Welcome
to the March 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
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DATES
FOR YOUR DIARY
NEW
FROM AFIC
A Briefing on ‘Avian Influenza and Food Safety’ is now available on AFIC
website, click on
http://www.afic.org/Short%20Briefing-Avian%20Influenza%20and%20Food%20Safety.htm
for English language,
http://www.afic.org/Short%20Briefing-Avian%20Influenza%20and%20Food%20Safety_Chinese.htm
for Chinese language and
http://www.afic.org/Short%20Briefing-Avian%20Influenza%20and%20Food%20Safety_Thai.htm
for Thai language.
Food Facts Asia Issue 20, March 2004, will be mailed out to the
subscribers end of this month. For the text versions (English, Chinese
and Thai) will be soon posted on the AFIC website. The topics included
in this issue are:
·
Raising Healthy Kids – Some Tips for Parents
·
Fortifying Against the Hidden Hunger
·
A
Recipe for Better Health in the Golden Years
For more information or journalist enquiries, email
info@afic.org.
Most
Frequently Reported Food Safety and Nutrition Topics in Daily Press and
Newswires Around the Asia Region
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.
COMMENTS
ON MOST POPULAR TOPICS
BSE/Mad
Cow Disease
A great deal of
renewed interest in this topic is evident, following on from confirmed
new cases of BSE in cattle in US and Japan. Because BSE in cattle is
thought to be the source of new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in
humans, there is a great deal of public concern on this topic. Expert
opinion has provided clear guidelines, on the safe consumption of beef
and other products from cattle such as dairy, gelatin and beef tallow.
For more
information visit,
http://www.who.int/health_topics/creutzfeldtjakob_syndrome/en/ or
http://www.afic.org/Mad%20Cow%20Disease%20or%20Bovine%20Spongiform%20Encephalopathy.htm
Food
Safety – Microbial
Dramatic increase in
press coverage of this topic is largely due to the recent recognition
that a highly pathogenic form of the influenza virus (H5N1) in chickens
has become well established in poultry flocks in some parts of the Asia
region, and that this virus can infect humans who come into contact with
chickens or other birds carrying the virus. Advice from WHO is that it
is safe to consumer chicken and eggs that are well cooked and prepared
following proper good food hygiene practices. In response to public
concern, AFIC has prepared a briefing on how to prepare and handle raw
chicken and eggs safely.
For more
information,
visit
http://www.afic.org/search.asp?ID=2
Healthy
Eating and Lifestyles
Media coverage on the
topic of diets and lifestyles in the prevention of chronic degenerative
and non-communicable diseases rose steadily throughout the year 2003.
Disease such as diabetes, stroke and heart disease, hypertension have
many common diet and lifestyle factors positively associated both with
their onset and severity, and so stories focusing on lifestyle changes
to reduce risk often take a generalized approach. Balanced and
informative stories usually include advice on limiting fat intake,
especially saturated fats, encouraging consumption of cereals and other
complex starchy foods, plus fruit and vegetables, and maintaining or
working towards a healthful body weight. The Healthy Eating Club Press
publisher of the Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, also
publishes a monthly newsletter, with facts sheets, recipes, spotlights
of recent scientific research results, on healthy lifestyle topics and
themes.
For more
information,
click on
http://www.healthyeatingclub.com/
Diabetes
and Diet
Press interest in
diabetes rose, with World Diabetes Day on November 14th
stimulating much of this. Common topics were rising global prevalence,
lifestyles and diets which reduce risk and improve management of Type 2
diabetes. Many features were framed within a global context, reflecting
the fact that much of the information was sourced outside Asia eg global
news wire services, and many of these reports were both balanced and
informative, but a small minority did not meet these standards.
Unbalanced, misleading stories most commonly focused on miracle cures or
singled out individual foods as ‘bad’ and causal.
For more
information,
The 2nd
edition of the Diabetes Atlas ISBN 2-930229-27-6, published 2003, is
available by contacting the International Diabetes Federation
idf@idf.org. This comprehensive guide includes huge volume of
statistics and summarises latest scientific understanding of diabetes
and related health issues.
Food
Biotechnology
The use of modern
biotechnology techniques to speed up the process of traditional plant
breeding methods, or in some instances to develop new strains by
transferring genetic material from one species to another to create new
seed varieties with beneficial traits such as higher yields or more
nutritious crops has generated some controversy and much heated debate.
The science is complex, and clearly difficult for non-specialists to
assimilate and understand but scientists have consistently expressed
their commitment to improving public understanding of the science, and
the potential benefits. Media interest in the topic subsided in the
second half of 2003, but remains significant.
For more
information
- To find out more about the potential benefits and why so many
scientists and plant breeders are keen to use the latest methods, see
2003 International Life Sciences Institute conference on
“Biotechnology-derived nutritious foods for developing countries; click
on
http://www.ilsi.org/publications/pubslist.cfm?pubentityid=%2D1
Children’s
Diets and Health
Press interest in
children’s diets and health has declined considerably, compared to first
half of 2003, but nevertheless remains significant. The most common
theme for news reports remains the nature and benefits of healthful
lifestyles for children, with great emphasis on the rise in overweight
and appropriate strategies to reverse this trend. The multiple benefits
of breakfast are also becoming more frequent.
For more
information,
AFIC has a number of resources designed to inform and motivate children
and young people about healthful lifestyles and diets. Downloadable
pdf’s are available on the website, or write to AFIC requesting a hard
copy of -
·
Kids
Bites
http://www.afic.org/temp/Kit's%20Bites.pdf
·
Activity Pyramid
http://www.afic.org/temp/Activity%20Pyramid.pdf
·
10
tips for healthy eating physical activity
http://www.afic.org/temp/Children%2010%20Healthy%20Tips.pdf
Overweight/Obesity/Weight
Control
With the number of
individuals classified as overweight or obese continuing to rise, both
globally and within the Asia region, small wonder this topic remains
popular. Overweight and obesity is more than a cosmetic problem, it is a
very significant health risk for chronic degenerative diseases such as
diabetes and heart disease, osteo-arthritis, and even some cancers. Many
stories feature advice and recommendations for weight loss diets, and a
growing number also include concrete guidelines on how to assess body
weight, and determine own health risk. Most common measures are Body
Mass Index (BMI), and waist circumference or waist : hip ration.
For more information
and the help in assessing your own body weight, calculate your won BMI,
click on
http://www.afic.org/BMI.htm
Supplements
No universal
definition of what constitutes dietary supplements exists, but in most
countries, bioactive substances that may be found in plant or animal
foods, but are consumed in a non-food form, such as tonic, pill, powder
are classified as supplements. Asia has a long history in the use of
dietary supplements, and the first countries to establish a regulatory
framework for the distribution and marketing of such products are both
Asian, namely Japan and China. The consumption of food supplements is
growing, and many news features and stories reflect growing public
interest in the use of dietary supplements in promoting general wellness
and long term health. Reputable manufacturers and current scientific
opinion does not recommend that supplements are used as a substitute for
professional medical advice or treatment.
For more information,
on the latest scientific understanding of dietary supplements click on
http://dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov/showpage.aspx?pageid=146
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
