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t_Articles
t_Articles
W elcome
to the April
edition of AFICNews.
AFICNews is a free monthly e-bulletin, providing updates on current food safety,
health and nutrition news trends around the Asia Pacific region. If you are not
already subscribed, but would like your own monthly copy, please send a blank
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DATES
FOR YOUR DIARY
N EW
FROM AFIC
An updated version of
‘Health Implications of Acrylamide in Food’ is now available on AFIC website in
English or
いゅ
or
한글
or
ภาษาไทย.
For more
information or journalist enquiries, email
info@afic.org.
Food in the News: Comparing Topics in 2004 and
2005
Note:
These figures are based on simple counting method of topic headings and do not
allow for differences in length or depth of feature articles.
C OMMENTS
ON MOST POPULAR
NUTRITION AND FOOD SAFETY ISSUES
F unctional
Foods (28%) -
Wide range of foods and health benefits covered in this ever-popular subject
area.
Strong focus was noted for the following food groups: moderage wine and beer
consumption, omega-3
and omega-6 fatty
acids from seeds, oils, fish, avocados but especially strong emphasis on nuts;
many types of fruit and vegetables, but especially carrots, mango, tomatoes;
moderate quantities of chocolate, especially dark chocolate. Other themes were
the importance of including vitamin-rich foods, foods to boost immunity, mood,
recovery and detoxification.
For more
information, the Australian National Centre of Excellence for Functional Foods
has many useful reports, reviews and updates on current research. To access,
click on
here.
Healthy Lifestyle (24%)
-
Huge range of
topics and themes covered under this heading, including nutrigenomics, current
diet and lifestyle survey results, advice on complete diets - some complex, some
simple, wise shopping, carbohydrates and glycemic index, portion size,
recommended websites for healthy diet and lifestyle tips, snacking choices,
physical activity, the benefits of a diet based on fruit and vegetables and
wholegrains, common pitfalls and wise eating out choices, tips to slow ageing,
the healthy elements of national diets around the world and many more. Many of
the features surveyed were balanced and in-depth, indicating that a relatively
mature and sophisticated approach to the topic is evolving. The just released
revised Dietary Guidelines for the US similarly reflect this collective
development in understanding, and represent a more individualised approach to
the prevention of chronic degenerative disease through healthy diet and
lifestyle choices.
For more
information, on the new American dietary pyramid, click on
here.
Children’s Diet & Health (10%)
–
Principle themes (in order of frequency) were overweight/obesity, food choices
provided in schools, diets to maximise growth and development and tips for
parents to encourage healthy eating and lifestyles. Other subject matter
included advice on popcorn choices, spurious links between bread and eyesight,
the benefits of physical activity, teaching children about healthy diet choices
and the benefits of including lots of vegetables in the diet. Tips and advice on
healthful diet and lifestyle choices for young children and adolescents are
available at website designed specifically for this age group, by AFIC’s
Europe-based sister organisation, EUFIC, click on
here.
O verweight & Obesity (10%)
Reviews of popular miracle diets,
along with magazine writers’ own advice for fast, painless weight loss were the
most common themes noted in this month’s survey. Somewhat reassuringly, balanced
advice to encouraging dieters to take care that weight loss efforts did not
ignore other health priorities was the second most common theme. Articles on
recent/current research were also common, including market research highlighting
common behaviours for weight loss amongst Asian populations; the 100
calories/day diet hypothesis; and the recently published comparative study of
the weight loss results after 12 months of 4 popular diet regimes were all
featured.
For more information on the 100 calories per day theory of Professor Hill, see
the original Science article, by clicking
on
here.
C alcium/Dairy Products (5%)
–
Features on the importance of
adequate calcium intake during childhood and adolescence, plus advice for
maintaining adequate dietary calcium intake if lactose intolerant were the most
popular themes. Health benefits of some milk and milk products, such as milk
with higher omega-3 fatty acid content and protective role of milk against
osteoporosis and hypertension were also featured in this month’s magazine
sample.
For more information on the role of dairy products in controlling blood pressure
(the DASH diet), click on
here
The
Asian Food information Centre is a not-for profit Singapore-registered
organization Its mission is to effectively communicate sound science based
information on food safety, health and nutrition to the media and other key
audiences in Asia
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