorus. The nutrients with high loadings on a particular pattern as derived from country-specific FFQ also showed high deviations in their mean EPIC intakes by quintiles of pattern scores when estimated from 24-HDR. Center and energy intake explained most of the variability in pattern scores. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE The use of 24-HDR enabled internal validation and facilitated the interpretation of the nutrient patterns derived from FFQs in term of food sources. These outcomes open research opportunities and perspectives of using nutrient patterns in future studies particularly at international level.

Contents of trichothecenes in oats during official variety, organic cultivation and nitrogen fertilization trials in Finland

Selostus: Kauran trikotekeenipitoisuus virallisissa lajikekokeissa sekä typpilannoitus- ja luomulajikekokeissa

β-Glucan contents of groats of different oat cultivars in official variety, in organic cultivation, and in nitrogen fertilization trials in Finland

Selostus: Kauran ytimen β-glukaanipitoisuus

Astringency and other oral sensations : biological sources of individual variation and association with food and beverage behaviour

Orosensory perception strongly influences liking and consumption of foods and beverages. This thesis examines the influence of biological sources of individual variation on the perception of prototypical orosensory stimuli, food liking, self-reported alcohol liking and consumption, and indices of health. Two orosensory indices were examined: propylthiouracil (PROP) responsiveness, a genetically-mediated index of individual variation associated with enhanced responsiveness to orosensory stimuli often expressed as PROP taster status (PTS); and thermal taster status (TTS), a recently reported index of orosensory responsiveness. Taster status in PTS and/or TTS confers greater responsiveness to most orosensory stimuli. Gender, age, ethnicity, and fungiform papillae (FP) density were not associated with orosensory responsiveness to tastants, an astringent, and a flavour. Unlike PROP responsiveness, FP density was not associated with TTS. Both PROP responsiveness and TTS were associated with increased responsiveness to orosensory stimuli, including temperature and astringency. For PROP, this association did not hold when stimuli were presented at cold or warm temperatures, which are ecologically valid since most foods and beverages are not consumed at ambient temperature. Thermal tasters (TTs), who perceive 'phantom' taste sensations with lingual thermal stimulation, were more responsive to stimuli at both temperatures than thermal non-tasters (TnTs). While PTS, TIS, and gender affected self-reported liking and consumption of some alcoholic beverages, gender associated with the greatest number of beverage types and consumption parameters, with males generally liking and consuming alcoholic beverages more than females. Age and gender were the best predictors of alcoholic beverageAiking and consumption. As expected, .. liking of bitter and fatty foods and cream was inversely related to PROP responsiveness. TTS did not associate with body mass index or waist circumference, and contrary to previous studies, neither did PROP responsiveness. Taken together, TnTs' greater liking of cooked fruits and vegetables and high alcohol, and astringent alcoholic beverages than TTs suggests differences between TTS groups may be driven by perceived temperature and texture. Neither an interaction between PTS and TTS nor a TTS effect on PROP responsiveness was observed, suggesting these two indices of individual variation exert their influences on orosensory perception independently.