A forthcoming study has allegedly identified “high levels” of arsenic in rice-based baby foods, as well as elevated levels of iron, molybdenum and manganese in infant formula. Karin Ljung, et al., “High concentrations of essential and toxic elements in infant formula and infant foods – A matter of concern,” Journal of Food Chemistry, August 2011. According to media sources, researchers from the Unit of Metals and Health at Karolinska Institute in Stockholm tested leading baby food brands for toxic and essential elements, finding that the samples contained more micrograms of arsenic and other toxins than occurs in breast milk. “These elements have to be kept at an absolute minimum in food products intended for infant consumption,” warned the study authors, who also noted that “[d]rinking water used to mix powdered formula may add significantly to the concentrations in the readymade products.” Meanwhile, the British Specialist Nutrition Association has publicly refuted the…
Category Archives Scientific/Technical Items
Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity has published a study that reportedly compares addictive eating behavior in both obese and lean women to substance dependence. Ashley Gearhardt, et al., “Neural Correlates of Food Addiction,” Archives of General Psychiatry, April 2011. According to an April 4, 2011, press release, researchers assessed the addictive eating behavior of 48 adolescent women ranging from lean to obese, then used “brain-imaging procedures” to examine (i) “how the brain responded to cues signaling the impending delivery of a highly palatable food (chocolate milkshake) versus cues signaling the impending delivery of a tasteless control solution,” and (ii) how the brain responded “during the actual intake of the chocolate milkshake versus the tasteless solution.” The results apparently suggested that both lean and obese subjects “with higher food addiction scores showed different brain activity patterns than those with lower food addiction scores,” exhibiting “greater activity in…
A recent study based on a 27,670 cohort enrolled in the European Prospective Investigation in Cancer and Nutrition has allegedly concluded that participants who limited their intake of meat and animal products reduced their risk for developing cataracts by as much as 40 percent. Paul Appleby, et al., “Diet, vegetarianism, and cataract risk,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, published online March 23, 2011. Dividing subjects into groups ranging from those with the highest meat consumption to those who avoided meat and animal products altogether, researchers evidently found “a strong relation between cataract risk and diet group, with a progressive decrease in risk of cataract in high meat eaters to low meat eaters, fish eaters (participants who ate fish but not meat), vegetarians, and vegans.” The results reportedly indicated that, compared with those who ate the most meat, vegetarians reduced their cataract risk by 30 percent and vegans by 40 percent.
A recent study led by the Breast Cancer Fund and Silent Spring Institute reportedly concluded that both bisphenol A (BPA) and bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) exposures “were substantially reduced when participants’ diets were restricted to food with limited packaging.” Ruthann Rudel, et al., “Food Packaging and Bisphenol A and Bis(2-ethylhexyl) Phthalate Exposure: Findings from a Dietary Intervention,” Environmental Health Perspectives, March 30, 2011. Researchers selected “20 participants in five families based on self-reported use of canned and packaged foods,” and then directed these subjects to eat “their usual diet, followed by three days of ‘fresh foods’ not canned or packaged in plastic,” before returning to their customary habits. The results of urinary samples taken over the eight-day experiment reportedly demonstrated a significant decrease in BPA and DEHP metabolites during the fresh foods intervention. According to the Silent Spring Institute, these findings allegedly “show that food packaging is the major source of…
A recent study based on toenail clippings has reportedly turned up “no evidence” of any link between dietary mercury exposure and coronary heart disease, stroke, or total cardiovascular disease. Dariush Mozaffarian, et al., “Mercury Exposure and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease in Two U.S. Cohorts,” New England Journal of Medicine, March 24, 2011. Researchers evidently used toenail clippings from approximately 7,000 people to gauge long-term mercury and selenium exposure from fish consumption, as well as collected dietary and health data from a second cohort of 173,000 participants. The results reportedly found no difference in heart disease and stroke rates for those in the top quintile for mercury concentrations and those in the bottom. Previous research had raised questions about whether the mercury content of shark, swordfish and other predatory species outweighed the cardiovascular benefits associated with high fish consumption. “Basically, what we found was very simple and very clear,” one study author…
The UK’s University of Cambridge has conducted an animal study suggesting that poor diet during pregnancy may lead to an increased risk of offspring developing diabetes later in life. Ionel Sandovici, et al., “Maternal diet and aging alter the epigenetic control of a promoter enhancer interaction at the Hnf4a gene in rat pancreatic islets,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, March 8, 2011. Researchers exposed female rats to either a normal or low-protein diet during their pregnancies and then collected pancreatic cells from their offspring at ages 3 and 15 months. Researchers reportedly found that the offspring of rats fed a protein-deficient diet had a higher rate of type 2 diabetes, according to the study. But they also discovered that the offsprings’ Hnf4a gene—thought to play a role in pancreas development and insulin production—was apparently silenced as the rats aged, a factor that may cause diabetes. “This study has identified…
U.K. researchers have reportedly linked sugar-sweetened beverages to a risk of high blood pressure, speculating that “one possible mechanism” for the association “is a resultant increase in the level of uric acid in the blood that may in turn lower the nitric oxide required to keep the blood vessels dilated.” Ian Brown, et al., “Sugar-Sweetened Beverage, Sugar Intake of Individuals, and Their Blood Pressure: International Study of Macro/Micronutrients and Blood Pressure,” Hypertension, February 2011. Researchers apparently analyzed food survey, urine and blood pressure data from 2,696 participants enrolled in INTERMAP, or the International Study of Macronutrients, Micronutrients and Blood Pressure. According to a February 28, 2011, Imperial College of London press release, the results purportedly showed that “for every extra can of sugary drink consumed per day, participants on average had a higher systolic blood pressure by 1.6 mmHg and a higher diastolic blood pressure by 0.8 mmHg.” The study…
A recent study of commercially available plastic products has reportedly claimed that “almost all” those sampled leached chemicals having reliably detectable estrogenic activity (EA). Chun Z. Yang, et al., “Most Plastic Products Release Estrogenic Chemicals: A Potential Health Problem That Can Be Solved,” Environmental Health Perspectives, March 2011. Researchers evidently used “a very sensitive, accurate, repeatable, roboticized MCF-7 cell proliferation assay to quantify the EA of chemicals leached into saline or ethanol extracts of many types of commercially available plastic materials, some exposed to common-use stresses,” such as microwaving or UV radiation. The results indicated that these products, “independent of the type of resin, product, or retail source,” emitted chemicals having EA despite being advertised as EA-free. In particular, products labeled free of bisphenol A (BPA) sometimes released chemicals “having more EA than BPA-containing products,” according to the study’s authors, who pointed to “existing, relatively-expensive monomers and additives that do not…
In an academic analysis, a Tufts University researcher has reportedly called for “strong legislation” to protect Canadians from continued exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) in light of Canada last year becoming the first country to declare the chemical a toxic substance. Laura Vandenberg, “Exposure to bisphenol A in Canada: invoking the precautionary principle,” Canadian Medical Association Journal, February 2011. Although noting that Canadians have half the levels of BPA in their bodies as Americans—reasons for which may include the absence of Canadian BPA production plants—Vandenberg suggests that the lack of a BPA ban in Canada puzzles consumers. “Health Canada continues to maintain that bisphenol A is safe at current exposure levels and does not pose any risk to the general population; regulations to remove bisphenol A from all food-contact sources, or ban it completely, are not yet forthcoming, presenting a conflict that is likely to confuse the public,” Vandenberg wrote.…
A recent study claims that teenagers notice but ultimately disregard calorie counts on fast-food menu boards, ordering the same number of calories as they did before New York City’s mandatory labeling laws took effect. B. Ebel, et al., “Child and adolescent fast-food choice and the influence of calorie labeling: a natural experiment,” International Journal of Obesity, February 2011. In a follow-up to a 2009 study, New York University researchers collected survey and receipt data from “349 children and adolescents aged 1–17 years who visited the restaurants with their parents (69%) or alone (31%) before or after labeling was introduced.” The findings evidently showed “no statistically significant differences in calories purchased before and after labeling,” although 9 percent of the subjects reported that calorie information influenced their purchasing decisions. In addition, 70 percent said that taste, followed by cost, was the most important factor in their choices, and the majority underestimated…
