“People have a hard time adhering to diets and our research shows that choosing eggs for breakfast can dramatically improve the success of a weight loss plan,” said Nikhil V. Dhurandhar, Ph.D., lead researcher and associate professor in the laboratory of infection and obesity at Pennington Biomedical Research Center, a campus of the Louisiana State University system. “Apparently, the increased satiety and energy due to eggs helps people better comply with a reduced-calorie diet.”

Significant Weight Loss Related to Egg Breakfast

Compared to the subjects who ate a bagel breakfast, men and women who consumed two eggs for breakfast as part of a reduced-calorie diet:

* lost 65 percent more weight
* exhibited a 61 percent greater reduction in BMI
* reported higher energy levels than their dieting counterparts who consumed a bagel breakfast [1]

The egg and bagel breakfasts provided the same number of calories and had identical weights (energy density), which is an important control factor in satiety and weight loss studies.

The researchers also found that blood lipids were not impacted during the two month study. They found that blood levels of HDL and LDL cholesterol, as well as triglycerides, did not vary compared to baseline cholesterol blood levels in subjects who ate either the bagel or egg breakfasts. These findings add to more than 30 years of research that conclude that healthy adults can enjoy eggs without significantly impacting their risk of heart disease.

New Emphasis on the Importance of High-Quality Protein

This study adds to the growing body of research which supports the importance of high-quality protein in the diet. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN) published a special issue in May 2008, which contains nine articles that focus on the value of high-quality protein in the American diet. A major finding was that not getting enough high-quality protein may contribute to obesity, muscle wasting (loss) and increased risk of chronic disease.

Jump Start the Morning with Eggs

Jackie Newgent, registered dietitian and chef, stresses the importance of obtaining adequate high-quality protein when advising consumers about weight loss. “Eggs are a good source of all-natural, high-quality protein, so they can help keep you satisfied longer, making it easier to resist tempting snacks,” said Newgent. “Nearly half of an egg’s protein, and many of the other nutrients, are found in the yolk, so make sure to eat the whole egg for maximum benefits.”

Newgent suggests these nutrition tips for a successful weight loss plan:

- Manic Monday: Make a batch of hard-cooked eggs on Sunday, so you’ll have all-natural, high-quality protein meals for your on-the-go schedule during the week. Plus, eggs are incredibly affordable. At an average of $1.93 per dozen (or $0.16 per egg), [5] eggs are one of the most affordable high-quality protein foods in the marketplace.

- In-a-Minute Morning Meal: In less than 60 seconds, you can prepare an egg breakfast to help jump start your day. Simply beat one whole egg in a microwave-safe mug then cook in the microwave oven on high for 60 seconds. Slide the egg onto a whole grain English muffin. Add flavor with a sprinkling of fresh herbs, salsa, or cheese. Serve fresh seasonal fruit slices, like peaches in the summer, on the side for a balanced meal.

Source: Edelman Public Relations.

Reports of hundreds of people sickened in the outbreak have been coming in since April. As of this weekend, the Centers for Disease Control puts the total at 552 people in 32 states and Washington, D.C. with the rare Salmonella Saintpaul strain.

It’s a situation that has proved confusing for consumers, who saw tomatoes removed from grocery produce sections and restaurants earlier this month. The FDA has said all along that the tainted tomatoes are only the red Roma, red plum, and red round varieties, and that cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, those on the vine, and home-grown tomatoes are all safe to eat.

The FDA continues to update a list of states and countries whose tomatoes have been ruled out in the probe, but reminds consumers that some of the suspect tomatoes could still have been trucked into these areas.

Here is the list of areas not linked to the outbreak and safe to eat, as of June 19:

U. S.:

Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida (counties of: Jackson, Gadsden, Leon, Jefferson, Madison, Suwannee, Hamilton, Hillsborough, Polk, Manatee, Hardee, DeSoto, Sarasota, Highlands, Pasco, Sumter, Citrus, Hernando, Charlotte), Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah
Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin

Outside U.S.:

Baja California (Norte) Mexico, Belgium, Canada, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Israel, Netherlands, Puerto Rico

The Centers for Disease Control said Monday that the total is now 277 people in 28 states and the District of Columbia. The outbreak of the Saintpaul strain of salmonella dates back to April 10.

Meanwhile, federal officials have announced two more states (New Mexico and Indiana) have been cleared in the investigation, as well as part of Mexico (Baja California).

One possible lead in the case is nine illnesses that have been linked to an unnamed restaurant chain.

The FDA believes the salmonella contamination likely started in the two major tomato-producing areas of Florida or Mexico.

Consumers are advised to avoid any fresh Roma, plum or standard round tomatoes that are not from the 37 states (see the list below) that have been excluded as the source of the outbreak. The FDA has said since the beginning of the scare that cherry and grape tomatoes and tomatoes still attached to the vine are fine.

Most major restaurant chains, including Wendy’s, Burger King and McDonald’s are restocking tomatoes, after pulling them earlier this month.

For the time being, the FDA advises consumers to eat tomatoes grown only in the following states: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida (counties of: Jackson, Gadsden, Leon, Jefferson, Madison, Suwannee, Hamilton, Hillsborough, Polk, Manatee, Hardee, DeSoto, Sarasota, Highlands, Pasco, Sumter, Citrus, Hernando, Charlotte — but only with a certificate from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services), Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

For more information, read the CDC’s FAQ on Salmonella in tomatoes:
http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/saintpaul/faq.html

Both the Food & Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control are investigating the outbreak that dates back to mid-April.

 Since then, there have been 228 cases of salmonellosis nationwide caused by Salmonella Saintpaul, an uncommon form of the illness that has been associated with commercially produced tomatoes. At least 25 hospitalizations have been reported. The CDC says there have been no deaths in the outbreak.

For the time being, the FDA advises consumers to eat tomatoes grown only in the following states: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida (counties of: Jackson, Gadsden, Leon, Jefferson, Madison, Suwannee, Hamilton, Hillsborough, Polk, Manatee, Hardee, DeSoto, Sarasota, Highlands, Pasco, Sumter, Citrus, Hernando, Charlotte — but only with a certificate from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services), Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

For more information, read the CDC’s FAQ on Salmonella in tomatoes:
http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/saintpaul/faq.html

Sixteen states have reported people sickened after eating two varieties of raw tomatoes that were grown in Texas and New Mexico.

The Centers for Disease Control and the Food & Drug Administration are looking into the situation, along with other state agencies.

The outbreak of human Salmonella serotype Saintpaul infections points to large tomatoes, including Roma and round red, as the source.

Since mid-April, 145 people in 16 states have been affected: Arizona (12 persons), California (1), Colorado (1), Connecticut (1), Idaho (2), Illinois (17), Indiana (1), Kansas (3), New Mexico (39), Oklahoma (3), Oregon (2), Texas (56 persons), Utah (1), Virginia (2), Washington (1), and Wisconsin (3).

Patients range in age from 1 to 82 years, and half are female. At least 23 people were hospitalized, and there have been no deaths reported in the outbreak.

According to the CDC, most people infected with Salmonella develop diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps 12–72 hours after infection. Infection is usually diagnosed by culture of a stool sample. The illness usually lasts 4 – 7 days. Although most people recover without treatment, severe infections may occur. Infants, elderly persons, and those with impaired immune systems are more likely than others to develop severe illness.

The FDA is advising U.S. consumers to limit their tomato consumption to those that are not the likely source of this outbreak. These include cherry tomatoes; grape tomatoes; tomatoes sold with the vine still attached; tomatoes grown at home; and raw red Roma, red plum, and round red tomatoes from specific sources listed on the FDA website.

Consumers everywhere are advised to:

• Refrigerate within 2 hours or discard cut, peeled, or cooked tomatoes.
• Avoid purchasing bruised or damaged tomatoes and discard any that appear spoiled.
• Thoroughly wash all tomatoes under running water.
• Keep tomatoes that will be consumed raw separate from raw meats, raw seafood, and raw produce items.
• Wash cutting boards, dishes, utensils, and counter tops with hot water and soap when switching between types of food products.

“The impact is so severe that the viability of the wild salmon populations is threatened,” says lead author Martin Krkosek, a fisheries ecologist from the University of Alberta. Krkosek and his co-authors calculate that sea lice have killed more than 80% of the annual pink salmon returns to British Columbia’s Broughton Archipelago. “If nothing changes, we are going to lose these fish.”

Image above caption: Pink salmon fry infected with sea lice.

Credit: Image credit: Alexandra Morton

Previous peer-reviewed papers by Krkosek and others showed that sea lice from fish farms can infect and kill juvenile wild salmon. This, however, is the first study to examine the population-level effects on the wild salmon stocks.

“It shows there is a real danger to wild populations from the impact of farms,” says Ray Hilborn, a fisheries biologist from the University of Washington who was not involved in the study. “The data for individual populations are highly variable. But there is so much of it, it is pretty persuasive that salmon populations affected by farms are rapidly declining.”

According to experts, the study also raises serious concerns about large-scale proposals for net pen aquaculture of other species and the potential for pathogen transfer to wild populations.

“This paper is really about a lot more than salmon,” says Hilborn. “It is about the impacts of net pen aquaculture on wild fish. This is the first study where we can evaluate these interactions and it certainly raises serious concerns about proposed aquaculture for other species such as cod, halibut and sablefish.”

The data are from the Broughton Archipelago, a group of islands and channels about 260 miles northwest of Vancouver that is environmentally, culturally, and economically dependent on wild salmon. To pinpoint the effect of salmon farms, the study used a large dataset collected by the Canadian federal government’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (Fisheries and Ocean Canada) that estimates how many adult salmon return from the ocean to British Columbia’s rivers each year. Extending back to 1970, the data covers 14 populations of pink salmon (Onchorhynchus gorbuscha) that have been exposed to salmon farms, and 128 populations that have not.

Sea lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) are naturally occurring parasites of wild salmon that latch onto the fishes’ skin in the open ocean. The lice are transmitted by a tiny free-swimming larval stage. Open-net salmon farms are a haven for these parasites, which feed on the fishes’ skin and muscle tissue. Adult salmon can survive a small number of lice, but juveniles headed from the river to the sea are very small, thin-skinned, and vulnerable.

In the Broughton Archipelago, the juvenile salmon must run an 80-kilometer gauntlet of fish farms before they reach the open ocean. “Salmon farming breaks a natural law,” says co-author Alexandra Morton, director of the Salmon Coast Field Station, located in the Broughton. “In the natural system, the youngest salmon are not exposed to sea lice because the adult salmon that carry the parasite are offshore. But fish farms cause a deadly collision between the vulnerable young salmon and sea lice. They are not equipped to survive this, and they don’t.”

Salmon bring nutrients from the open ocean back to the coastal ecosystem. Killer whales, bears, wolves, birds, and even trees depend on pink salmon. “If you lose wild salmon there’s a lot you are going to lose with them – including other industries such as fishing and tourism,” says Krkosek.

“An important finding of this paper is that the impact of the sea lice is so large that it exceeds that of the commercial fishery that used to exist here,” says Jennifer Ford, a co-author and fisheries scientist. “Since the infestations began, the fishery has been closed and the salmon stocks have continued declining.”

“In the Broughton there are just too many farmed fish in the water. If there were only one salmon farm this problem probably wouldn’t exist,” Krkosek says.

“Over the years the number of farmed fish has increased,” says Morton. “There used to be only a few farms, each holding about 125,000 fish. But now we have over 20 farms, some holding 1.3 million fish. The farmed fish are providing a habitat for lice that wasn’t there before.”

The researchers observed that when farms on a primary migration route were temporarily shut down, or fallowed, sea lice numbers dropped and salmon populations increased. “Even though they have complicated migration patterns they all have one thing in common – overall, the populations that are declining are the ones that are going past the farms,” says Mark Lewis, a mathematical ecologist at the University of Alberta.

“There are two solutions that may work – closed containment, and moving farms away from rivers,” says Lewis. Closed containment means moving the salmon to pens that are completely sealed off from the surrounding environment in contrast to the open-net pens currently in use. In a May 16, 2007 provincial government report, the B.C. Special Committee on Sustainable Aquaculture recommended a move towards closed containment within 5 years.

“If industry says it’s too expensive to move the fish farms or contain them, they are actually saying the natural system must continue to pay the price,” says Daniel Pauly, Director of the University of British Columbia’s Fisheries Centre, who was not involved with the study. “They are, as economists would say, externalizing the costs of fish farming on the wild salmon and the public.”

Morton, who has been studying the impacts of aquaculture for 20 years, says that, “Wild salmon are enormously important to the ecosystem, economies, and culture. Now it is clear they are disappearing in place of an industry. People need to know this and make a decision what they want: industry-produced salmon or wild salmon.”

source: SeaWeb.

The findings are the result of research by Terri Camesano, associate professor of chemical engineering at WPI, and a team that includes graduate students Yatao Liu and Paola Pinzon-Arango. Funded, in part, by the National Science Foundation and the Cranberry Institute and Wisconsin Cranberry Board, the work has been reported in a number of publications and presentations, including FAV Health 2007 (The 2nd Annual Symposium on Human Health Effects of Fruits and Vegetables), the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society in September 2006, and the January/February 2007 issue of the Italian publication AgroFOOD industry hi-tech.

For the first time, the research has begun to reveal the biochemical and biophysical mechanisms that appear to underlie a number of beneficial health effects that have long been ascribed to cranberries and cranberry juice—in particular, the ability of cranberry juice to prevent urinary tract infections (UTIs). The mechanism by which cranberry juice prevents such infections has not been clear, though scientists have suspected that compounds in the juice somehow prevent bacteria from adhering to the lining of the urinary tract.

Camesano and her students have used the atomic force microscope and other sophisticated tools to study how a group of tannins (called proanthocyanidins or PACs) found primarily in cranberries interact with bacteria at the molecular level. They have found that the compounds prevent E. coli from adhering to cells in the body (a necessary first step in infections) in several ways:

- The chemical changes caused by cranberry juice create an energy barrier that keeps the bacteria from getting close to the urinary tract lining.

- Direct measurements show that the adhesive forces between E. coli and cells of the urinary tract are greatly reduced when at least a 5 percent solution of cranberry juice cocktail is present.

- Cranberry juice causes tiny tendrils (known as fimbriae) on the surface of the type of E. coli bacteria responsible for the most serious types of UTIs to become compressed, reducing the bacteria’s ability to latch onto the lining of the urinary tract.

- E. coli grown in cranberry juice or the isolated PACs are unable to form biofilms. Biofilms, clusters containing high concentrations of bacteria, are required for infections to develop. Biofilms are the source of infections associated with indwelling catheters and other biomedical devices.

- When E. coli are cultured over extended periods in solutions containing various concentrations of either cranberry juice or PACs, their cell membranes undergo changes that hinder the bacteria’s ability to attach to cells of the urinary tract.

Camesano and her team have also noticed that cranberry juice inhibits the ability of E. coli to produce IAA, a molecule involved in a phenomenon known as quorum sensing. Bacteria produce IAA to let other bacteria know they are there. Quorum sensing enables bacteria to sense that their population is large enough to initiate an infection, or to form a biofilm. Keeping bacteria from producing IAA may be another way that cranberry compounds can hinder their ability to cause serious infections.

Some of Camesano’s current work is aimed at assessing the minimum effective dose of cranberry juice (or tannins) and the optimum frequency to ward off infections. In addition, she is working to test whether the urine of patients who have consumed cranberry juice still contains anti-adhesive properties. The clinical portion of the work is being done in collaboration with Amy Howell, associate research scientist at the Philip E. Marucci Center for Blueberry and Cranberry Research at Rutgers University.

Camesano says her work to date indicates that the benefits increase the more juice or cranberry products one consumes. So when it comes to this year’s Thanksgiving feast, don’t spare the cranberry sauce.

source: WPI.

Image above caption: Bottle from an unidentified site in northern Honduras corresponding to a type produced between 1400 and 1100 BC at Puerto Escondido. Barraca Brown Burnished type (Ocotillo phase, 1100-900 BC).

Credit: Collection of the Instituto Hondureño de Antropología e Historia, Museo de San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Drawing courtesy of Yolanda Tovar.

That cacao’s popularity on the world stage began with its role in an alcoholic beverage does not surprise archaeochemist Dr. Patrick McGovern, Senior Research Scientist, Museum Applied Science Center for Archaeology (MASCA) at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and one of five authors of the scientific research article on the discovery (”Chemical and archaeological evidence for the earliest cacao beverages,” by John S. Henderson, Rosemary A. Joyce, Gretchen R. Hall, W. Jeffrey Hurst, and Patrick E. McGovern) to be published on-line in Early Edition the week of Nov. and in the November 27, 2007 print issue of PNAS USA (pp. 18937-18940, Issue 48, Volume 104).

“This development probably provided the impetus to domesticate the chocolate tree and only later, to prepare a beverage based on the more bitter beans,” suggested Dr. McGovern. “An alcoholic beverage from the pulp, carrying on this ancient tradition, continues to be made in parts of Latin America.”

The famous chocolate beverage of the Mayan and Aztec kings, served at special ceremonies and feasts, came later. It was made from the cacao beans, often mixed with chillis, special herbs, honey, and flowers. The liquid was frothed into a foam, and both inhaled and drunk.

Throughout his career, Dr. McGovern has worked on techniques to determine what food and, more often, drink, once filled the ancient pottery and other food vessels that archaeologists find throughout the world-shedding new light on the gastronomic and cultural story of human civilization around the world. Time and again, he has seen that alcoholic beverages go hand in hand with the earliest development of human cultures. As with the cacao fruit in Central America, high-sugar fruits and honey were similarly used to produce alcoholic beverages in other parts of the world at an early date, including Neolithic China and the Near East, two regions where Dr. McGovern has played a role in the discovery of the earliest known beverages (see Ancient Wine, Princeton University Press, 2003/2006, and “Fermented Beverages of Pre- and Proto-Historic China,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 101.51: 17593-98).

“The beverages of China and the Near East also became the prerogative of the elite, and were incorporated into religious ceremonies and celebrations,” he noted. “They were often of considerable economic value, just as the cacao bean was the medium of exchange in the Aztec empire, and they were traded, given in tribute, and offered as gifts to fellow rulers and the gods.”

Though not part of the archaeological research team at Puerto Escondido in Honduras, Dr. McGovern got involved in the scientific research on this material after he read an article in the Fall 2001 issue of the Arts & Sciences Newsletter of his alma mater, Cornell University. Entitled “The Birth of Chocolate or, The Tree of the Food of the Gods,” it was written by Cornell Anthropology Professor John S. Henderson, co-excavator, with University of California Berkeley Professor Rosemary A. Joyce, at the Honduras site. Dr. Henderson had graduated in 1967, a year after McGovern, yet their paths had never crossed.

Dr. McGovern read in the article that Dr. Henderson was looking for a way to extract the ancient residues of a liquid from the pores of the vessels.

“I sent an email to John, suggesting that our Penn Museum laboratory, where I work with Gretchen Hall, Research Associate, probably had the tools available to find out what the ancient vessels held. From there, he negotiated to have a collection of sherds from vessels of types believed to have held liquid, and the Penn Museum and Hershey Foods Technical Center labs carried out extractions and analyses.”

“The results were astounding-every vessel that he had chosen and was tested gave a positive signal for theobromine, the fingerprint compound for cacao in Central America.”

source:University of Pennsylvania.

Pesticides currently used within the European Union (EU) must be registered with the national members of the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO), which requires efficiency data derived from field trials. EPPO has defined zones of comparable climates across Europe that allow data generated in one country to support registration in another country within the same climatic zone.

The new service, Site Similarity Certification (SSC), merges satellite images with conventional data like temperature, precipitation, soil characteristics and recurring natural phenomena to improve the scientific approach in defining comparable zones and the transferability of field trial results achieved in one EU member state to another.

“In view of the needs for testing and regulating Plant Protection Products within EPPO member countries, the continuation of the already successfully started efforts to integrate the use of satellite images into the process of pesticide registration seems to be a promising tool,” Dr Udo Heimbach a member of the EPPO Working Party said. “Satellite images are intended to be used to prove the similarity of trial sites and herewith to improve the procedure of mutual recognition of trial results throughout Europe, which is one of the aims of EPPO.”

Proving the comparability of cropping sites saves the pesticide industry from carrying out expensive perennial trials, allows field trials to be planned more efficiently and creates the possibility of substituting missing field trials for Site Similarity Certifications.

source:European Space Agency.

The study by Swiss and British scientists breaks new ground in a rapidly emerging field that may eventually classify individuals on the basis of their metabolic type, or metabotype, which can ultimately be used to design healthier diets that are customized to an individual’s needs. The study is scheduled for publication in the Nov. 2 issue of American Chemical Society’s Journal of Proteome Research, a monthly publication.

Sunil Kochhar and colleagues studied 11 volunteers who classified themselves as ‘chocolate desiring’ and 11 volunteers who were ‘chocolate indifferent.’ In a controlled clinical study, each subject — all men — ate chocolate or placebo over a five day period while their blood and urine samples were analyzed. The ‘chocolate lovers’ had a hallmark metabolic profile that involved low levels of LDL-cholesterol (so-called ‘bad’ cholesterol) and marginally elevated levels of albumin, a beneficial protein, the scientists say.

The chocolate lovers expressed this profile even when they ate no chocolate, the researchers note. The activity of the gut microbes in the chocolate lovers was also distinctively different from the other subjects, they add.

“Our study shows that food preferences, including chocolate, might be programmed or imprinted into our metabolic system in such a way that the body becomes attuned to a particular diet,” says Kochhar, a scientist with Nestlé Research Center in Switzerland.

“We know that some people can eat a diet that is high in steak and carbs and generally remain healthy, while the same food in others is unhealthy,” he explains. “Knowing one’s metabolic profile could open-the-door to dietary or nutritional interventions that are customized to your type so that your metabolism can be nudged to a healthier status.”

Researchers have known for some time that metabolic status and food preferences can vary from person to person and even between different cultures. The recent growth of the new field of proteome research, which focuses on characterizing the structure and function of the complete set of proteins produced by our genes, has allowed scientists to gain a deeper understanding of the metabolic changes that occur when foods are digested, Kochhar says.

“There’s a lot of information in metabolism that can be used to improve health and this information is just now being explored and tapped,” the researcher says.

In the future, a test for determining one’s metabolic type could be performed as part of a blood or urine test during a regular visit to the doctor, Kochhar predicts. But a reliable test to measure one’s metabolic type may be five years away, as more research is still needed in this area, he notes.

Women were not included in the current study in order to avoid any metabolic variations linked to the menstrual cycle, which has been shown in studies by others to influence metabolic differences, Kochhar says. But the researchers plan to include women in future clinical trials on metabolic responses to chocolate to determine if there is a gender-specific response to the treat.

In addition to providing a better understanding of individual metabolic types, the current study could also lead to the discovery of additional biomarkers that can identify new health benefits linked to chocolate and other foods, says Kochhar, whose research was funded by Nestlé.

source: American Chemical Society.