A food additive commonly used in margarine, mayonnaise, chocolates and baked goods might one day help control diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease risk, say researchers.
Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis identified a substance, which is the component of food additive lecithin, in the liver that helps process fat and glucose.
They believe that lecithin may one day be used to control blood lipids and reduce risk for diabetes, hypertension or cardiovascular disease using treatments delivered in food rather than medication.
“Currently, doctors use drugs called fibrates to treat …

Last week England’s Food Standards Agency published findings of a study it had commissioned on the nutritional value of organic produce. Little to no nutritional benefit was found in organic fruit and vegetables compared with “ordinary” equivalents, the FSA reported.
The agency as well as the newspapers that published the report are perfectly respectable bodies. But we can still ask questions. In fact, aficionados of organics and the principles that guide it were astonished by reports braying that organic foods are no healthier (or not more nutritious) than ordinary produce. That’s …

Aspartame, first discovered in 1965 by the pharmaceutical company G.D. Searle, is an artificial sweetener marketed by Ajinomoto Sweeteners under trademark names including Nutrasweet, Equal and Canderel. After saccharin, aspartame is the commonest sweetener, consumed by over 200 million people worldwide, and represents about 60 percent of the artificial sweetener market.
Aspartame provides food, soft drinks, candy and chewing gum manufacturers with substantial cost savings compared to sugar, which is 200 times less sweet. Aspartame is a low calorie, which helps people control their weight. It is also used in vitamins …

If there is one thing that sets the Sam ‘n’ Ella Cafe apart from the competition, it is this: Butter is used in cooking. It is also placed on the tables.
Notice that I did not write “real butter,” as you might have seen on advertisements for that product. The dairy industry has had to counter so many ads that proclaim “buttery flavor” and “like butter” and “you won’t know it’s not butter,” that it has taken to calling its product “real butter.”
Bless them. Butter is either butter, or it’s not.
There …

This week we have explored the numerous and often-misleading food labeling terms shoppers must decipher at the supermarket. One point about these terms is clear: unless the USDA or FDA have made issued firm policies on the legal use of certain terms, their meanings are far from certain.
 
To wrap up this series, a list of the top 5 misleading food label terms is provided below. Savvy shoppers should check the ingredients list and nutrition label on food products sporting these terms on their packaging!
1. Free-Range. The guidelines for using this …

Following the last few years of food-borne illness outbreaks in everything from spinach to processed cookie dough, the House of Representatives completed the first step to revamping nationwide food production regulations Thursday.
A $3.5 billion measure, which the Senate will vote on later this year, would be financed by a $500 annual fee paid by producers, and would require the FDA to write new regulations, require food companies to keep more meticulous records and require more inspections of food production plants.
The bill passed easily in a bipartisan 283 to 142 vote, …

TAIPEI, Taiwan — A recent academic study found excessive levels of bacteria in beverages sold over tea stands across the nation, with drinks from a popular bubble tea chain based in Taipei County carrying viable bacteria numbers 2,100 times the accepted norm, local media reported yesterday. Hsieh Ming-zhe, a professor with the College of Public Health and Nutrition at Taipei Medical University, was cited as saying that sanitation reports found that 92 percent of red, green or oolong teas sold over refreshment stands showed unsatisfactory levels of the bacterium colon …

(NaturalNews) The latest session of the U.N. Codex Alimentarius ended without final adoption of a maximum residue level for ractopamine, a feed additive widely used in pork and beef production. The commission agreed to review additional information on the drug to be submitted by China, a country that has outlawed its use. Although this is very good news for meat eaters, the U.S. delegation to Codex expressed disappointment in the commission’s decision to delay adoption of a minimum residue level for ractopamine, and urged that the review of information from …

Large quantities of expired and fake food products seized from the markets were Thursday destroyed by the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) as part of a national exercise to rid the country of such goods.
The items included beverages, tin foods, crates of schnapps, fruit juice, packets of food additives, cooking oil, baked beans, baby food, biscuits and candies, among others.
Most of the items were imported from Togo and Nigeria and because the board had for sometime waged war on aphrodisiacs, most of the dealers have-shifted their focus to trading in …

Bharatbook.com launches a new report on “Food Safety Products in China” covers information on market environment and industry structure of Food safety products in China.
Food Safety Products in China to 2013
Demand to increase 15% annually through 2013
Demand for food safety products in China is forecast to increase 15 percent per annum through 2013 to ¥13.0 billion. Growth will be driven by the continuing expansion of food and beverage output, mainly in the processed food, beverage and dairy product segments that are more intensive 
users of these products. A greater focus on …