An innovative new food safety technique using a virus is set to win
an exclusive worldwide licence. This marks the first step towards
the commercialisation of this unusual process, a technique that a
UK scientist claims can explode...
Europe's first international conference on folates, taking place in
Poland early next year, is expected to shed new light on folate
bioavailability in foods and help understand how to boost
consumption of this essential vitamin.
Experts meeting at a symposium on probiotics this autumn said that
further scientific support is needed to explore the strong
potential for health benefits of these bacteria.
Scientists have launched a project to sequence the genome of the
legume, the third plant genome to be sequenced to date. The project
could shed light on the health-promoting properties buried in the
legume family of soybeans, chickpeas...
Nutritional products company Natrol has introduced a new
triple-shell beadlet technology, BioBeads, designed to improve
delivery of active probiotics in supplements to the intestinal
tract.
Seaweed species have been found to defend themselves from specific
pathogens with naturally occurring antibiotics, which could present
oppportunities for future nutraceuticals, report US researchers.
Drinking tea appears to prime the immune system to fight infection
and chronic disease, according to US researchers, who report on
both laboratory and in vivo studies this week.
French yoghurt manufacturer Danone has announced that it has raised
its stake in probiotics maker Yakult to 19 per cent, citing strong
performance of the Japanese company as the reason for its long-term
investment.
Swedish dairy company Skånemejerier has launched a probiotic
supplement under its ProViva brand. The 'shot', which is a
concentrated form of the ProViva fruit drink, contains around 250
million beneficial bacteria per ml...
Researchers say they have completed the genome sequence of one of
the most prevalent bacteria that live in the human intestine,
increasing the potential for new natural products.
Locating specific Lactobacilli strains could lead to the
development of new treatments for intestinal inflammations and
infections, report researchers working on an EU-funded project on
probiotics.
Following reports in the UK press last week that a
government-funded study for the UK Food Standards Agency suggests
free-range and organic chickens are twice as likely as battery hens
to be contaminated with the food-poisoning bacteria...
As probiotics find increasing favour with food manufacturers a new
European funded study, PROGID, is set to investigate the impact of
two probiotic strains on easing the symptoms of inflammatory bowel
diseases (IBD).
An EU-funded project has developed new tools that enable more
extensive and rapid analysis of our gut microbiota than has been
possible earlier. Better knowledge of the microbiota may help
scientists to prevent gut diseases or improve...
US scientists are meeting later this month to analyse the DNA of 11
strains of probiotic bacteria. The aim is to help food scientists
improve the safety of foods such as cheese and yoghurt and the
research will also contribute to...
Honey contains similar levels of antioxidants as broccoli, and a
range of antioxidants comparable to that found in apples, bananas,
oranges and strawberries, according to research presented at the
national meeting of the American...
A European project is developing new microbial strains from soy and
dairy foods with the aim of increasing production of vitamin B,
prebiotics and trehalose-type sugars.
American scientists could have discovered why the ancient Chinese
compound rubricine is effective in burn treatment, and the findings
also suggest that microbes may be slow to develop resistance to the
herb.
Trials to find out whether certain vegetables can relieve infection
with stomach cancer and ulcers could soon be underway, say the
researchers who have found a compound in broccoli that kills the
bacterium responsible for the infections.
A new European funded research project, involving a consortium of
European academic institutions, is dedicated to improving the
nutraceutical knowledge of fermented food products and will spend
four years seeking to improve the health...
Cranberries are the fruit with the greatest antioxidant properties,
according to a number of studies presented this week at the
Experimental Biology 2002 meeting and at the 223rd national meeting
of the American Chemical Society earlier...
Last week saw the first shipments of VSL#3, a probiotic food
ingredient marketed by Questcor Pharmaceuticals. VSL#3 is a
preparation of eight highly concentrated species of live
freeze-dried lactic acid bacteria which are said to...
Environmental biotechnology has been used by humans for centuries
in food making, medicine, fermentation and waste treatment.
According to a new study, today the market for microbial blends and
nutrients is gaining in strength.
This month saw the first annual workshop of the Food, GI-tract
Functionality and Human Health Cluster (PROEUHEALTH), a grouping of
64 research partners from 16 European countries working together to
obtain greater knowledge of the...
Food technology company aLF Ventures, LLC, a partnership between
Farmland National Beef Packing Company L.P. and ingredients
specialists DMV USA, this week opened N-terminus, a new
multi-million dollar food safety research and development...
Decontamination with 1 per cent and 2 per cent buffered lactic acid
does not appreciably affect the spread of pathogen E.coli in beef
tissue, Belgian scientists report this week.
Organic broiler chickens are three times as likely as
conventionally-bred poultry to be contaminated with a bacterium
that causes food-poisoning, say Danish vets, the New Scientist
reports this week.
