September 2012

Scientists question validity of GM cancer study

Top scientists have called into question the credibility of a study suggesting that GM maize can cause cancer in rats. Rodents fed a lifelong diet of a common strain of GM corn developed breast tumours and suffered damage to their livers and kidneys, according to a team from the University of Caen. However, others said
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Chemist in the kitchen

A page from our first website! If you want to know more about how food additives tie in with the chemistry that goes on in the kitchen, a downloadable booklet entitled ‘In the mix’ is accessible from the home page, or from the image on this page. Chemicals have always been welcome in the kitchen:
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Intertek

For more than 127 years, companies around the world have depended on Intertek to ensure the quality and safety of their products, processes and systems. We go beyond testing, inspecting and certifying products; we help customers improve performance, gain efficiencies in manufacturing and logistics, overcome market constraints, and reduce risk. We’ve earned a reputation for
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Food colours

The colour of our food is an intrinsic part of its appeal. Colours contribute to the taste sensation, whether they are the bright colours we associate with many fruit and vegetables, or the lurid reds and yellows common in Indian dishes. Grey colours give the impression that a food will be tasteless, or even spoiled.
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Heart health

High levels of cholesterol are believed to be bad for the heart. Increasing numbers of people in the western world now take statin drugs to help reduce the levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol in their bloodstream, as it can lead to blocked arteries and increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes. But a number of
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Digestive health

Foods that claim to improve digestive health are now commonplace on the supermarket shelves. These days, it’s not as simple as adding ‘fibre’ – many more exotic sounding ingredients such as resistant starch, inulin, oligosaccharides and polydextrose are used, not to mention the lactic acid bacteria that are added to yogurts and yogurt drinks. Inulin,
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Bone and dental health

Several vitamins and minerals are essential for our bones and teeth to grow and remain healthy. It’s crucial, for example, for children to consume sufficient calcium as it’s needed for the growth of strong, dense bones and teeth, and as we get older it’s needed to keep them that way. This is why children are
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Blood sugar control

We get the energy we need from the food we eat. Much of the energy comes in the form of carbohydrates, and if these are rapidly digested the energy is quickly taken up by the body. Such rapidly digested carbohydrates are termed ‘high glycaemic’, as they give a rapid, high peak of blood sugar. But there
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Vitamins

The importance of certain ingredients in the diet for maintaining health has been known since ancient times. But the need for what we now call vitamins was first realised in the mid-18th century, when the Scottish surgeon James Lind found that citrus fruit helped to prevent sailors on long voyages from developing the disease scurvy.
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Fish oils

Marine oils are good sources of omega-3 fatty acids, notably eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). They are extracted from various different oily fish, such as sardines, salmon, mackerel, tuna and herrings, but the fish do not make the oils themselves – they come from their own diet, usually microalgae, or for fish-eating fish, from other
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Minerals

Many different minerals are essential for health, often in tiny amounts. Some of the most important are: Calcium has long been associated with formation of bones and teeth but has a wide role in human health, and claims have now been authorised for the maintenance of normal bones and teeth and also for the maintenance
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Fibre

Consuming sufficient dietary fibre is essential to maintain a healthy digestive system. There are two main types of fibre – soluble and insoluble – and many different components of plants act as dietary fibres, including cellulose, lignin, beta-glucans and oligosaccharides. Insoluble fibre passes straight through the digestive tract unchanged. Because it absorbs water on the
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