In the current situation, it is clear that the health loss attributable to unsafe food is many times smaller than that due to an unhealthy diet. This is largely due to the fact that an effective system of food safety measures and control has been developed in recent decades. Clearly, this system must be maintained. However, it is appropriate to ask what maintenance level will be required in the future, in the light of existing and newly emerging threats. Priority Better risk assessment methods and improved risk communication with the consumer Food safety incidents, both large scale and small scale,…
Author: John Leo
According to modern views on health promotion, prevention is particularly effective if the interventions rely on an integrated approach. Such an approach not only addresses people directly about their personal behaviour, but also modifies the physical and social environment in such a way as to encourage desirable behaviour and discourage undesirable behaviour. This form of integrated approach is probably the key success factor in the United States’ reduction of smoking. A similar approach is now being used in the Netherlands. The approach entails a combination of health-related information about stopping smoking, pricing measures, smoking bans in public places, other legislation…
There are many ways in which food producers, wholesalers and the catering industry can help to combat overweight, to promote a healthy diet and to improve food safety. Greater availability of healthy products, and less advertising for unhealthy products Alongside a lack of physical activity, the cause of the rise in obesity is to be found in the overabundant supply of energy-dense foods in shops, workplace canteens and school dining halls. The advertising of unhealthy products is also a contributory factor. Convenience, flavor, price and acquired habits are the factors which determine the consumer’s eating patterns. The private sector can…
A healthy diet, the reduction of obesity rates and the promotion of food safety are all collective interests. Accordingly, the government has a part to play. In recent decades, the main emphasis of food policy has been on safety. The approach, set out in a government policy document entitled ‘Langer Gezond Leven’ (‘Living longer in good health’), addresses both lifestyle factors and environmental factors which encourage a healthy diet and sufficient physical activity. However, the emphasis should not be solely on overweight and energy balance, thereby masking the significant influence of a proper dietary composition on the prevalence of…
Why this report? For centuries, knowledge of what is good and safe to eat, and how it should be prepared, has been passed down from mother to daughter. In the early twentieth century, this empirical knowledge could be given a more scientific basis, partly due to advances in science and in epidemiology. Since then, our scientific knowledge concerning the relationship between nutrition, diet and health has greatly increased, and continues to develop today. That knowledge is mainly concerned with the biological effects of the individual constituents of food, such as nutrients, additives, microorganisms and chemical contaminants. Preventive measures intended to…
The Health Council arrives at similar conclusions to those of the WHO with regard to the relationship between the risk of developing obesity and dietary factors, physical activity and environmental factors (see column 1 of table 2.1). It summarizes current knowledge of dietary factors as follows. The likelihood of over-consumption (i.e. energy intake in excess of energy expenditure) is greatest with a diet rich in fats, as opposed to a low-fat, high fibre diet. This is particularly so in combination with a lack of physical activity. The influence of various types of carbohydrates on the regulation of the energy balance…
When moisture is removed within the solid network of a food product during drying, a pressure unbalance is produced between the inner and external part of the food material, generating contracting stresses that lead to material shrinkage, changes in shape and sometimes product cracking (Mayor and Sereno, 2004). Visual appeal is affected too should severe shrinkage is experienced by the product. Typically, shrinkage increases proportionally with the volume of water removed during drying. Under ideal shrinkage condition the volume of water removed is equivalent to the reduction in sample volume. Sometimes, this could be untrue especially at low moisture…
Scientific experiments are important in research laboratories of universities and also in the engineering laboratories of industries. Experiments in processing companies are often conducted in a series of trials or tests which produce quantifiable outcomes. For continuous improvement in product/process quality, it is fundamental to understand the process behavior, the amount of variability and its impact on processes (Mason et al., 2003). Quality and productivity with process economics are characteristic goals of industrial processes, which are expected to result in superior goods that are highly sought by consumers and that yields profit for firms that supply them. Recognition is now…
It has long been realized that a relationship exists between diet and food on the one hand, and health and disease on the other. If our intake of the substances which provide energy is too low, the result will be under nutrition. Similarly, an inadequate intake of the vitamins and minerals required for regeneration and regulation is likely to lead to various deficiency diseases, some of which can be life-threatening. Current scientific insights however, suggest a more complex relationship between diet and health, particularly in terms of the so-called ‘lifestyle diseases’. A high energy intake with low energy expenditure is…
Osmotic dehydration is relatively slow so acceleration of mass transfer would be advantageous. There are various methods to increase the mass transfer, such as application of ultrasound, high hydrostatic pressure, high electrical field pulses, vacuum and centrifugal force and microwave Application of ultrasound During osmotic dehydration Ultrasound in the food industry is relatively new and it has not been explored indepth until recently (De Gennaro et al., 1999). Ultrasound has been applied in the food industry to determine food properties due to low-frequency, high-energy ultrasound. It can travel through a solid medium; therefore, it can influence mass transfer. A phenomenon…