• Experts want vitamin D added to Scotland’s food
• Fat tax “stigmatises our products” — Coca Cola
• Could personalised smartphone apps start displacing the maze of eco-labels
• “Inspirational” school meals champion awarded MBE
• First free-from skincare awards launched

Experts want vitamin D added to Scotland’s food

Posted on10 January 2012. Tags: Professor George Ebers, Scotland, vitamin D
Experts want vitamin D added to Scotland’s food - Source: Natural Products Magazine.

International experts in health and nutrition are calling for some food staples in Scotland to be fortified with vitamin D.

The call comes as evidence linking vitamin D deficiency with the high levels of Multiple Sclerosis in Scotland continues to grow.

Low levels of sunlight in Scotland and inadequate intake of dietary sources of the vitamin, such as oily fish, are believed to be causing widespread deficiency problems.

Professor George Ebers of the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences at Oxford University told The Guardian recently that the evidence is now good enough to justify dosing the entire population with vitamin D. This month Ebers’ team published research showing evidence of a genetic link between a inability of the body to make vitamin D and MS.

Professor Ebers says the challenge is now to persuade the public health authorities that they should supplement the general population. While this approach has the support of the MS campaign group Shine On Scotland, there is concern in some quarters about the desirability of ‘mass medication’. Scotland’s chief medical officer Sir Harry Burns says evidence needs to be gathered from “well conducted randomized studies in large populations” before fortification plans are given the green light

But US expert, Bruce Hollis, professor of paediatrics and biochemistry at the Medical University of South Carolina — who travelled to Scotland in 2004 to press the case for supplementation — told The Guardian that “a randomized trial will never happen” and believes resistance from public health authorities — “people who haven’t been studying this for 30 years” — is putting people’s health at risk.

Fat tax “stigmatises our products” — Coca Cola

- Source: Natural Products Magazine.

A new ‘fat tax’ imposed by the French government on sugary soft drinks has been criticised by the Coca Cola Company for “stigmatising” its products.

The new tax, which will add around 1p to a can of fizzy drink, was given the green light in late December. Zero-calorie drinks will be exempt from the tax.

The French government says that revenues raised by the new tax will be used to lower social security charges for farm workers.

But the tax has been attacked by leading beverage firms including Cola Cola. The US drinks giant recently said it was suspending a planned €17 million investment at a plant in the south of France in “a symbolic protest against a tax that punishes our company and stigmatises our products”.

Could smartphone apps cut through maze of eco-labels?

Posted on07 January 2012. Tags: GoodGuide, mobile technology, Organic Monitor. apps
Could smartphone apps cut through maze of eco-labels?

Could personalised smartphone apps start displacing the maze of eco-labels consumers have to negotiate every time they go shopping?

- Source: Natural Products Magazine.

That’s the intriguing suggestion being made by analysts Organic Monitor.

The London based company acknowledges the important role that eco-labels play in signposting sustainable products across a range of products from food to household cleaning products, cosmetics to toys. But it says some consumers are becoming disillusioned with eco-labels because of the shortcomings of many standards and lack of transparency. And it argues that the proliferation in food eco-labels means that many consumers can’t distinguish between organic, Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, and other eco-labels.

As a result a growing number of consumers are now turning to mobile technology applications to meet their informational needs.

Mobile devices enable consumers to get a wealth of information on products from their Quick Response (QR) barcodes. Consumers seeking sustainable products can get details on the product’s environmental, social and even economic footprint whilst shopping. Some brands allow consumers to use the barcodes to ‘track and tell’ the product origins. On food staples such as fruit and vegetables the technology even allows the consumers to ‘meet’ the growers.

Organic Monitor sees US-based GoodGuide as a frontrunner in mobile technology applications. By downloading the smart application on their mobile phones, consumers can get details on various health, environment and society parameters of their products. The GoodGuide gives ratings for almost 100,000 consumer products and companies. Sometimes the ratings throw up surprises, with mainstream brands rated as less toxic, or more environment friendly than natural or organic brands.

Organic Monitor believes that the major advantage of mobile technology is that it can give a “holistic picture of a product’s sustainability credentials”. The shortcoming of most eco-labels, it says, is that they look at some ethical and ecological aspects in isolation. By ‘naming and shaming’ brands, product rating systems like those of the GoodGuide play an active role in encouraging companies to develop more sustainable products.

• The growing use of mobile technology for sustainable food products will be featured in the upcoming Sustainable Foods Summit, taking place in San Francisco on 17-18th January. Organized by Organic Monitor, the aim of the Sustainable Foods Summit is to explore new horizons for eco-labels and sustainability in the food industry by discussing key industry issues in a high level forum. More information is available fromwww.sustainablefoodssummit.com

“Inspirational” school meals champion awarded MBE

Posted on03 January 2012. Tags: Food for Life Partnership, Jeanette Orrey, MBE
“Inspirational” school meals champion awarded MBE - Source: Natural Products Magazine.

Jeanette Orrey, the school meals policy advisor for the Food for Life Partnership, has been awarded an MBE in the New Year Honours for services to food in schools.

Orrey, a school dinner lady for 20 years, is credited with being the inspiration for Jamie Oliver’s school food campaign.

Libby Grundy, co-director of the Soil Association-founded Food for Life Partnership said: “Jeanette’s tireless campaigning on the issue of school food has brought about transformational change in thousands of schools across the country. She has played an integral role in shaping the Food for Life Partnership programme and this well-deserved award highlights the importance of healthy school lunches.

Evaluation of the partnership shows that school food provides a vital way to reduce the health and academic gap between disadvantaged children and their peers. We must make sure this work continues.”

First free-from skincare awards launched

Posted on13 December 2011. Tags: free-from, Natural beauty
First free-from skincare awards launched -Source: Natural Products Magazine.

The team behind the Foodsmatter website have launched the first ever free-from skincare awards.

The awards, which will be presented in May 2012, are designed to celebrate the best in beauty that’s free from allergens, fragrance, additives or problem chemicals.

The three categories up for grabs are free-from body care and hair care, face care and make-up.

“We’re very excited to be launching this award,” said Michelle Berriedale-Johnson, editor of the FoodsMatter.com and SkinsMatter.com websites.

“So many of those who have food allergies also suffer from sensitive skin and can only use skincare products that are free of problem chemicals and artificial additives, and, most importantly, are also free of their own allergens.”

“Aside from strong and effective products, judges will be looking for good natural and free-from properties,” added SkinsMatter.com’s deputy editor, Alex Gazzola.

“We’re also hoping to find many products which really demonstrate an understanding of allergies, and convey free-from attributes – such as free from parabens, gluten and nuts.”

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