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t_Articles
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W elcome
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
already subscribed, but would like your own monthly copy, please send a blank
email to
aficnews-subscribe@afic.org.
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DATES
FOR YOUR DIARY
NEW
FROM AFIC
Check out AFIC's recently
revised and updated
Short Briefing: Avian Influenza and Food Safety,
available in
English,
ภาษาไทย,
中文
languages.
Click on the links or visit
www.afic.org.
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 FREQUENTLY REPORTED ISSUES AREAS
Zoonotic
Diseases & Animal Health (27%)
Coverage on anima; disease that may be passed on to humans
(zoonoses) dropped in the 4th quarter after escalating interest in
this area throughout the year, which peaked in Q3 2005 with 37% of total
coverage. The majority of coverage in Q4 comprised details on the spread and
fight against Avian Influenza, but coverage on Streptococcus Suis
infections in China and Hong Kong, and Foot-and-Mouth Disease outbreaks in South
America was also tracked. For more information about Foot-and-Mouth Disease,
please click
here.
Healthy
Eating & Lifestyles (13%)
This quarter saw coverage on a
variety of different health promoting diets, advice on fasting practices for
those celebrating Ramadhan and a selection of reports on increased
susceptibility of ethnic Indians developing lifestyle diseases especially heart
disease, metabolic syndrome, Type 2 diabetes. A common theme within the regional
media is recognition that chronic non-communciable diseases are no longer
confined to the elderly or the western world. Please follow the link to read
more about “A
Convenient Route to Healthy Eating”.
Biotechnology
(9%)
The final quarter of 2005 saw
a sharp increase in biotechnology coverage buoyed by coverage on ongoing debates
in Thailand, impending decision to approve planting of GM rice in China, Iran’s
decision to approve GM rice on a commercial scale, and announcement from India
that GM egg plant likely to be approved within next 2 years. Please follow the
link to learn more about “Fortifying
Against the Hidden Hunger”
Food
Safety – Microbial (7%)
Microbial food safety generated increased interest in the
last quarter due in part to several major incidents of mass food poisoning. For
more information on hygiene and food safety, please refer to “Food
Safety Tips to Take with You Anywhere, Anytime”
Food
Safety - Chemical
(6%)
Chemical food safety coverage during this quarter included
stories on lead content in Chinese kimchi; detection of food contaminant,
Sudan Red dye, in some foods in Europe, including palm oil from Asia; malachite
green detected in Chinese seafood; efforts by Thai authorities to eliminate the
use of unapproved drugs in animal feed; and EU’s decision to
put temporary halt on import of instant
noodles from Thailand because of the presence of irradiated ingredients which
current EU legislation does not permit, Please follow the link to see “How
Safe is Our Food?"
Diabetes & Diet
(5%)
There was a spike in coverage to coincide with World
Diabetes Day (Nov 14), with many articles on the prevention and management of
diabetics. Experts are focusing
increasing attention on the health implication of the pre-diabetic state,
impaired glucose tolerance, which is believed to affect 8% of the global
population and estimates of even higher prevalent in many countries in Asia.
Please follow the link to see “What
You Should Know About Diabetes”.
Overweight
/ Obesity / Weight Control (5%)
As well as typical basket of reports and features on diets
and drugs for weight loss, health risks and social impact of overweight, other
topics stimulating interest and awareness of this issue included Korean decision
to revise BMI cutoffs, publication of a number of research papers confirming
that abdominal obesity is a sensitive predictor of onset and severity of
weight-related non-communicable disease, especially heart disease and Type 2
diabetes. For more information about weight control, please refer to “Appetite
– Learning to Stay in Charge”.
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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