The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration and the Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety have announced a February 9, 2011, public meeting in College Park, Maryland, to provide information and receive public comments on draft U.S. positions to be discussed at the 22nd session of the Codex Committee on Fats and Oils (CCFO) on February 21-25 in Penang, Malaysia. CCFO “is responsible for elaborating worldwide standards for fats and oils of animal, vegetable, and marine origin, including margarine and olive oil.” Agenda items include (i) “Draft Amendment to the Standard for Named Vegetable Oils; Inclusion of Palm Kernel Olein and Palm Kernel Stearin”; (ii) “Code Practice for the Storage and Transport of Edible Fats and Oils in Bulk”; (iii) “Proposed Draft Amendment to the Standard for Olive Oils and Olive Pomace Oils: Linolenic Acid Level”; (iv) “Proposal for New Work on a Standard for…
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The United Kingdom’s (UK) public health watchdog has issued new guidance that claims salt and saturated fat reduction could prevent 40,000 unnecessary deaths a year from heart disease and stroke. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has called for a maximum daily intake of 6g of salt per adult by 2015 and 3g daily by 2025. In addition, it has recommended that manufacturers reduce the levels of saturated fats in all food products and eliminate the use of trans fats. The guidance also urges the National Health Service and other policy makers to (i) ensure that low-salt and low-fat foods can be sold for less than their higher-content equivalents; (ii) extend restrictions on TV advertising “for foods high in saturated fats, salt and sugar to 9 p.m. to protect children”; (iii) encourage “local planning authorities to restrict planning permission for take-aways and other food retail outlets in…
Purdue University scientists have reportedly altered a nanoparticle found in sweet corn to prevent oxidation and spoilage, thus offering a way to extend the shelf life of foods, cosmetics and other products containing emulsified lipids. Siqi L Scheffler, et al., “Phytoglycogen Octenyl Succinate, an Amphiphilic Carbohydrate Nanoparticle, and ε-Polylysine To Improve Lipid Oxidative Stability of Emulsions,” Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, December 2009. According to a December 8, 2009, press release, researchers with Purdue’s Whistler Center for Carbohydrate Research “successfully modified the phytoglycogen nanoparticle, a starch-like substance that makes up nearly 30 percent of the dry mass of some sweet corn. The modification allows the nanoparticle to attach to oils and emulsify them while also acting as a barrier to oxidation, which causes food to become rancid.” Known as phytoglycogen octenyl succinate (PG-OS), the nanoparticle when combined with food-grade e-polylysine “significantly increased the amount of time it took for oxidation to…
