7,765 research outputs found

    Measuring food quality: concepts, methods and challenges - Proceedings seminar February 2007

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    From 12 to 14 February, the Louis Bolk Instituut organised the 3rd annual QLIF workshop, titled “Measuring food quality, concepts, methods and challenges”. During these days a diverse and intensive program was presented. Participants came from, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Poland, Turkey. Participants were all very enthusiastic, both on the quality of the presentations and the total program. For all those of you who missed it, I give a brief impression. On the first day definitions of food quality were discussed as well as the methods to measure this quality. Machteld Huber explained the inner quality concept, developed by the Louis Bolk Instituut. This inner quality concept is based on two main life processes in organisms; Growth and Differentiation and the balance or integration of these two processes. This in contrast to many other quality definitions based on the presence or absence of substances. Analytical methods for measuring food quality (measuring substances) and experimental methods (e.g. crystallisation, biofotons ) measuring life processes were discussed. After the theoretical part, participants had the opportunity to work with biocrystallisation pictures and to visit the crystallisation laboratory. The second day started with a visit to one of the largest organic greenhouses in the Netherlands. The farmer grows tomatoes and paprika on a contract basis. Recently he started with a speciality in tomatoes, the Wild Wonders, a mixture of different shaped and coloured tomatoes. The greenhouse therefore gave a good view on the combination of ‘volume’ production and quality growing. In the afternoon, Jacob Holm Nielsen gave us a very interesting insight into the QLIF studies on organic and low input dairy. The type of feed showed to be very important for the milk composition and he emphasized that for organic high-quality dairy, maize can better be avoided as part of the feeding regime. Joke Bloksma presented the studies performed on lettuce, apple and carrot quality and how management factors (for apple, the bearing of the tree, sun light, ripening etc) influenced the quality of the products. Finally Gabriele Wyss from FIBL gave a presentation on food safety and food risks in organic production. She explained that many food safety aspects and food risks in organic are covered by conventional safety regulations and additional rules for organic farming. Because of the precautionary principles in organic food production the product safety and process safety tends to be higher in organic than in conventional. At the end of the day 4 participants presented their own research. This gave a broad view on different studies in the field of food quality and it gave rise to many questions and suggestions from other participants. The 3rd day taste and health were the main topics. Organic food might have a better taste than conventional, but how do we measure taste. Bob Cramwinckel of the Centre for Taste Research explained their 3-steps method to measure physical, psychological and total taste. Last presentation was given by Ruth Adriaansen on how we can study health effects of organic food. The necessity of a clear working definition of health showed to be very important for the design of a study, the choice of parameters and the effects to be studied. As an example, the study design of “Organic, more healthy ??”, the large feeding study in chicken, currently being performed by the Louis Bolk Instituut, was discussed. According to one of the scientific contributors the program “gave a great insight in the discussion going on in the field of organic food quality”. The overall conclusion was that for the evaluation of food quality you have to take much more aspects into account than nutritional content and contaminants only. An enlarged or holistic quality concept is needed to cover the ambitions of organic food production. Challenge is to further develop such concepts and to design robust scientific studies which account for all relevant quality aspects

    Measuring food quality: concepts, methods and challenges

    Get PDF
    From 12 to 14 February, the Louis Bolk Instituut organised the 3rd annual QLIF workshop, titled "Measuring food quality, concepts, methods and challenges”. During these days a diverse and intensive program was presented. Participants came from, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Poland, Turkey. Participants were all very enthusiastic, both on the quality of the presentations and the total program. For all those of you who missed it, I give a brief impression. On the first day definitions of food quality were discussed as well as the methods to measure this quality. Machteld Huber explained the inner quality concept, developed by the Louis Bolk Instituut. This inner quality concept is based on two main life processes in organisms; Growth and Differentiation and the balance or integration of these two processes. This in contrast to many other quality definitions based on the presence or absence of substances. Analytical methods for measuring food quality (measuring substances) and experimental methods (e.g. crystallisation, biofotons ) measuring life processes were discussed. After the theoretical part, participants had the opportunity to work with biocrystallisation pictures and to visit the crystallisation laboratory. The second day started with a visit to one of the largest organic greenhouses in the Netherlands. The farmer grows tomatoes and paprika on a contract basis. Recently he started with a speciality in tomatoes, the Wild Wonders, a mixture of different shaped and coloured tomatoes. The greenhouse therefore gave a good view on the combination of ‘volume’ production and quality growing. In the afternoon, Jacob Holm Nielsen gave us a very interesting insight into the QLIF studies on organic and low input dairy. The type of feed showed to be very important for the milk composition and he emphasized that for organic high-quality dairy, maize can better be avoided as part of the feeding regime. Joke Bloksma presented the studies performed on lettuce, apple and carrot quality and how management factors (for apple, the bearing of the tree, sun light, ripening etc) influenced the quality of the products. Finally Gabriele Wyss from FIBL gave a presentation on food safety and food risks in organic production. She explained that many food safety aspects and food risks in organic are covered by conventional safety regulations and additional rules for organic farming. Because of the precautionary principles in organic food production the product safety and process safety tends to be higher in organic than in conventional. At the end of the day 4 participants presented their own research. This gave a broad view on different studies in the field of food quality and it gave rise to many questions and suggestions from other participants. The 3rd day taste and health were the main topics. Organic food might have a better taste than conventional, but how do we measure taste. Bob Cramwinckel of the Centre for Taste Research explained their 3-steps method to measure physical, psychological and total taste. Last presentation was given by Ruth Adriaansen on how we can study health effects of organic food. The necessity of a clear working definition of health showed to be very important for the design of a study, the choice of parameters and the effects to be studied. As an example, the study design of “Organic, more healthy ??”, the large feeding study in chicken, currently being performed by the Louis Bolk Instituut, was discussed. According to one of the scientific contributors the program “gave a great insight in the discussion going on in the field of organic food quality”. The overall conclusion was that for the evaluation of food quality you have to take much more aspects into account than nutritional content and contaminants only. An enlarged or holistic quality concept is needed to cover the ambitions of organic food production. Challenge is to further develop such concepts and to design robust scientific studies which account for all relevant quality aspects

    Mainstreaming prevention: Prescribing fruit and vegetables as a brief intervention in primary care

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    This is the author's PDF version of an article published in Public health© 2005.This articles discusses a project at the Castlefields Health Centre in Halton whereby primary care professionals issue a prescription for discounts on fruit and vegetables. The prescription is explicitly linked to the five-a-day message

    A literature-based comparison of nutrient and contaminant contents between organic and conventional vegetables and potatoes

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    Purpose - The increasing demand for organic foods is explained mainly by consumers' concerns about the quality and safety of foods and their perception that organically produced foods are healthier and safer than conventional foods. Based on internationally available concentration data of organic and conventional vegetables (carrots, tomatoes, lettuce and spinach) and potatoes, the paper aims to investigate the scientific validity of nutrition claims as "no vegetable/potato has higher amounts of nutrient X than organic vegetables/potatoes" and "no vegetable/potato has lower amounts of contaminant Y than organic vegetables/potatoes". Design/methodology/approach - Detailed nutrient and contaminant databases were developed for organic and conventional vegetables separately. Non-parametric (Mann-Whitney test) methods were used to detect significant differences between both types of vegetables. A chi-square test was used to compare the incidence of pesticide residues in organic and conventional vegetables. Findings - From a nutritional and toxicological point of view, organic vegetables and potato in general are not significantly better than conventional vegetables and potatoes. For some nutrients and contaminants organic vegetables and potatoes score significantly better but for others they score significantly worse. Therefore, it becomes difficult to justify general claims indicating a surplus value of organic over conventional vegetables and potatoes. More data from controlled paired studies are needed to reconsider the use of claims for these organic plant foods in the future. Research limitations/implications - Only a limited number of studies comparing the nutrient and/or contaminant concentration of organic and conventional vegetables are available ("paired studies"). Additionally, the majority of the studies are of moderate or poor quality. The implication is that more of those paired studies are heavily needed. Another limitation of the study is the fact that most pesticide residue data originated from the USA, the EU and Australia. Originality/value - So far only few studies compared both nutrient and contaminant contents between organic and conventional plant foods. This paper covers therefore an important, not well-explored research sub area

    Grain legumes and human health

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    Since early civilisation in different continents, grain legumes have been a part of balanced diets together with cereals. In general the seeds from those two plant families give together a good source of essential amino acids and may have given an evolutionary advantage. A sustainable diet for vegetarians may not be possible without the protein-rich legumes. Consumed alone, legumes can be a mixed blessing because of their deficiency of some essential amino acids. This deficiency can be balanced in a varied diet containing components richer in tryptophan and the sulphur amino acid methionine and cysteine. Many legume species are exceptionally rich in secondary metabolites, some of which are beneficial to human health while without adequate processing through heating or leaching many can be detrimental to the health of the consumer. Soybean (Glycine max) is one of the most popular and also one of the more healthy species. The presence of genistein and other isoflavones makes it famous as an anti-cancer nutraceutical. Isoflavones and other phytoestrogens, occurring mainly in legumes, might be a factor promoting longevity. Other beneficial secondary metabolites are found among the non-protein amino acids. Legumes are very rich in an enormous variety of non-protein amino acids that can be beneficial or toxic. A beneficial non-protein amino acid occurs in high concentration in fenugreek seeds (Trigonella foenum-graecum), a component of curry, while a variety of toxic amino acids occurs in the genera Lathyrus and Vicia. Legume seeds also contain a variety of anti-nutritional factors that can be reduced by post-harvest processing such as fermentation or germination. Fermentation also improves the balance of essential amino acids. Numerous dietary products such as soy sauce or tempeh are traditional food ingredients derived from legumes

    Livestock feed resources in West African Sahel: A review

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    Circular 64

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    Treatment of Alaska-produced food products by ionizing radiation may benefit the seafood and agricultural industries and the Alaskan consumer. A feasibility study to evaluate the potential social and economic benefits and risks as well as the costs of using the process in Alaska on Alaskan products is being coordinated by the Institute of Northern Engineering. A research and development project to determine effects on the quality o f Alaskan products could be the next phase in the introduction o f a new food-preservation technique to Alaska

    Shopping, Cooking and Eating, Hungary. Final Report. SusHouse Project

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    Does Resource Commercialization Induce Local Conservation? A Cautionary Tale From Southwestern Morocco

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    Ecotourism, bioprospecting and non-timber product marketing have been promoted recently as market-based instruments for environment protection, but without sound understanding of the resulting net conservation effects. We present evidence on the local conservation effects of recent argan oil commercialization in Morocco, which seems a promising case study in conservation through resource commercialization. Our empirical analysis shows, however, that resource commercialization is not creating strong net conservation incentives because assumptions implicit in the prevailing logic prove incorrect in this case. Generally, the experience of southwestern Morocco provides a cautionary tale about the assumed efficacy of conservation strategies founded on resource commercialization.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,
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