Soft drinks may cause heart disease in kids

Children who consume soft drinks regularly may be at high risk of developing cardiovascular disease, researchers including one of an Indian origin have warned.
In a study, precursory signs of cardiovascular disease could be seen in children as young as 12 who have a high intake of sugary drinks.
While narrowed blood vessels inside the eye are a known precursor to cardiovascular disease in adults, researchers from the Westmead Millennium Institute for medical research have for the first time looked at the link between carbohydrates, which includes sugars, and the retinal health of children.
Nearly 2000 12-year-olds had retinal images taken at the Centre for Vision Research at the University of Sydney. Narrowing of the retinal arteries was seen in those children with an intake of more than 274 grams of carbohydrate a day.
A major source of those carbohydrates was soft drinks or cordial, with high-risk children consuming one or more glasses a day, found the study.
The study leader, Bamini Gopinath, said the health of retinal blood vessels gave a "very accurate" indication of blood vessel health throughout the entire body.
"We need to carry out further studies, but it is definitely a warning to parents and children to cut down on carbohydrates and sugar," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Dr Gopinath as saying.
Doing so could play a role in reducing overall cardiovascular disease rates and deaths in the long-term, she said, with the condition causing more deaths each year in Australia than any other disease.
There was a slightly higher association between high carbohydrate diet and narrowed blood vessels in girls than in boys. Even allowing for physical activity and screen viewing time, the results remained largely unchanged. The same children from the study would be followed throughout adolescence to see if the damage persisted beyond childhood.
The nutritionist Rosemary Stanton said the research added to evidence that consuming soft drinks was bad for overall health. "There are no advantages of soft drinks," Stanton said. The finding was published in this month's American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Horlicks, Kellogs ads'misguide': Govt

New Delhi, Nov 26: 

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued notices in 38 cases of dubious claims or misguiding advertisements on food items and prosecution has been launched in 19 cases, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Monday.

In a written reply, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari also said that apart from these 38 cases, other instances that came before the ministry were placed before an Inter-Ministerial Committee.

According to details given by the minister, complaints had been filed against advertisements of leading brands including one of Complan, which claimed that one can grow two times by using the product.

The cases have been filed for violation under the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 and Food Safety and Standards (Packing and Labelling) Regulations, 2011, Tewari said.

Another matter that was filed pertained to the Horlicks advertisement over the claim that the children consuming the product were “taller, stronger and sharper”.

Another case was related to the Kellogs advertisement which claimed that “research shows that people who eat low fat breakfast like Kellogg’s Special K, tend to be slimmer than those who don’t”.

According to Tewari, cases had also been filed against advertisements promoting many other brands.

In response to another question, Tewari said that the Press Council had registered 532 complaints on charges of baseless and provocative news reports published in print media since April 1.

Solutions to maximize oil life

Three leaders in their fields (equipment, oils and sanitation solutions) show that effective oil management lies in the synergy between the oil, the filtration and the cleaning.

As health- and marketing trends drive the switch to (poly)unsaturated oils, fried food producers face new oil management challenges, including cost and processes optimization.
To address these challenges, three leaders in their fields (equipment, oils and sanitation solutions) showed that effective oil management lies in the synergy between the oil, the filtration and the cleaning.
Food fried in relatively saturated oils is no longer preferred as consumers require healthier products fried in liquid oils.
However, they are less stable under industrial frying conditions.
Cargill Refined Oils Europe said there are six “enemies” of oil – air, water, temperature, carbon, alkaline residues and salts as all are present in frying, it is critical to minimize the impact they have in order to prolong oil life.
The first aspect of oil management is choosing the right oil.
The second aspect is effective oil filtering.
GEA Food Solutions has developed its CFS EasyFry XL fryer with an integrated oil management that features a crosswise scraper belt, a lengthwise scraper belt and a slotted screen filter in combination with the Oberlin Oil Filter.
The system has a filter capability two to three times higher than other filtering technologies and removes both sinking and suspended sediment.
It removes particles down to one micron.
Cleaning is the third aspect of oil management.
Traditional cleaning with caustic soda and acid solutions is labor intensive, requires high chemical concentrations and excessive temperatures, involves high water consumption and potential waste water issues.
To combat this, sanitation solutions supplier Ecolab developed its Exelerate Fryer Cleaning Program.
This thoroughly removes oil and product residues thanks to an improved boil out mechanism and a unique open surface cleaning system that even removes the yellow/brown gummy-like residues.
Exelerate reportedly reduces the cleaning time, and is suitable for different fryer designs and oil types.

The former director of a Sydney bakery has been fined more than $12,000 over an outbreak of salmonella poisoning.

The NSW Food Authority has successfully prosecuted the former director of a the Bankstown Bakehouse over the foodborne illness outbreak which saw 83 people fall ill with salmonella food poisoning, 20 of them hospitalised, last January.
The matter was heard in the Chief Industrial Magistrates Court last month, with the magistrate finding the former director guilty of four charges including; selling unsafe food, unsafe handling of raw egg products, unclean equipment and the failure to ensure food handlers had adequate skills and knowledge about food safety.
As well as being fined the director was ordered to pay the prosecution’s costs.
NSW Food Authority chief executive officer Polly Bennett said the prosecution was a significant one for the Food Authority.
"And it sends a clear message to all retail food outlets that you will face enforcement action, and in some cases, prosecution, if you breach the Food Standards Code," she said.
"It is the responsibility of every food business to ensure that the food they serve is safe to eat.
"The charge of failing to ensure adequate knowledge and skills of food handlers is an important reminder that competent food handlers play an important role in preventing outbreaks of foodborne illness."
Bennett said the introduction of the requirement for Food Safety Supervisor certification by the NSW Government in October last year, aimed at addressing poor food handling practices, is a "significant step in the right direction".
"This means employees are adequately trained in safe food handling practices, including the importance of hygiene and sanitising equipment to prevent cross-contamination – the main ingredient for spreading foodborne illnesses," she said.
Bennett said the Bankstown Bakehouse foodborne illness outbreak led the Food Authority to work jointly with another local government to raise the level of food safety awareness at hot bread shops with encouraging results.
She said 93 per cent of businesses surveyed demonstrated adequate cleaning and sanitising at the end of the project compared to just 55 per cent at the beginning.
"The percentage of businesses that had a trained Food Safety Supervisor in place also went from only 31 per cent to 100 per cent compliance by the end of the project."