TRACEABILITY OF FOUR EUROPEAN PROTECTED GEOGRAPHIC INDICATION (PGI) BEEF PRODUCTS USING SINGLE NUCLEOTIDE POLYMORPHISMS (SNP) AND BAYESIAN STATISTICS

The use of SNPs in combination with Bayesian statistics for the geographic traceability of cattle were evaluated using a dataset comprising 24 breeds from Italy,France,Spain, Denmark, the Netherlands,Switzerland and UK genotyped with 90 polymorphic markers. The percentage of correct assignment of the individuals to their Country of origin was 90%, with an average assignment probability of 93% and an average specificity of 92%. The higher value was observed for UK breeds (97% of correct assignment) while Swiss animals were the most difficult to allocate (77% of correct assignment). Tracing of Protected Geographic Indication (PGI) products, the approach correctly assigned 100% of Guaranteed Pure Highland Beef; 97% of “Vitellone dell’Appennino Centrale” breeds; 84% of Ternera de Navarra, and 80% of Boeuf de Chalosse. Methods to verify Products of Designated Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographic Indication (PGI) products will help to protect regional foods and promote the economic growth of marginal rural areas by encouraging the product on of high quality niche market foods

National, longitudinal NASCITA birth cohort study: prevalence of overweight at 12 months of age in children born healthy

Objective To estimate the prevalence of overweight at 12 months in an Italian birth cohort and to identify factors related to an increased likelihood of being overweight.Methods The Italian NASCITA birth cohort was analysed. Infants were classified as underweight (<5th), normal weight (5–84th) and overweight (≥85th centile) at 12 months of age according to the WHO percentiles of body mass index (BMI) and the prevalence of overweight was estimated. To test the association between the chance of being overweight and parental and newborn characteristics, and infant feeding, healthy newborns (no preterm/low birth weight and with no malformations), with appropriate-for-gestational-age birth weight were selected, and univariate and multivariate analyses were performed.Results The prevalence of overweight was 23.5% (95% CI 22.2% to 24.8%) in all cohort members with 12-month data (N=4270), and 23.1% in the appropriate-for-gestational age subsample (N=2835).A big infant appetite (OR 3.92, 95% CI 2.40 to 6.40) and living in southern Italy (OR 1.58, 95% CI 1.29 to 1.94) were the main variables associated with a greater likelihood of being overweight. Breastfeeding practice did not influence the chance of being overweight, but was associated with an increase (exclusive breast feeding for at least 6 months) or a decrease (breast feeding for at least 12 months) in BMI z score at 12 months.Conclusions The sociodemographic factors (eg, area of residence, maternal employment status) seem to be the most relevant determinants influencing the chance of being overweight at 12 months. Early interventions, with particular attention to vulnerable families, may be helpful in preventing childhood and adult obesity