Researchers with the University of Massachusetts Food Science Department have reportedly developed a technique to create transparent, food-grade nanoemulsions using high-pressure homogenization methods. Cheng Qiana and David Julian McClements, “Formation of Nanoemulsions Stabilized by Model Food-Grade Emulsifiers using High Pressure Homogenization: Factors Affecting Particle Size,” Food Hydrocolloids, October 2010. According to the study, “Nanoemulsions are finding increasing utilization in the food and beverage industries for certain applications because of their unique physicochemical and functional properties: high encapsulation efficiency; low turbidity; high bioavailability; high physical stability. “ Because the nanoparticles can be made transparent, the new technology could act as a delivery system “for non-polar functional components, such as lipophilic bioactive lipids, drugs, flavors, antioxidants, and antimicrobial agents.” In a related development, a European non-profit media agency specializing in science and technology news has issued a summary that characterizes how NGOs have responded to nanotechnology. Citing Greenpeace Research Laboratories, Friends of the Earth,…
Category Archives Scientific/Technical Items
An international research consortium has released a study that identifies 18 new gene sites linked to overall obesity and a related report that pinpoints 13 new gene sites connected to fat distribution. Published in the October 2010 online edition of Nature Genetics, the studies relied on data from approximately 250,000 participants to gain an understanding of why some people are susceptible to obesity. Researchers reportedly concluded that people with more than 38 genetic variants linked to increased body mass index were 15 to 20 pounds heavier than those who carried fewer than 22 of the variants. In the fat-distribution study, researchers found women were more inclined to have genetic variants that predicted fat development in the hips and thighs rather than the abdomen. Participating researchers told a news source that discovering which genes play a role in obesity could lead to underlying biological processes that could eventually help treat the condition. “If…
A recent study has suggested that mothers who consume diets high in trans fats could double the risk that their babies will have high levels of body fat. Alex Anderson, et al., “Dietary trans fatty acid intake and maternal and infant adiposity,” European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, September 2010. University of Georgia (UGA) researchers studied 95 mothers in three groups—those who fed their babies only breast milk, those who used only formula and those who used a combination—to determine the effect of trans fat intake through breast milk. They concluded that the mothers who consumed more than 4.5 grams of trans fats daily while breastfeeding were more than twice as likely to have babies with high percentages of body fat, or adiposity, than those who consumed less than 4.5 grams per day. “Trans fats stuck out as a predictor to increased adiposity in both mothers and their babies,” study co-author Alex Anderson…
A recent study has homed in on a possible explanation for colony collapse disorder (CCD), a mysterious ailment behind the destruction of honeybee hives worldwide. Jerry J. Bromenshenk, et al., “Iridovirus and Microsporidian Linked to Honey Bee Colony Decline,” PLoS One, October 2010. Researchers apparently found that a combined fungal and viral infection led to 100 percent fatality among bees exhibiting CCD, which disorients and disperses hive members. Although previous studies had evidently suspected small RNA bee viruses or other pathogens, no single factor has been “firmly linked to honey bee losses,” according to the study abstract. Using mass spectrometry-based proteomics (MSP) “to identify and quantify thousands of proteins from healthy and collapsing bee colonies,” the authors concluded that “co-infection” by invertebrate iridescent virus (IIV) and the microsporidia Nosema ceranae is “a probable cause of bee losses in the USA, Europe, and Asia.” Nevertheless, they also stressed the need for further…
A recent study has purportedly linked processed red meat consumption to metabolic syndrome (MetS), which includes health factors such as abdominal obesity and elevated triglycerides, LDL cholesterol, blood pressure, or fasting glucose, or reduced HDL cholesterol. N. Babio, et al., “Association between red meat consumption and metabolic syndrome in a Mediterranean population at high cardiovascular risk: Cross sectional and 1-year follow-up assessment,” Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases, September 26, 2010. Researchers evidently conducted cross-sectional analyses on a Mediterranean population at a high risk for cardiovascular disease, evaluating “a 137-item validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire, anthropometric measurements, blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose and lipid profile” at baseline and after one year. The study authors reported that among these individuals, “higher [red meat] consumption is associated with a significantly higher prevalence and incidence of MetS and central obesity.” According to the researchers, the study is “the first that prospectively demonstrates a higher-incidence of…
A new study reportedly claims that young people mistakenly view sugar-sweetened sports beverages as healthy alternatives to soft drinks. Nalini Ranjit, et al., “Dietary and Activity Correlates of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption Among Adolescents,” Pediatrics, September 27, 2010. University of Texas School of Public Health researchers surveyed 15,283 middle- and high-school students to determine the correlation between consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and flavored and sports beverages (FSBs) to diet and physical activity. According to the study, researchers discovered that more than 60 percent of boys and more than 50 percent of girls drank at least one soda, sports drink or other sweetened beverage like fruit punch each day, which could lead to yearly weight gain. Students active in sports and other physical activities consumed more sports drinks while those who led more sedentary lifestyles drank more soda. “The most likely explanation for these findings is that FSBs have been successfully marketed as…
A recent study has reportedly claimed that human exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) greatly exceeds the daily threshold set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which specifies the upper limit of BPA intake at 50 micrograms per kilogram of body weight. Julia Taylor, et al., “Similarity of Bisphenol A Pharmacokinetics in Rhesus Monkey and Mice: Relevance for Human Exposure,” Environmental Health Perspectives, September 2010. According to media sources, the study pegged human BPA exposure at more than eight times this threshold and speculated that exposure occurs “via multiple routes.” The study also allegedly suggested that mice, monkeys and humans all process and excrete BPA at similar rates. The lead author reported that blood samples taken from both mice and rhesus monkeys contained “biologically active” amounts of BPA, raising questions about whether the liver effectively expels the substance or allows it to enter the bloodstream, where it could conceivably mimic estrogen and…
Writing in the New Scientist, a Washington, D.C.-based journalist recently discussed the latest research on the effect of “junk food,” or foods high in sugar, fat and salt, on animal and human brains and behavior. Bijal Trivedi reports, “Some say there is now enough data to warrant government regulation of the fast food industry and public health warnings on products that have harmful levels of sugar and fat.” According to Trivedi, studies have shown that some foods appear to have an addictive effect similar to cocaine addiction on rat brains and that two routes to “food addiction” could be linked to overactive and underactive dopamine systems: “one if you find food more rewarding than the average person, and another if it isn’t rewarding enough.” Trivedi discusses the consideration that tobacco activist John Banzhaf has been giving to “food addiction”; he apparently believes that sufficient evidence exists for the U.S. Office…
A recent study purportedly ties compounds in nonstick cookware and waterproof fabrics to higher cholesterol levels in children. Stephanie Frisbee, et al., “Perfluorooctanoic Acid, Perfluorooctanesulfonate, and Serum Lipids in Children and Adolescents,” Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, September 2010. Researchers from West Virginia University evaluated 12,476 children and teens in the mid-Ohio River Valley to determine possible connections between their cholesterol levels and the compounds perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS). According to the abstract, researchers determined that the compounds were “significantly associated” with increased total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL). Results also apparently indicated that the children with the highest levels of PFOA had total cholesterol levels 4.6 points higher and LDL levels 3.8 points higher than those with the lowest levels. See Reuters, September 6, 2010.
A recent study has alleged a relationship between prenatal exposure to certain widely used pesticides and an increased risk of attention problems in preschool age kids. Brenda Eskenazi, et al., “PON1 and Neurodevelopment in Children from the CHAMACOS Study Exposed to Organophosphate Pesticides in Utero,” Environmental Health Perspectives, August 19, 2010. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health collected urine samples twice during the pregnancies of more than 300 Mexican-American women in agricultural communities and later evaluated their children at ages 3½ and 5 for symptoms of attention disorders. They concluded that prenatal organophosphate metabolite levels were “significantly linked” to attention troubles by age 5, especially among boys. “These studies provide a growing body of evidence that organophosphate pesticide exposure can impact human neurodevelopment, particularly among children,” co-author Brenda Eskenazi said in a UC Berkeley press statement, adding that the results warrant precautionary measures when handling food exposed…
