Nutrition + Food Poverty Toolkit

This new toolkit aims to help professionals tackle food poverty at local level. Nutrition + Food Poverty Toolkit brings together in one volume information essential to developing a local food poverty strategy.

Food Co-ops Toolkit

More and more communities are setting up food co-ops so they can get good food atan affordable price and have more control over where their food comes from. Co-operation is all about two or more people joining forces and working together to achieve something they probably couldn't do on their own. In the case of food co-ops a group of people join forces in order to be able to buy foodsthey may otherwise find it hard to get hold of at aprice they can afford.By volunteering their time and pooling their buying power they cangetproducedirect from local farmers or wholesalers. This toolkit was produced as part of the Big Lottery fundedMaking Local Food Work programmeto help morecommunitiesset up their own food co-ops and buying groups.The Food Co-ops project has now ended but the toolkit and other resources will all remain on-line.To find moreabout food co-opsyou can visit our main website www.foodcoops.org

Preventing food poisoning in hospital and at home

Information for patients and visitors on preventing food poisoning.

School food: top marks - A summary report on food in schools research in Northern Ireland

This�report highlights�the barriers that schools in Northern Ireland have experienced in implementingnutritional standards. In particular, it identifies the potential adverse impact that external sourcesof food may have on pupils��' healthy eating practices within the school setting. It also illustrateshow the accessibility of food and drinks contradicting the standards, within the school, may limitthe success of the standards. This report further emphasises how practical constraints within the

Nutritional standards for other food and drinks in schools: a guide for implementation

This publication details the nutritional standards for other food and drinks in schools that are adhered to by all grant-aided schools. It explains why the nutritional standards have been introduced�and offers practical advice on how to implement them.Nutritional standards for other food and drinks in schools: a guide for implementation is also available in Irish, on request.

Guidance on food for religious faiths

This poster provides guidance for schools on foods for religious faiths.

School food: the essential guide (and Irish translation)

School food: the essential guide contains a series of eight practical guidance booklets designed to help schools improve pupils' nutrition and implement healthier eating and drinking practices. The booklets provide advice and support for the key areas in which food, drinks and nutrition issues affects schools. Mini case studies support the advice given and, where appropriate, the booklets provide details of recommended further resources.Individual booklets in the series are available as PDF files below:

Reducing alcohol-related harm by addressing alcohol availability - maximising benefits for North South cooperation

This report presents data on alcohol consumption and related harms in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The report sets out a framework for considering alcohol availability, under which the current policy landscape is presented as well as evidence from nation and international studies. The report concludes with policy implications and proposals to consolidate North South cooperation.

Unusual astrocyte reactivity caused by the food mycotoxin ochratoxin A in aggregating rat brain cell cultures.

Ochratoxin A (OTA), a mycotoxin and widespread food contaminant, is known for its patent nephrotoxicity and potential neurotoxicity. Previous observations in vitro showed that in the CNS, glial cells were particularly sensitive to OTA. In the search for the molecular mechanisms underlying OTA neurotoxicity, we investigated the relationship between OTA toxicity and glial reactivity, in serum-free aggregating brain cell cultures. Using quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction to analyze changes in gene expression, we found that in astrocytes, non cytotoxic concentrations of OTA down-regulated glial fibrillary acidic protein, while it up-regulated vimentin and the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma expression. OTA also up-regulated the inducible nitric oxide synthase and the heme oxygenase-1. These OTA-induced alterations in gene expression were more pronounced in cultures at an advanced stage of maturation. The natural peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma ligand, 15-deoxy-delta(12,14) prostaglandin J2, and the cyclic AMP analog, bromo cyclic AMP, significantly attenuated the strong induction of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma and inducible nitric oxide synthase, while they partially reversed the inhibitory effect of OTA on glial fibrillary acidic protein. The present results show that OTA affects the cytoskeletal integrity of astrocytes as well as the expression of genes pertaining to the brain inflammatory response system, and suggest that a relationship exists between the inflammatory events and the cytoskeletal changes induced by OTA. Furthermore, these results suggest that, by inducing an atypical glial reactivity, OTA may severely affect the neuroprotective capacity of glial cells.

Building Capacity in Developing Countries : OER for Food Safety

The Food Safety Knowledge Network (FSKN) was developed through the collaboration of Michigan State University and a professional network of international food industry retailers and manufacturers. The key objective of the FSKN project is to provide technical resources, in a cost effective way, in order to promote food safety in developing countries and for small and less developed companies. FSKN uses a competency based model including a framework, OERs, and assessments. These tools are being used to support face-to-face training, fully online training, and to gauge the learning outcomes of a series of pilot groups which were held in India, Egypt, and China.

Bacterial biosensors for measuring availability of environmental pollutants

Abstract: Traditionally, pollution risk assessment is based on the measurement of a pollutant's total concentration in a sample. The toxicity of a given pollutant in the environment, however, is tightly linked to its bioavailability, which may differ significantly from the total amount. Physico-chemical and biological parameters strongly influence pollutant fate in terms of leaching, sequestration and biodegradation. Bacterial sensorreporters, which consist of living micro-organisms genetically engineered to produce specific output in response to target chemicals, offer an interesting alternative to monitoring approaches. Bacterial sensor-reporters detect bioavailable and/or bioaccessible compound fractions in samples. Currently, a variety of environmental pollutants can be targeted by specific biosensor-reporters. Although most of such strains are still confined to the lab, several recent reports have demonstrated utility of bacterial sensing-reporting in the field, with method detection limits in the nanomolar range. This review illustrates the general design principles for bacterial sensor-reporters, presents an overview of the existing biosensor-reporter strains with emphasis on organic compound detection. A specific focus throughout is on the concepts of bioavailability and bioaccessibility, and how bacteria-based sensing-reporting systems can help to improve our basic understanding of the different processes at work.

Availability analysis of GMPLS connections based on physical network topology

This paper presents a study of connection availability in GMPLS over optical transport networks (OTN) taking into account different network topologies. Two basic path protection schemes are considered and compared with the no protection case. The selected topologies are heterogeneous in geographic coverage, network diameter, link lengths, and average node degree. Connection availability is also computed considering the reliability data of physical components and a well-known network availability model. Results show several correspondences between suitable path protection algorithms and several network topology characteristics

Validation and reproducibility of a semi-quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire for use in elderly Swiss women.

OBJECTIVE: The principal aim of this study was to develop a Swiss Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) for the elderly population for use in a study to investigate the influence of nutritional factors on bone health. The secondary aim was to assess its validity and both short-term and long-term reproducibility. DESIGN: A 4-day weighed record (4 d WR) was applied to 51 randomly selected women of a mean age of 80.3 years. Subsequently, a detailed FFQ was developed, cross-validated against a further 44 4-d WR, and the short- (1 month, n = 15) and long-term (12 months, n = 14) reproducibility examined. SETTING: French speaking part of Switzerland. SUBJECTS: The subjects were randomly selected women recruited from the Swiss Evaluation of the Methods of Measurement of Osteoporotic Fracture cohort study. RESULTS: Mean energy intakes by 4-d WR and FFQ showed no significant difference [1564.9 kcal (SD 351.1); 1641.3 kcal (SD 523.2) respectively]. Mean crude nutrient intakes were also similar (with nonsignifcant P-values examining the differences in intake) and ranged from 0.13 (potassium) to 0.48 (magnesium). Similar results were found in the reproducibility studies. CONCLUSION: These findings provide evidence that this FFQ adequately estimates nutrient intakes and can be used to rank individuals within distributions of intake in specific populations.

Nutrición, fibrosis quística y aparato digestivo

The prevalence of hyponutrition in cystic fibrosis is high although it may vary according to the different studies. Detection of hyponutrition should be done by combining different methods, depending on their availability. However, the simplest and most validated criterion is to measure at each visit the weight (and height in children) in order to calculate the body mass index and categorizing hyponutrition according to absolute criteria: in adults < 18.5 kg/m(2), and in children as percentiles of the body mass index. Worsening of the nutritional status is directly related with the decrease in lung function parameters and it has been proposed as a morbidity (and even mortality) predictive factor in people with cystic fibrosis, independently of the level of pulmonary dysfunction. Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency is present is approximately 70-90% of the patients with cystic fibrosis and the genotype-phenotype correlation is high. Most of the patients with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency tolerate a high-fat diet provided that they are treated with pancreatic enzymes at appropriate doses. The prevalence of diabetes increases with age, reaching up 40% of the cases in patients older than 30 years. Clinical liver involvement is less prevalent (it approximately affects 1/3 of the patients). Other intestinal complications such as meconial ileus, gastroesophageal reflux, obstruction of the distal intestine, or fibrosing colon disease may also condition malnourishment. In patients with cystic fibrosis, a usual high-fat diet providing 120%-150% of the recommended calories is advised. If the nutritional goals are not achieved or maintained with diet modifications, artificial supplements may be added, although the recommendation for their use has not been endorsed by solid scientific evidences. The most frequently used preparations usually are polymeric or hypercaloric. The indications for enteral (through a tube, especially gastrostomy) or parenteral nutritional support are similar to those used in other pathologies. Dietary and nutritional control should be included in a multidisciplinary program allowing the improvement of the functional capacity and the quality of life and reducing, at least from a theoretical viewpoint, the morbimortality associated to malnourishment in these patients.

The involvement of thaumatin-like proteins in plant food cross-reactivity: a multicenter study using a specific protein microarray

Cross-reactivity of plant foods is an important phenomenon in allergy, with geographical variations with respect to the number and prevalence of the allergens involved in this process, whose complexity requires detailed studies. We have addressed the role of thaumatin-like proteins (TLPs) in cross-reactivity between fruit and pollen allergies. A representative panel of 16 purified TLPs was printed onto an allergen microarray. The proteins selected belonged to the sources most frequently associated with peach allergy in representative regions of Spain. Sera from two groups of well characterized patients, one with allergy to Rosaceae fruit (FAG) and another against pollens but tolerant to food-plant allergens (PAG), were obtained from seven geographical areas with different environmental pollen profiles. Cross-reactivity between members of this family was demonstrated by inhibition assays. Only 6 out of 16 purified TLPs showed noticeable allergenic activity in the studied populations. Pru p 2.0201, the peach TLP (41%), chestnut TLP (24%) and plane pollen TLP (22%) proved to be allergens of probable relevance to fruit allergy, being mainly associated with pollen sensitization, and strongly linked to specific geographical areas such as Barcelona, Bilbao, the Canary Islands and Madrid. The patients exhibited >50% positive response to Pru p 2.0201 and to chestnut TLP in these specific areas. Therefore, their recognition patterns were associated with the geographical area, suggesting a role for pollen in the sensitization of these allergens. Finally, the co-sensitizations of patients considering pairs of TLP allergens were analyzed by using the co-sensitization graph associated with an allergen microarray immunoassay. Our data indicate that TLPs are significant allergens in plant food allergy and should be considered when diagnosing and treating pollen-food allergy.