On 28th Oct, Today reported that A New Zealand company is preparing to implant pig cells into people as an experimental diabetes treatment, though some scientists warn that the risk of introducing a new virus to humans is too great. Biotechnology company Living Cell Technologies says it will start work immediately to recruit eight patients with Type 1 diabetes to take part in cell implants from newborn pigs. The New Zealand government gave its approval last week.
The piglet cells will be implanted in the abdomen to manufacture insulin, company medical director Bob Elliott said. The cells will be coated in a seaweed-derived membraneto discourage the volunteers’immune systems from rejecting the foreign cells. The coated implant also means there is no need to use immunosuppressant drugs, he noted.
The cells produce pig insulin, which is very similar to human insulin, and replicates its effects by lowering blood sugar, Mr Elliott said. The harmful effects of Type 1 diabetes — including blindness, premature coronary illness and limb amputation caused by poor blood circulation — could be delayed by the treatment but would not be entirely eliminated, he said.
Mr Elliott has run two previous trials, the first with six patients in New Zealand in 1995 to 1996. The other, in Russia with 10 patients, began in July last year. Scientists and ethicists are debating whether animal cells or organs should be transplanted into humans to improve treatments or deal with shortages of donated human organs.
One risk is that viruses that exist in pigs but not in humans could jump species, potentially causing new illnesses and — in the worst case scenario — new pandemics. Scientists say there are more than 100 pig viruses that can potentially transfer to humans.
Mr Elliott said recent research suggests the pig viruses thought to be most infectious for humans — porcine endogenous retroviruses — can be monitored and controlled.
Mr Elliott said pig insulin has been injected to treat diabetes in humans for 50 years and, “nobody came to any harm”. “You are much more likely to get some nasty disease from an organ donation or an organ donor than you are from pigs,” he said.
Ms Megan Sykes, an expert in immunology and cross-species transplants at Harvard Medical School, said it was too early to start human trials of the treatment because no scientific data from animal studies had been published, and because of the risk of a new virus spreading to humans.
The study will use cells from newborn offspring of pigs recovered from Auckland Island south of New Zealand, where they had remained isolated from outside diseases for some 200 years.
This case study will actually help diabetic patients to be relieved from their daily painful jabs if it’s successful. However this means Muslim diabetic cannot use this therapy right????
The problem emerged over the weekend when Hong Kong authorities said eggs from one major Chinese supplier were tainted with melamine, the same chemical that was mixed into China’s milk products and led to the deaths of four babies. However, officials and China’s state-controlled press reported yesterday that eggs from other suppliers had also been found to be contaminated with melamine, which can give food the appearance of higher protein levels.
Meanwhile, the authorities in Hong Kong and the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou reported eggs contaminated with melamine had been detected in brands other than Hanwei, and that they came from different areas of China. The discovery of melamine in eggs has raised concerns that the chemical could be infecting much of China’s food chain.
Initially, the problem was believed to be isolated to milk and other dairy products. The discovery of the chemical in eggs raised concerns that it could be in many other Chinese foods, with the suspicion that it was mixed into livestock feed to also give it the appearance of high protein.
The authorities in Dalian, the Chinese city where Hanwei is based, said yesterday that melamine may have been mixed into chicken feed and led to the contamination of that company’s eggs.
The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation in China said on Tuesday that melamine may also be present in other farm-raised foods such as meat and fish.
What else can we eat? Even out hello kitty biscuits also found to be contaminated!!!
Just as i was read Online TODAY Newspaper, we have the latest update for Milk related scandal. Taiwan became the latest to find melamine in imported products, detecting the chemical in six milk products made by Nestle, the Swiss food giant, and banning these from sale on Thursday.
South Korea had also banned the import of milk products from New Zealand which were used in baby formula after discovering traces of melamine.
New Zealand's Tatua Cooperative Dairy Co. on Monday stopped exports of the dairy protein lactoferrin, used mainly in baby formula, after tests showed it contained four parts per million of melamine.
Food safety officials are now investigating whether lactoferrin manufactured by Westland Milk products on South Island and Australia's Victoria state dairy company, Tatura, which uses the same process, are being contaminated with melamine by the manufacturing process it uses.
New Zealand Food Safety Authority tests have shown melamine contamination of about 1 part per million in Westland's lactoferrin.
"This trace level may have arisen out of this (company's) specific, unique (manufacturing) process," said NZFSA director of compliance and investigation, Dr. Geoff Allen.
Investigators are waiting for test results on samples sent to New Zealand a week ago, which also may have implications for Victoria's Tatura plant.
Apart from four tests on lactoferrin manufactured by Fonterra, Tatua and Westland, another 112 tests had been conducted on other New Zealand dairy products, Allen said.
Fonterra is a partial owner of China's Sanlu Group, the first of 22 Chinese dairy companies whose products were found to contain high levels of melamine
Lactoferrin is widely use in baby milk powder as it has plays several important roles in human biology.
1) First, lactoferrin is believed to play a role in the uptake and absorption of iron through the intestinal mucosa. It may be the primary or sole source of iron for breast fed infants.
2) Secondly, lactoferrin appears to have antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and immunomodulatory activities.
Lactoferrin is a minor glycoprotein component of whey. It belongs to the iron transporter or transferrin family of glycoproteins. Lactoferrin is also found in exocrime secretions from mammals and is released from neutrophil granules during inflammation. The lactoferrin concentration in bovine (cows) milk is only 0.5% to 1.0% while human breast milk can contain as much as 15% lactoferrin.
I'm sure by now, many would have heard of the China-tainted milk related product news that contain melamine. So what is melamine all about???
Melamine an organic base of cyanamide contain 66% of Nitrogen. It is hasfire retardant properties when mixed with resins. Melamine by itself is nontoxic in low doses, but when combines with cyanuric acids, it can cause kidney stones due to formation of insoluble melamine cyanurate.
So what is the purpose of adding melamine into milk product???
Apparently, manufactures added Melamine to fool government quality tests after water was added to fraudulently increase the milk's volume, since melamine will cause a false increase in the measurement of protein by increasing the nitrogen levels in the milk. Officials estimate that about 20 percent of the dairy companies tested in China sell products tainted with melamine.
And as of 30 September 2008, the AVA has detected melamine in two additional products imported from China. Both the products contain milk as an ingredient. This brings the total number of affected products to 10. They are:
1) New Sshma Ows Mallow Dippers-Strawberry Flavour,
2) Silang - House of Steamed Potato - Potato & Tomato Cracker
3) Yi Li Choice Dairy Fruit Bar Yogurt Flavoured Ice Confection;
4) Dutch Lady Strawberry Flavoured Milk;
5) White Rabbit Creamy Candy;
6) Dutch Lady Banana Flavoured Milk;
7) Dutch Lady Honeydew Flavoured Milk;
8) Silang - House of Steamed Potato - Potato Cracker;
9) 徐福记 Puffed Rice Rolls - Butter Corn Flavour; and
10) 徐福记 Puffed Rice Rolls - Cheese Flavour
The Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI) of melamine as established by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is 0.63 mg/kg body weight. This means that an adult weighing 60 kg or a child weighing 30 kg can ingest 37.8 mg of melamine and 18.9 mg of melamine respectively every day over a lifetime without any appreciable health risk.
AVA has also proudly tell us that how many of that particular food we must eat daily over a lifetime before we will suffer the effect from eating too much melamine. One reason because the amount found in Singapore is far little as compared to those found in china.
Just imagine you once drank so much of those banaba and honeydew milk daily like me, or chew like there is never enough of white rabits sweets during Lectures/Tutorials while we in TP. Oh no... but relax the maximum we usually eat would be about 10-15 of rabbit sweets at maximum. So we won't have kidney stones yet since we have yet to pass 1/3 of my life eating 47 X 25,200 days of sweets( 30 days X 12 Months X 70 Years) !!!
And the best part is, DUTCH Malaysia company actually place a poster at their website http://www.dutchlady.com.my/en/home.asp specifically to differentiate Dutch products found in Singapore and Malaysia, as Manufactures in Malaysia have vouch for their products.
Nevertheless, those china made product has all been recalled and hence it is still safe to buy as long they are not from china. I found a long list from a blog which many people was inform through sms and email too that they should not eat anymore.
Just to be on the safe side, check the following product when buying, which countries are they from:
1. Jinwel Yougoo Susu Fermentasi Rasa Jeruk 2. Jinwel Yougoo Aneka Buah 3. Jinwel Yougoo tanpa Rasa 4. Guozhen susu bubuk full cream 5. Meiji Indoeskrim Gold Monas Rasa Cokelat 6. Meiji Indoeskrim Gold Monas Rasa Vanila 7. Oreo Stick Wafer 8. Oreo Stick Wafer 9. Oreo Cokelat Sandwich Cookies 10. M&M’s Kembang Gula Cokelat Susu 11. M&M’s Cokelat Susu 12. Snicker’s (biskuit-nougat lapis cokelat) 13. Dove Choc Kembang Gula Cokelat 14. Dove Choc 15. Dove Choc 16. Natural Choice Yoghurt Flavoured Ice Bar 17. Yili Bean Club Matcha Red Bean Ice Bar 18. Yili Bean Club Red Bean Ice Bar 19. Yili Prestige Chocliz 20. Yili Chestnut Ice Bar 21. Nestle Dairy Farm UHT Pure Milk 22. Yili High Calcium Low Fat Milk Beverage 23. Yili High Calcium Milk Beverage 24. Yili Pure Milk 205 ml 25. Yili Pure Milk 1 L 26. Dutch Lady Strawberry Flavoured Milk 27. White Rabbit Creamy Candy 28. Yili Choice Dairy Frozen Yoghurt Bar (kembang gula)
Sorry for the delay! Here are the results for the yeast experiment...
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
10:23 PM
Food Allergy Warning - PEANUT (Felicia)
Interesting Report at The Straits Time, under Technology & Science section regarding latest update on food labeling. We always think that people who are allergy to peanut can eat most food as long as the ingredients does not contact any use of peanut isn't it?
We are Wrong!!!
Research done by University of Nebraska shows that almost 200 products with various accidental-peanut warnings were more likely to have peanut sneaked into products labelled especially when they are "made in the factory".
Chocolate that use to labelled as with Trace of Peanut in fact contained up to six times the amount the government considers a Trace Level. Even a basket of fresh fruit comes with a warning that it might contain nuts or milk!!!
You will think how can Fruits contain such things isnt it???
Answer by now should be quite Obvious... the very same factory has been use for so many different food processing
Just look at the little Tommie in the picture above. He is allergic not only to peanut but also dairy, wheat and five other ingredients. How did he survive until now???
I hand it to the Japanese for their extraordinary and "out-of-this earth" kind of C-R-E-A-T-I-V-I-T-Y! They never fail to impress the world ya? LOOK at their Marvelous Creations...... They can piece together simple ingredients like cheese, veg, meat, eggs, sausages, rice etc. to make something soooOoooOOoooOo FABULOUS!
They can even use food to replicate ......... ............... ....................... ................................. ....................................... ............................................... ........................................................ .................................................................. ................................................ ................................. .................. ..........
www.Nutrition.com.sg is one of the few website we as a student had come across for our project research. Its easy to navigate, with panel just on top and left side. There is a articles section in the middle panel showing important articles such as Reading Food Labels. This section can keep students up to date about what's going on!
Under Healthy Eating side, we can find Our Healthy Diet Pyramid, cooking tips, dietary guidelines and even ways to shop smart which can be include into lower sec lesson.
RDDA for Adults
RDDA for Children
There is even a corner to teach us to Snack the right way!! Yesh you hear me correct. Snacking is not necessary a bad things but depend on the kind of food we choose to snack. Important tips such as planning prior to snacks so that we won't be left to snack unhealthy stuff. Check it out if you want to know more :D
Under Nutrition Calculator, we can calculate our Body Mass Index (BMI), Waist-Hip-Ratio (WHR)and The calorie calculator that can help us in attaining better health.
Of couse since we usually dine outside now, under Dining outside, there is Local Food Guide, Fast Food Facts and dining tip that would WOW you out! Check it out below.
Food dishes such as chicken curry, BBQ chicken, claypot chicken all can be found according to food categories.
Of course our favourite fast food KFC guide is also available. Now you can even plan in advance what you should eat at KFC to remain guilt free by eating the right amount.
Lastly, you can also ask the dietitian question or even browse throught to see what kind of questions had been asked and answered. You may even gain new insightful knowledge by reading it.
Best of all, For easy reference, the questions are group in QUestion Archives under different topic!
"Spot the Block is an interactive website created by Cartoon Network to encourage teens to seek Nutrition Facts from nutrition labels, understand the information it provides, and use it for making healthful choices related to their own dietary management." (USDA, 2008)
It can be used to teach the topic "Shop Smart" from Food Interactions, where one of the learning outcomes is to ensure that students will be able to interpret and apply the information found on nutrition labels.
The content from the textbook will come ALIVE with this interesting website, CERTAINLY!!
a) VIDEOS
The catchy tunes of the jingle and the funny moves by the animated character will definitely leave an impression on the students. The students may sing along and memorize the lyrics which contains the information they need to know about reading and interpreting nutrition labels.
b) MUSIC
"Music, makes the people, come together!!" Yeah, the songs and lyrics from the videos can be downloaded.
Groups of students can conduct a "meaning-making" session based on the lyrics.
c) DOWNLOADS
If any teacher wants to conduct a lesson on nutrition label using this website in a computer lab, she can surprise the students by downloading the different wallpapers onto every computer. When the students switch on their computers, they might all get a pleasant surprise! It can be a wacky way to introduce the topic to the students in the lab and it may create constructive discussions among students. "Look at your screens and you'll see what we'll be learning today!"
"Fast Fact" (at the bottom of the wallpaper) brings out the gist of the lesson
d) BLOCK BASICS
This part essentially teaches the students how to apply the information found on nutrition labels to making wise food choices.
2) Nutrition Explorations Nutrition Explorations is not so much of an "information website" but rather a host for many activities and games well-related to Food & Nutrition. Teachers can use the activities alongside their lessons or after they have taught a particular topic (an avenue for students to apply their knowledge to the respective activities & games)
a) NUTRITION INFORMATION
As you can see, there are not many topics on nutrition information. The one highlighted - Tour the Food Groups, can be used to teach the topic on "Planning Healthy Meals" where the Healthy Diet Pyramid is used as a Nutritional Tool to plan meals.
Upon clicking each food group, a panel of information with respect to the food group will appear
Interesting "Did-you-know" info and nutrients provided by the different food groups are all clearly listed in the information panels. Teachers can use it as a brief recap on the HDP when it was first taught in Home Econs.
The only difference between the HDP of Singapore and the US is the extra food group - Milk Group. Nonetheless, it can be used to teach the nutritional value of milk and the importance of incorporating milk into our daily diets.
b) Activities
Activities boxed in red are relatively relevant to the teaching of F & N Activity 1: Fueled for Fun
Teachers can use this games to assess student's knowledge in identifying nutrient-rich food.
The game character will walk along a park where nutrient-rich and calorie-dense food are placed all around. The aim of this game is to pick out nutrient-rich food for the character so that she can obtain enough energy to run fast for a competition.
This is what happens with wrong selection of food
Fun Factor: 4/5
Activity 2: Food Expedition with Arianna & Marcus
Teachers can use this activity in relation to the teaching of coursework part 1. Students can better understand how foods are combined from different food groups to make a nutritious dish.
PLUS point: This activity merges F & N and Geography (Players have to look for the various ingredients that make up the dish. The ingredients are found in different parts of the world. When players" travel" to different parts of the world to look for the ingredients, they will be briefly introduced to different countries and their culture)
Fun Factor: 5/5
c) Fun Links (MORE Fun & Games!!)
There are 2 of the games in here which i particularly like:
Nutrition Cafe
MyPyramid Blast Off
Fun Links 1: Nutrition Cafe
Nutrition Sleuth - A game similar to hang-man. Different scenarios of people with poor diet are given and players have to guess which nutrient is missing from the diet. This game can be used in conjunction with "Food & Nutrients"chapter. Case-study approach allows students to apply knowledge on different nutrients to the various situations.
Grab a Grape - Food & Nutrition Knowledge is categorized into 7 main categories. Teachers can choose the different categories to assess the knowledge of students. This game can be used for revision!
Have-a-Bite Cafe - Teachers can incorporate this game into teaching the topic on "Planning Healthy Meals" (Students will learn how to make wise food choices for different meals catering to people from different age groups. They will have to bear in mind the important nutrients for that particular age group that they are creating a meal for) or coursework part 1 (Coursework part 1 usually requires students to plan a meal based on a given scenario. Students can try their hands on this game to make smart food choices for the scenario that they have been given)
Fun Links 2: MyPyramid Blast Off
This game helps students keep track of how their choices fit into the Healthy Diet Pyramid. Game can be used for the topic on "Planning Healthy Meals". Students will have to consider incorporating foods from different food groups into a meal and making sure that the daily calorie intake does not exceed the recommended value.
Nestles' Product sold under KLIM
