Advanced Glycation End products (AGE) toxicity.

Productos tóxicos derivados de la Reacción de Maillard (AGE) se acumulan con la edad.

Los AGE son compuestos (toxinas) pro-oxidantes que se generan cuando los alimentos, especialmente los de origen animal son sometidos a altas temperaturas (como freír, asar o cocinar a la parrilla, por procesos de pasteurización 0 esterilización). Estos compuestos podrían estar vinculados con el desarrollo de enfermedades como diabetes o alzheimer.

Recientes estudios realizados por un grupo de investigadores de la Facultad de Medicina del Mount Sinai Medical Center, publicaron un estudio en el que se muestra que los niveles de AGE son elevados en personas sanas y que aumentan con la edad, a mayor consumo de alimentos con AGE, mayor nivel de estos compuestos en la sangre.

Se tomó una muestra correspondientes a dos grupos de personas: menores de 45 años y otro mayores de 60 años. Los investigadores analizaron el nivel sanguíneo de dos de los AGE mas habituales: Carboxilmetilisina(CML) y Metilglioxal (MG), como también marcadores de la inflamación, como proteína C- reactiva. Otros datos importantes fueron peso, IMC y la dieta.

Entre los resultados se cuenta que los niveles de AGE fueron 35% mas elevados en grupo de 60 años o mas. A mayor consumo AGE, aumenta proteína C- reactiva.

Uno de los investigadores explica que el creciente consumo de alimentos con AGE, se corresponde con la incidencia creciente de diabetes y enfermedades cardiovasculares. Estos compuestos se acumulan en los tejidos y sobrepasan las defensas del organismo, promueven procesos inflamatorios y, con el tiempo esto puede precipitar enfermedades o envejecimiento prematuro.

Para disminuir la producción de estos compuestos se sugiere evitar cocción mediante frituras, horneados y asados a la parrilla, y optar por comida preparada al vapor, hervida o cocida.

Ver más: Consumaseguridad.com

Aporte: Tatiana Gómez

Family sues restaurant over Vibrio vulnificus contaminated oysters

Eating a plate of raw oysters was the cause of death.

The daughters of a woman whose death has been linked to eating raw oysters have sued Spondivits Seafood & Steaks. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Fulton County State Court by Stephanie Barnes and Erica Coston, contends that Spondivits was negligent in handling the oysters. It asks for unspecified damages. Spondivits did not return phone calls Wednesday seeking comment.
Delphine Barnes, 52, had stopped in at the South Atlanta restaurant with a friend on Aug. 6, and shared a plate of raw oysters, according to the lawsuit. She died four days later of an illness triggered by Vibrio vulnificus, a bacteria found in the Gulf of Mexico in warm months that can concentrate in oysters and cause an often-fatal illness in people with damaged immune systems.
Barnes had anemia and some other health issues, but had eaten raw oysters many times without problems, said Craig Jones of Atlanta law firm Edmond & Jones, the daughters' attorney.
She had recently retired from the Fulton County Sheriff's Department, where she was a deputy. Her daughters also work for the sheriff's office.
Barnes experienced stomach pains, headaches and fatigue in the days after eating the oysters. On Aug. 10, she was too weak to get out of bed. An ambulance took her to South Fulton Medical Center and she died early that evening, a few hours after arriving at the hospital. "This lady wasn't in perfect health. She had problems that were perfectly manageable and she was 52 years old," Jones said.
She's a responsible person who lived by the rules, and this happens."

Source of Article: http://www.ajc.com/

Aporte de: Guillermo Figueroa

Prueban Tecnica de Pasteurización por Ozono

19 Septiembre de 2007: La Técnica de Pasteurización fría, que utiliza Ozono, permitiria a los procesadores crear alimentos sin dañar sus componentes saludables.

La Compañía PASTAIR de Suiza, indica que este nuevo proceso podría disminuir los costos de energía comparado con otras técnicas de esterilización y dice que la gran ventaja del proceso es que abre la posibilidad de crear alimentos sin daño de sus componentes saludables y biológicamnete activos, traduciendose en la entrega de alimentos más saludables a los consumidores.

El proceso comienza extrayendo el ozono desde el aire. El ozono destruye a los patogenos, pero no tiene actividad sobre los componentes saludables del alimento.

El proceso no es mas caro que las otras pasteurizaciones y es mas amigable con el ambiente.


Fuente: Foodqualitynews.com
Mas Informacion: http://www.foodqualitynews.com/news/ng.asp?n=79848&m=2FQN920&c=geicnodcemtkdht

Aporte: Magaly Toro I.

MODIFICA REGLAMENTO SANITARIO DE LOS ALIMENTOS EN CUANTO A LA ROTULACION Y PUBLICIDAD.

La ultima versión del Reglamento Sanitario establece :

El Decreto N° 58 publicado recientemente en el Diario Oficial (junio 2007) modifica el Reglamento Sanitario de los Alimentos especialmente en cuanto a la rotulación y publicidad. El tema ya era abordado en la versión anterior del reglamento (agosto 2006) principalmente en el artículo N°115.

"Artículo 115.- Todos los alimentos envasados listos para su entrega al consumidor final deberán obligatoriamente incorporar en su rotulación la siguiente información nutricional:

a) Valor energético en kcal; las cantidades de proteínas, carbohidratos disponibles y grasas totales, en gramos y el sodio en miligramos.

b) La cantidad de cualquier otro nutriente o factor alimentario, como fibra dietética y colesterol, acerca del que se haga una declaración de propiedades nutricionales y/o saludables.

Para aquellos alimentos que en su rotulación declaren mensajes nutricionales o saludables y para aquellos que utilicen descriptores nutricionales, los límites de tolerancia para el valor declarado del nutriente en cuestión, serán los siguientes:

i) cuando los nutrientes y factores alimentarios sean expresados como proteínas, vitaminas, minerales, fibra dietaria y/o grasas monoinsaturadas y poliinsaturadas, deberán estar presentes en una cantidad mayor o igual al valor declarado en el rótulo;

ii) cuando los nutrientes y factores alimentarios sean expresados como energía, hidratos de carbono, azúcares, grasa total, colesterol, grasa saturada, grasa trans y/o sodio, deberán estar presentes en una cantidad menor o igual al valor declarado en el rótulo.”

Aporte : Tomás Freudenberg.

Dole Recalls Bagged Salad Due To E.coli

Fresh salads continue to be a health preoccupation.

A division of Dole Food Co said on Monday it was recalling some bagged salads sold in the United States and Canada because a sample at a Canadian grocery store was found to contain pathogenic E. coli.

Dole Fresh Vegetables said it has not received any reports that anyone has become sick from eating the products. The recall covers "Dole Hearts Delight" salads sold with a "best if used by" date of September 19.

In recent months, Dole has stepped up its testing and tracking of produce to prevent outbreaks of E. coli such as the one linked to bagged spinach last year that sickened hundreds and killed three.

Several other high-profile food safety scares in the last year have aggravated concerns among consumers and federal health regulators, including an enterohemorrhagic E. coli outbreak linked to Yum! Brands Inc's Taco Bell restaurants in the U.S. Northeast and a Salmonella spp. contamination of Peter Pan peanut butter made by ConAgra Foods Inc that sickened 425 people.

Just last month, California produce grower Metz Fresh LLC said it recalled fresh spinach in grocery stores and food service packages after a sample tested positive for Salmonella.

Ver más: http://www.ennmagazine.com/12all/lt/t_go.php?i=813&e=NDY0Nw==&l=-http--www.enn.com/top_stories/article/23139

Aporte: Guillermo Figueroa

El SAG firma nuevo acuerdo con China sobre control de plagas

Santiago, 06 de septiembre de 2007.- La Agencia China de Cuarentena (AQSIS) y el Servicio Agrícola y Ganadero de Chile (SAG) firmaron en la ciudad China de Guangzhou, un protocolo de entendimiento para evaluar la aplicación en nuestro país del programa de control de mosca de la fruta.

Tras intensas negociaciones, el Director Nacional del SAG, Francisco Bahamonde Medina, y la Agencia AQSIS, suscribieron el protocolo, que establece los mecanismos para determinar la eficacia de los planes aplicados en Chile en la vigilancia y erradicación de Mosca de la Fruta: duración de la cuarentena; extensión del área a cuarentenar; reconocimiento de áreas libres y uso de tratamientos cuarentenarios.Según explicó Bahamonde Medina, “con la implementación de estas acciones se busca dar seguridad a las autoridades chinas de que las medidas aplicadas en Chile están de acuerdo con las exigencias sanitarias aplicadas en ese país”.
Las actividades en terreno se iniciarán este mes de septiembre y se contempla que especialistas chinos visiten Chile en diciembre de este año para evaluar la marcha de las actividades. El acuerdo contempla que todo este trabajo debiera concluir en julio del 2008.El director del SAG destacó que una vez finalizado este programa se facilitará el proceso de reconocimiento de las zonas que han recuperado su condición de libres luego de la ocurrencia y erradicación de focos de Mosca de la Fruta”.

Fuente: www.sag.gob.cl

Aporte: Magaly Toro

New fast test method to detect food contamination developed

Large numbers of food samples can be analised for possible pathogen contamination.

The new method developed by Renato Zenobi , from ETH Zurich, is based on tests using what is called a "quadruple time-of-flight" (QTOF) mass spectrometer, a now standard laboratory instrument used for detecting pathogens on surfaces. Samples for the mass spectrometry method are normally processed in solution. The solution is first electrosprayed, with the additional aid of a desolvation gas.
The tiny droplets give rise to ions that are characteristic of the substance to be analysed and which the QTOF instrument measures.
The ETH Zurich researchers have now almost turned the principle on its head, they claim. Instead of studying the substances in the solution, they developed a method to examine the substances present in the desolvation gas assisting the spray.
With the newly-developed method nitrogen is blown from a small nozzle onto a sample surface. As the gas strikes the surface it desorbs semi-volatile substances. The enriched gas stream is then fed into the mass spectrometer where the absorbed substances can be precisely analysed, they stated.
"One particular strength of our approach is that even the surfaces of living organisms can be examined," he stated. "It only takes a few seconds to measure a single sample, so large numbers of random samples can be routinely analysed."
For meat samples the scientists were also able to show that the sample material does not even need to be thawed.
"In view of the numerous possible applications, it is not surprising that the new method is of interest not only to foodstuffs technologists and safety experts but also to medical professionals and drugs investigators in sport," Zenobi stated.

Ver mas: Journal Angewandte Chemie

Aoporte de: Guillermo Figueroa

Informe FVO Chile

Ya se encuentra disponible el informe del Food and Veterinary Office (Union Europea) respecto de la inspección de los sistemas nacionales de control de residuos de antibióticos y contaminantes en animales y alimentos para el periodo 2007: "Control of residues and contaminants in live animals and animal products, including controls on veterinary medicinal products".

Link: http://ec.europa.eu/food/fvo/ir_search_en.cfm?stype=insp_nbr&showResults=Y&REP_INSPECTION_REF=2007/7316

Aporte: Fernando Acuña

EFSA proposes science panel split

12/09/2007 - The board of the European Food Standards Authority yesterday said it plans to carve up the workload of its Additives and Food Contact (AFC) panel between two new panels - one for food additives and the other for food contact materials.

The first of the new panels is dubbed 'the panel for food additives and nutrient sources added to food', which will also look at the safety of other substances added to food deliberately.

The second new panel is 'the panel on food contact materials, enzymes, flavourings and processing aids'. It will also be concerned with the safety of substances added indirectly to food, and safety of new processes.

The board of EFSA is now to forward a formal request to split the panel to the European Commission. Its new panels could start work in 2008.

Más información: http://www.foodqualitynews.com/news/ng.asp?id=79699-efsa-science-additives

Drinking raw milk is taking a big risk

I don't think anyone will argue with me that milk does a body good.

Kids are taught as early as 4 years old that drinking milk will give them strong bones and teeth. As a result, they gulp it down in mass proportions. To promote a healthier diet, kids can even opt for milk, regular or chocolate, with most of their fast-food kids' meals, thereby ditching sugary sodas for a serving of calcium. These days, even those who are lactose intolerant don't have to remove milk from their diet. Depending on which brand you buy, there isn't a drastic change in taste whatsoever.

And you can't forget the ever-so-health-conscience, organic-only individuals. They opt for the pricier organic milk that's free of hormones some studies have linked to elevated cancer risk.

One thing's for sure, when it comes to milk, everyone has a preference.

NOT ALL GOOD

But there is one form of milk the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are reminding consumers not to drink - raw milk.

The FDA reports that from 1998 to May 2005 the CDC identified 45 outbreaks of foodborne illness that implicated milk or cheese made from unpasteurized milk. The outbreaks accounted for 1,007 illnesses, 104 hospitalizations and two deaths. The actual number of illnesses was almost certainly higher because not all cases of illness are recognized and reported, according to the FDA.

SALES RESTRICTIONS

It's illegal in some states to buy or sell raw milk. In Mississippi, the sale of raw goat's milk is legal. Despite sale restrictions of raw milk for human consumption, those who want it find ways to acquire it, often claiming it's more nutritious and inherently antimicrobial - claims the FDA reports are myths.

Pasteurizing milk removes bacteria responsible for diseases such as campylobacteriosis, tuberculosis and diphtheria and more. Pregnant women, the elderly, infants and those with weakened immune systems are especially encouraged not to drink it.

In the end, drinking raw milk is a matter of choice and personal freedom for proponents of it who are ready to fight to the end to drink what they want.

But it's a choice researchers report could be fatal.

Tomado de: clarionledger.com

Aporte de: Mauricio Restrepo