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Food Facts Asia Issue 16 will be posted on the AFIC website and mailed to qualified subscriber of this month. Or you can download the full PDF version at click here  or html version at click here Text only versions of individual topics in this issue, may also be downloaded from AFIC’s website

•  Fluid Up for Fitness:

•  Focus on Tweenie Health:

•  Reading Between the Headlines:

•  Newsbites:

-Influencing Body Shape Through Diet

-More Reasons to Reject Fad Diets

-Hypoallergenic Soybeans

-Antibiotics residues and human health

-Hearth protective benefits of tea

-Health implications of Acrylamide in food

MOST FREQUENTLY REPORTED FOOD SAFETY AND NUTRITION TOPICS AROUND THE REGION AUGUST - OCTOBER 2002

 COMMENTS

FOOD SAFETY

•  Biotechnology - Main focus of content during this quarter has been progress in regulatory frame work proposals of some countries and inter-governmental organizations. Other topic areas reported during this quarter includes release of WHO’s 20 questions and answers on biotechnology document; debate and controversy over food aid to Africa which included genetically modified grain approved as safe from originating country.

• Pesticide - The rise in pesticides and dioxin press interest reflects both inter-country trade issues and in-country growing awareness of residues, probably part-stimulated by increasingly stringent restrictions on pesticide use and residue limits in export markets.

•  Foodborne illness media interest has waned a little recently, although still a popular topic with the press. The September/October release of research on the likely pathway for the formation of acrylamide has generated surprisingly little interest in the Asia region to date.

•  Food Labeling - Rise in labeling media interest in chart is fuelled by nutrition, rather than food safety issues, mainly reflecting Australian interest in the initiation of GI index on food labels, and moves by FSANZ  to strengthen its controls over food labeling claims such as ‘low fat’.

•  BSE - continues to receive some media attention, mainly based on Japanese analysis of how BSE infected small numbers of domestic livestock, and concerns over abuse of compensation schemes.

 NUTRITION

•  Interest in adult overweight and obesity has been partially displaced by meteoric rise in interest in childhood overweight prevalence. Much of the increased interest illustrated in the chart reflects interest in Australian press, but Asian press interest is also growing. The debate over rise in childhood obesity mainly touches on the role of TV both time spent watching this and the role of advertising, reducing physical activity levels, soft drinks and ‘junk foods’ and also increasing incidence of Type 2 diabetes amongst children. LA ban on soft drinks sales in schools, and the NSW Australian Summit on childhood obesity played a key role in sparking interest.

•  Interest in adult overweight and obesity has shifted from generalized interest and concern to more specific risks and factors, such as increased risk of diabetes, heart disease and strokes. The release, end of October, of WHO weighted statistics on modifiable risk factors for premature mortality is an important document, giving perspective to relative risks, but which has to date received little regional press attention.

•  Functional foods press interest remains steady with greatest interest in omega-3 sources, polyunsaturated fatty acids in general and fruit and vegetables.

•  Supplements interest continues a modest but sustained rise. Slightly more of this rise is driven by interest in vitamin, and antioxidant and probiotic supplements, than traditional herbal products. Benefits claimed are numerous and varied, but especially stress, insomnia, bone and joint complaints, digestive disorders and respiratory conditions. The First Asian Conference on Dietary Supplements which was held in Bangkok in September also generated some press interest.

   

   

  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