MOLE RATS-SHOWING THE WAY FOR A LONG LIFE!

Longevity is a much sought after goal for humans and there are supposed to be many ways to extend the life span by a few years. The discovery that mole rats and squirrels can live longer is making scientists look into the reasons for their longevity. There could be many reasons like the environment, their metabolic make up, pace of living and the foods they consume. Mole rat is a burrowing rodent, feeding on large tubers underground,with small lungs, needs very low oxygen and its metabolic activities are at a very low keel. It can reduce its rate of metabolism by 25% under adverse conditions.

"Their life span is of extraordinary length for a rodent. Mice live a couple of years but mole rats can reach the venerable age of 28. The long life is probably a consequence of their protected existence. Mice have a short life span because they have many predators. Better to breed fast and young than prepare for an old age none will never live to see. Gray squirrels, on the other hand, have fewer enemies and can live for more than 20 years".

The moot question is whether man would like to live like a mole rat assuming that scientists are able to bring out the factors responsible for their long life. Man has to choose between a long miserable life or a good life with limited life span. One cannot have the cake as well as eat it!

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

SUGAR 'FRAUD' IN EUROPE-MILKING THE SUBSIDY SYSTEM!

Developing countries are often blamed for high corruption supposed to be widely prevalent in practically every sphere of human activity. Compared to the economic frauds committed by large players with strong financial and political clout in some of the richest countries in the world, corruption in third world countries pales into insignificance. Latest skeletons to emerge from the"cup boards" of these countries is the gigantic sugar scam running into millions of dollars, thanks to the much despised agricultural subsidy program that is put in place in many of the super rich countries of the West.

"In the sprawling European subsidy program — which lavishes more than 50 billion euros ($75 billion at current exchange rates) a year in agricultural aid — no commodity is more susceptible to fraud, chicanery and rule-bending, experts say, than simple household sugar. Across Europe there are some 2.5 million acres of beet fields that will produce 16.7 million metric tons of sugar this year for an industry worth 7 billion euros. Last year the European Union spent 475 million euros in price supports for sugar, including export subsidies. Then it spent another 1.3 billion euros on restructuring aid to reform a subsidy regime so that lavish it even prompted cold-weather Finland to start producing more sugar". Unfortunately the subsidized sugar, intended for consumption within the EU, finds its way to destinations out side the region distorting global sugar prices due to ineffective control of sugar movement across the continent..

The ingenious way to milk the subsidy system by the organized industry goes to show the extent to which man can stoop down to make an extra buck! Who is the real beneficiary in this charade is not clear but sugar producing nations like Brazil, India and others must watch out to country act such misdemeanors in order to protect their own sugar industry.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

THE HUMMUS "FIGHT"-A NEW CONFLICT IS BORNE!

Fighting for food has historical dimensions and many wars have been won and lost for gaining access to food. If colonial powers held on to their vassal countries for centuries it is because of their resources including food. Vasco de Gama's voyage in search of navigable route to East is for establishing hassle free trade with countries like India. But fighting for geographical patents in the name of some of the reputed traditional foods is some thing of a recent origin. It is not clear what advantage the winner will derive from these fights!

"Last year Abboud's organization announced plans to sue Israel to stop it from marketing Arab dishes like hummus as Israeli. The organizers of the event compared their case to Scotch whisky, champagne from the Champagne region of France, and Greek efforts to have feta cheese officially declared Greek. A European Union court ruling awarded Greece the right to patent feta cheese in 2002 and Lebanon hopes to be awarded similar rights to hummus and tabbouleh".

In India there are efforts to get patents for many regional products and the patent office seems to be leaning towards granting such patents, though it is not known against whom such protection is sought! One hears of Tirupati Laddu, Nagpore Oranges, Udipi Hotels and many others which are due to be given protection under geographic patents. It is not realized that patenting food products which are part of history is reprehensible as the whole world should enjoy them with out any economic restrictions. After all food can be a cultural ambassador creating plenty of good will for the country where it has originated.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

INTAKE OF TRANSFATS-VOLUNTARY EFFORTS

Trans fats which are generated as an artifact in food processing can be a serious health hazard if not controlled by the industry. Use of hydrogenated fat by the industry, especially in bakery products, has been found responsible for the presence of trans fats in many processed foods. Trans fat is implicated in some of the modern life style health disorders like coronary heart disease and realization of this has prompted the food safety authorities to make it mandatory to declare quantitatively the extent of its presence on the label of food products.

"In a report published on Friday, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has shown that intake of trans fatty acids (TFAs) from manufactured sources has declined in the Australian and New Zealand population by 25-40% since 2007. The report has been welcomed by the Australian Food and Grocery Council and has convinced health ministers that regulation is not required at this point in time. FSANZ Chief Scientist Dr Paul Brent said this means that total intake of TFAs is now estimated to be 0.5% to 0.6% of total dietary energy, which is well below the WHO goal of 1%".

What is striking is that reduced intake of trans fats amongst the populations in these two countries has been achieved purely because of voluntary efforts without any compulsion from the concerned regulatory authorities. Probably other countries can also follow the example set by the food industries there and improve their image as a socially responsible sector caring for the consumer!.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

AGRICULTURAL SUBSIDY-BARRIER FOR FREE TRADE

Agricultural subsidy is often being blamed for the distortions in the global trade with heavily subsidized western farmers offering many commodities at ridiculously low prices in the international market affecting the exports of third world countries. The WTO negotiations for a truly free world trade without barriers are stalemated because of the reluctance of developed nations to withdraw the subsidy regime to provide a level playing field for all the countries for equitable and fair system of trading that transcends national boundaries. The relative insensitivity on the part of many rich countries to this issue is reflected by continuing plans to protect their farmers through more subsidies to overcome the economic recession.

The butter 'mountains' and milk powder 'mounts' that characterized the European agricultural scenario in the last millennium are set to return if the latest proposal by EU for extending economic protection to the dairy producers in the constituent countries does materialize. "Europe's agriculture commissioner today bent to pressure from a majority of EU states and agreed to create a €280 million fund to be used to help dairy farmers cope with the impact of low prices".

Waiving of the rules for direct national subsidy enabling the individual governments to give cash relief of Euro 15000 to each dairy farmer is a move fraught with some serious implications. If these proposals are put into practice, over production of butter and milk powder is a sure possibility and such an action will further destabilize world trade in dairy products for decades to come with grave consequences to the fate of third world countries. Flooding these countries with cheap dairy products is bound to depress market prices in the importing countries and local producers will be the sufferers due to non-remunerative prices for their product. WTO must step in to stop this "atrocity"!

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

ERA OF JUMBOS OVER-HERE ARE THE 'MINIS'

"Small is beautiful" was a mantra every body was swearing at, during the fifties, sixties and seventies of the last millennium. This was adopted in many developing countries as a policy for industrial development. Many manufacturing activities were reserved for small scale industries, obviously for protecting them from the high-resource based larger players. On the other hand capitalistic regimes of the First World were chanting the "scale of economy" mantra to justify mega ventures allowing the birth of large multinational corporates with wide reach and muscle. This philosophy has naturally led to appreciation of every thing that is large and most of the health afflictions amongst the populations in these countries can be attributed to jumbo size food and beverage servings that became industry standards eventually. New realization seems to be dawning on the industry that the money spinning jumbo products are suffering from an identity crisis calling for a changed strategy. Thus was born the "minis" with the hope that industry will be able to refurbish their image as a savior of the consumer!

"This "portion-control option" is designed to help people manage their calorie intake while still enjoying the beverages they love, according to a news release from L. Celeste Bottorff, vice president of Coca-Cola's Living Well initiative. Coca-Cola hopes she's right. With obesity at crisis levels, public health advocates are calling for a tax on sugary drinks. In the past decade, they say, per-capita intake of calories from sugar-sweetened beverages (read: soda) has increased by nearly 30 percent. Beverages now account for 10 to 15 percent of the calories consumed by children and adolescents. With each can or glass of sugared beverage consumed per day, the likelihood of a child's becoming obese increases by 60 percent".

How far the new strategy will work remains to be seen. Probably availability of options for a lower cost version may yet persuade the consumer to chuck the jumbos and indirectly help the nation's cause in counter acting the obesity onslaught that is eroding the economic productivity of the citizens. India is fortunate in developing the industry on a mini scale and there are hundreds of food products available in the market for Rs 1-5 category containing smaller portions. The low purchasing power amongst bulk of the population could be the real reason for such massive down sizing of product packs but it may prove to be a 'blessing in disguise' with a potential to prevent over eating and related consequences.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

UHP TECHNOLOGY-COMING TO THE FORE

Extending the life of fresh produce is the very foundation of global trade in these perishables. Modified Atmosphere Storage (MAS) under low temperature is at present the most widely used technology though satisfactory MAS conditions have yet to be worked out for many perishable commodities. Most critical issues are spoilage by microorganisms, surface contamination with pathogens and physiological changes that affect the sensory quality. The reported development of a process that uses very high pressure atmosphere during storage for destroying undesirable microorganisms in Avocado storage and transport in New Zealand is of some interest to all countries exporting perishable commodities from their shores.

"A new food preserving technology is set to double the shelf-life of avocados, create up to 80 new jobs and boost New Zealand's annual exports by 20 million dollars. Kiwi owned Fressure Foods plans to import Ultra High Pressure (UHP)processing technology which is used in more than 50 countries to increase the shelf life of locally grown avocados.Fressure Foods CEO Vern Dark says avocados usually last around 30 days but with the new technology his company will be able to extend this to 60 days, increasing local supply and export revenue. Dark says Ultra High Pressure treatment is also known as cold pasteurisation and uses pressures of up to 87,000 psi to shock and kill bacteria in food products".

Though technology-wise UHP has received wide acclamation, how far it will maintain the delicate texture of some of the fresh produce commodities remains unclear. For example can the delicate texture of Mango be preserved or how long it can be kept under UHP conditions, are questions that need clear answers. Same is true with regard to other perishables also. The claim that UHP technology uses less energy than the thermal processing technology requires independent confirmation. High investment for setting up UHP facilities can be a deterrent for wide scale adoption in many developing countries.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com