General Standards for Food Additives Database Available
Online
The Codex Alimentarius Commission has launched an online,
searchable database of all food additives it has reviewed and
approved for use in foods under the General Standards for Food
Additives. As additional food ingredients are reviewed by
relevant committees, this additional information will be added
to the database. Access to the database is unrestricted and
searches may be conducted under various criteria, including
ingredients, food categories, and functionality. See
http://www.codexalimentarius.net/gsfaonline.
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Major International Survey Finds
Control of Type 2 Diabetes Less Than Optimal
The ‘Optimizing Control in Diabetes’ (OPTIMIZE) Survey, an
international study of nearly 1,500 people with Type 2 diabetes
in seven countries, found that a significant number of people
are not reaching target levels recommended by leading
organizations such as the International Diabetes Federation. The
OPTIMIZE Survey was designed to provide people with diabetes
with an opportunity to speak about their condition, in order to
better understand why sub-optimal levels of blood sugar control
are prevalent at an international level.
The findings of the OPTIMIZE Survey included:
64 % of those with Type 2 diabetes for
over 10 years are not achieving target blood sugar levels,
55 % of those taking insulin were not
achieving target levels,
69 % of people being treated with oral
agents were not achieving optimal control.
“These findings are really very worrying,”
said Professor Massi-Benedetti, Vice-President of the IDF. “The
OPTIMIZE Survey provides us with a real insight…... It is vital
that we address why people are not getting to target levels, in
order to reduce the growing incidence of the devastating
complications associated with diabetes." International experts
recently convened to discuss the implications and
recommendations that can be drawn from the study and their
conclusions will be announced at one of the international
diabetes conferences later this year.
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Mad Cow Disease on the Wane Worldwide
In March of this year, the UN Food and Agriculture
Organisation announced that cases of of Bovine Spongiform
Encepalopathy (BSE) or “mad cow disease” have been dropping at
the rate of 50% a year over the past three years. In 2005, just
474 animals died of BSE around the world, compared with 878 in
2004 and 1646 in 2003, and against a peak of several tens of
thousands in 1992. Numbers of human deaths fell to 5 in 2005,
all were in the UK, which remains the country most affected. An
FAO animal production expert and spokesperson commented: “It is
quite clear that BSE is declining and that the measures
introduced to stop the disease are effective. But further
success depends on our continuing to apply those measures
worldwide.” FAO insists on the importance of a scientific
approach to detect and control the disease, ensuring it is
eradicated in affected countries – and kept out of unaffected
ones. FAO notes a tracking system that allows animals to be
identified all the way from birth to shopping basket is also
vital. More information at
http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000258/index.html.
