Iron for Africa-Report of an Expert Workshop.

Scientific experts from nine countries gathered to share their views and experience around iron interventions in Africa. Inappropriate eating habits, infections and parasitism are responsible for significant prevalence of iron deficiency, but reliable and country-comparable prevalence estimates are lacking: improvements in biomarkers and cut-offs values adapted to context of use are needed. Benefits of iron interventions on growth and development are indisputable and outweigh risks, which exist in populations with a high infectious burden. Indeed, pathogen growth may increase with enhanced available iron, calling for caution and preventive measures where malaria or other infections are prevalent. Most African countries programmatically fortify flour and supplement pregnant women, while iron deficiency in young children is rather addressed at individual level. Coverage and efficacy could improve through increased access for target populations, raised awareness and lower cost. More bioavailable iron forms, helping to decrease iron dose, or prebiotics, which both may lower risk of infections are attractive opportunities for Africa. Fortifying specific food products could be a relevant route, adapted to local context and needs of population groups while providing education and training. More globally, partnerships involving various stakeholders are encouraged, that could tackle all aspects of the issue

Healthy food and healthy choices: a new European profile approach

Poor or unbalanced nutrition, or both, is linked to the development of a variety of diseases, including cardiovascular disease, obesity, and diabetes mellitus, which collectively represent significant causes of disability and premature death and impose a substantial economic burden. As a result, health authorities and regulatory bodies across Europe are implementing policies to promote healthy eating habits with the aim to attenuate the burgeoning incidence of diet-related diseases. In order to support these efforts, and within the context of a project dedicated to interrelations between nutrition and atherosclerosis, European experts convened on October 24, 2008 at a Session on “Healthy food and healthy choices: A new European profile approach,” during an international symposium in Venice, Italy. The aim of this session was to review issues relating to dietary policies, eating behaviour, food labelling, and nutritional profiling of foods. The present article highlights the key points of this session. Since eating takes place in a behavioural, social, and cultural context, a more relaxed pattern of interacting with food needs to be fostered, especially in children. Excessive regulation alone is insufficient and probably counter-productive to substantially impact population eating practices because automatic behaviour dominates our decision-making process with respect to food choices. Consumers urgently need simple, practical tools to help them make healthy food choices in a real-life setting. Front of pack labelling allows consumers to see the levels of key nutrients in foods; nevertheless more research is needed to assess how people use the different food labelling systems in real-life contexts. While policy changes including legislation and regulation can play an important role in changing behaviour, individuals need more assistance, education, and tools to help them to increase their personal responsibility for their health particularly with respect to diet

From the SAIN,LIM system to the SENS algorithm: a review of a French approach of nutrient profiling

Proceedings of The Nutrition Society Summer Meeting 2016 held at University College, Dublin on 11–14 July 2016 Conference on ‘New technology in nutrition research and practice’ Nutrient profiling as a tool to respond to public health needs Uses of nutrient profiling to address public health needs: from regulation to reformulationNutrient profiling aims to classify or rank foods according to their nutritional composition to assist policies aimed at improving the nutritional quality of foods and diets. The present paper reviews a French approach of nutrient profiling by describing the SAIN,LIM system and its evolution from its early draft to the simplified nutrition labelling system (SENS) algorithm. Considered in 2010 by WHO as the 'French model' of nutrient profiling, SAIN,LIM classifies foods into four classes based on two scores: a nutrient density score (NDS) called SAIN and a score of nutrients to limit called LIM, and one threshold on each score. The system was first developed by the French Food Standard Agency in 2008 in response to the European regulation on nutrition and health claims (European Commission (EC) 1924/2006) to determine foods that may be eligible for bearing claims. Recently, the European regulation (EC 1169/2011) on the provision of food information to consumers allowed simplified nutrition labelling to facilitate consumer information and help them make fully informed choices. In that context, the SAIN,LIM was adapted to obtain the SENS algorithm, a system able to rank foods for simplified nutrition labelling. The implementation of the algorithm followed a step-by-step, systematic, transparent and logical process where shortcomings of the SAIN,LIM were addressed by integrating specificities of food categories in the SENS, reducing the number of nutrients, ordering the four classes and introducing European reference intakes. Through the French example, this review shows how an existing nutrient profiling system can be specifically adapted to support public health nutrition policies

A review of total & added sugar intakes and dietary sources in Europe

Public health policies, including in Europe, are considering measures and recommendations to limit the intake of added or free sugars. For such policies to be efficient and monitored, a precise knowledge of the current situation regarding sugar intake in Europe is needed. This review summarizes published or re-analyzed data from 11 representative surveys in Belgium, France, Denmark, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Norway, The Netherlands, Spain and the UK. Relative intakes were higher in children than in adults: total sugars ranged between 15 and 21% of energy intake in adults and between 16 and 26% in children. Added sugars (or non-milk extrinsic sugars (NMES), in the UK) contributed 7 to 11% of total energy intake in adults and represented a higher proportion of children's energy intake (11 to 17%). Educational level did not significantly affect intakes of total or added sugars in France and the Netherlands. Sweet products (e.g. confectionery, chocolates, cakes and biscuits, sugar, and jam) were major contributors to total sugars intake in all countries, genders and age groups, followed by fruits, beverages and dairy products. Fruits contributed more and beverages contributed less to adults' total sugars intakes than to children's. Added sugars were provided mostly by sweet products (36 to 61% in adults and 40 to 50% in children), followed by beverages (12 to 31% in adults and 20 to 34% in children, fruit juices excluded), then by dairy products (4 to 15% in adults and 6 to 18% in children). Caution is needed, however, as survey methodologies differ on important items such as dietary data collection, food composition tables or estimation of added sugars. Cross-country comparisons are thus not meaningful and overall information might thus not be robust enough to provide a solid basis for implementation of policy measures. Data nevertheless confirm that intakes of total and added sugars are high in the European countries considered, especially in children, and point to sweet products and beverages as the major contributors to added sugar intakes.</p

La biodisponibilite des carotenoides est d'autant plus forte qu'ils sont plus polaires. Etude chez la truite

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Aging decreases the abundance of retinoic acid (RAR) and triiodothyronine (TR) nuclear receptor mRNA in rat brain: effect of the administration of retinoids

International audienceAging is accompanied by troubles resulting from changes in hormonal and nutritional status. Therefore, the abundance of mRNA coding for triiodothyronine (TR) and retinoic acid (RA) nuclear receptors was studied in the brain of young, adult and aged (2.5, 6 and 24 months, respectively) rats. In the brain of aged rats, there was a lower abundance of TR and RAR mRNA and a lower activity of tissue transglutaminase (tTG), an enzyme the gene of which is a target for retinoids. Administration of RA in these rats restored TR and RAR mRNA and the activity of tTG in the brain. The importance of these observations to the function of the aged brain is discussed

La biodisponibilite des carotenoides est d'autant plus forte qu'ils sont plus polaires. Etude chez la truite

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Lipid peroxidation and antioxidant status in experimental diabetes

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Aging decreases retinoic acid and triiodothyronine nuclear expression in rat liver: exogenous retinol and retinoic acid differentially modulate this decreased expression

International audienceThe expression of nuclear receptors of retinoic acid (RAR) and triiodothyronine (TR) was analyzed in the liver of rats aged 2.5 (young), 6 (adult) and 24 (aged) months. In aged rats, decreased binding properties, binding capacity (Cmax) and affinity (Ka), of nuclear receptors were observed. This resulted, at least in part, from decreased transcription of receptor genes in that the amount of their mRNA also decreased. Moreover, the activity of malic enzyme (ME) and tissue transglutaminase (tTG), whose genes are TR and RAR responsive, respectively, was reduced in aged rats. These results are in agreement with the decreased binding capacity of these receptors. An inducer-related increase of RAR and TR expression was observed 24 h after a single dose of retinoic acid administration (5 mg/kg), while retinol administration (retinyl palmitate, 13 mg/kg) was without incidence on nuclear receptor expression in aged rats

Simple method for clinical determination of 13 carotenoids in human plasma using an isocratic high-performance liquid chromatographic method

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