Aug. 29, 2011

Certified Reference Materials for Reliable Measurements of Oxytetracycline in Milk

Oxytetracycline (OTC) is a broad-spectrum antibiotic highly effective against many bacteria. It is approved for use in a variety of food-producing animals, and widely used in lactating and non-lactating dairy cattle for treatment of bacterial infections such as enteritis, pneumonia, and diphtheria. A maximum residue limit (MRL) of 100 μg OTC/kg milk has been stipulated in the legislation to protect consumers from possible adverse side effects. moreJul. 23, 2010

Probiotics and Their Influence on Health and Gut Microbiota

Probiotics is a term generally used for living microorganisms that upon ingestion exert beneficial health effects. Probiotics consist of one or several strains, mostly from species of the bacterial genera Lactobacillus, Lactococcus or Bifidobacterium. The yeast Saccharomyces is also used. With the exception of Bifidobacterium, these are microorganisms which spontaneously multiply to high numbers in traditional fermented foods. moreJul. 23, 2010

The Challenges of Maternal and Child Nutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan African countries have recorded poor statistical indices of nutritional progress more than any other continent, except in a few cases when compared with some Asian countries. High incidences of maternal and infant morbidity and mortality have dotted the landscape in this region, with myriads of challenges. Poor maternal and infant nutrition have been associated directly and indirectly with high incidence of maternal death in pregnancy and during child birth. moreJul. 23, 2010

The Use of Nanotechnology in Functional Food Product Development

Lipophilic bioactives from natural sources, including phytosterols, antimicrobial, antioxidants, ω-3 fatty acids, flavours and numerous other components, are widely utilised as functional ingredients in food industry. However, most of these bioactives are almost insoluble in water and unstable at a specific environmental stimulus such as light, oxygen and temperature during manufacture, storage, transport and utilisation, for example, chilling, freezing, dehydration, thermal processing or mechanical agitation. moreJul. 23, 2010

Data Analysis Strategies in Nutritional Metabolomics

In the expanding field of nutritional metabolomics the use of optimized and robust strategies are essential to find meaningful and significant results. Data from nutritional studies can be extremely large, multidimensional and complex. Moreover the data may hide just a subtle biological variation due to the nutritional treatment, and the effect may be highly variable across individuals. Usually the treatment effects are much smaller than the biological variations between individuals. moreDec. 23, 2009

Trends in the Development of Foods for Specified Health Uses

It is 18 years since the regulatory system of health food, the Foods for Specified Health Uses (FOSHU) came into force in Japan in 1991. However, the comprehensive law specifying and defining ‘supplements' has not yet been established, except for FOSHU, which is only the system permitting health claims for ‘supplements', whereas the United States (US), European Union (EU), and several other Asian countries such as Korea and China have enacted laws specifically regulating supplements. more