Even Small Indulgences in Junk Food can Negatively Affect Health

A new study conducted by researchers at University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) suggests that indulging in even small amounts of junk food could lead to significant changes in gene expression which can negatively impact physiology and health.

A.J. Marian Walhout, PhD, co-director of the Program in Systems Biology and professor of molecular medicine at UMMS, and team described how metabolism and physiology are connected to diet.

Using C. elegans, a transparent roundworm often used as a model organism in genetic studies, Dr. Walhout and colleagues observed how different diets produce differences in gene expression in the worm that can then be linked to crucial physiological changes.

Walhout said, "Worms fed a natural diet of Comamonas bacteria have fewer offspring, live shorter and develop faster compared to worms fed the standard laboratory diet of E. coli bacteria."

Walhout and colleagues identified at least 87 changes in C. elegans gene expression between the two diets. Surprisingly, these changes were independent of the TOR and insulin signaling pathways, gene expression programs typically active in nutritional control. Instead, the changes occur, at least in part, in a regulator that controls molting, a gene program that determines development and growth in the worm.

This connection provided one of the critical links between diet, gene expression and physiology detailed in "Diet-induced Development Acceleration Independent of TOR and Insulin in C. elegans."

Strikingly, Walhout and colleagues observed that even when fed a small amount of the Comamonas bacteria in a diet otherwise comprised of E. coli bacteria, C. elegans exhibited dramatic changes in gene expression and physiology. These results provide the tantalizing possibility that different diets are not "healthy" or "unhealthy" but that specific quantities of certain foods may be optimal under different conditions and for promoting different physiological outcomes.

"It's just as true that a small amount of a 'healthy' food in an otherwise unhealthy diet could elicit a beneficial change in gene expression that could have profound physiological effects," said Walhout.

Additional research by the Walhout Lab further explored the possibility of using C. elegans as a model system to answer complex questions about disease and dietary treatment in humans.

Detailed in the "Integration of Metabolic and Gene Regulatory Networks Modulates the C. elegans Dietary Response," Walhout and colleagues found that disrupting gene expression involved with C. elegans metabolism lead to metabolic imbalances that interfered with the animal's dietary response; a result that may have a direct correlation to the treatment of a class of human genetic diseases.

According to Dr. Walhout, it may be possible to use this genetic regulatory network in C. elegans to compare how certain dietary regimens can be used to mitigate these metabolic diseases. It may also be used to screen for drugs or other small molecules that can produce the same results as dietary treatments.

Though Walhout and colleagues started out asking a fundamental dietary question in the worm, what they got was an answer directly related to disease and treatment in humans, thus establishing C. elegans as a model system for elucidating the mechanisms for dietary responses, inborn metabolic diseases and the connections between them.

The findings are described in a pair of papers published in Cell.

Ban on smokeless tobacco products remains ineffective in Ambala

Ambala, April 1
A complete ban on manufacturing, storage, distribution and sale of gutkha and other tobacco products imposed by the state government in July, last year, has hardly proved to be a deterrent for those involved in the trade.

The state government had issued strict instructions to the officials to implement and enforce a blanket ban on manufacture, stock, sale and use of all tobacco products in the state. The ban was imposed under the Food Safety and Standard Act of 2006. However, the sale of gutkha and other tobacco products still goes on unabated and these products can easily be bought at small vends operating on streets and outside the Ambala railway station.

Ironically, while the ban failed to bring down the sale of tobacco products, it helped sellers of these products earn handsome profit as the cost of one pouch of gutkha rose by almost five times after the ban. With the gutkha lovers not hesitating from paying dearer prices to get their daily dose of tobacco, the business seems to be flourishing like never before.

The officials, however, maintain that strict action was taken against the defaulters in the cases that were brought to their notice, but the reality is far from it. Balbir Singh, a local resident, said the officials concerned had failed to conduct regular surprise checks to keep a tab on the sale and purchase of gutkha. “If they had done so, there would have been no sale of any tobacco products in the district,” he said.

He said it was not without a reason that the country was topping the list of smokeless tobacco users in the world with nearly 83 per cent consumers.

Local retailers in the city said the ban had resulted in black marketing of the tobacco products and there had been no reduction in its use. One of the retailers, on the condition of anonymity, said the wholesalers were providing them with tobacco products at an inflated rate on the pretext that exorbitant prices was being paid to top officials to keep the business running.

While some retailers do not display the product for the fear of being caught by the authorities, there are others who show no fear of the law and display the tobacco products (see picture) openly. Another retailer said he continued to sell around 2,000 to 2,500 packs of gutkha per day and there was hardly any shortage of the stock.

Why say 'no' to GM

There are labelling requirement in several countries which gives the consumers information on whether the food item is made using genetically modified plant genes or not.  Some countries require that the commodities which have transgenic protein traces can be labelled as they had been genetically modified in origin.Some countries require that all genetically modified products (if GM origin elements had been used in production process) have to be labelled. This is to protect the consumer in making an informed choice. Genetically modified genes cause kidney damage and liver damage and cause high mortality rates. Genetically modified plants are toxic as they were designed to keep away insects. 

What is GM? Genes of plant species are genetically modified by crossing with another species to make a stronger species which is resistant to insects(pests) and plant diseases. This increases the toxicity of the genetically modifying the plant several times. The genetically modified plant becomes more and more robust, and gives bigger harvests. But the consumers suffer because of the toxicity of the products.Why were such foods made? Super bugs invaded big farms and to control them became impossible. To combat the super bugs(like locusts) monster seeds were invented by genetic engineering. And thus came GM. Instead of this we could have introduced insect eating birds and it would have been the ecologically correct  alternative. 

In India, only one GM crop has been is allowed to grow and that is 'bt cotton'. It was allowed as cotton is not used in food (as thought previously). But the cotton seed is used to extract oil which is combined in making other edible oils. And cotton seed cakes are fed to dairy animal(cows) whose milk has toxic content of the GM crops. Now legislation has to be made for this. Whether we label such products as GM or not, they have GM elements in them. Even if the consumer is given choice, is the consumer knowledgeable enough to understand what is GM ? It is up to the government to ban it, as it can cause damage to the health of the consumer. Now we are leaving up to the farmer to make the choice of using the genetically modified seeds or not. Farmers should debate on whether to use GM technology. The farming community may not be knowledgeable enough to understand the damage that GM can cause. Even consumers do not know "what is GM", whather we labe or not. There is no awareness of this. Imported pickles also have corn, canola, soybean which are grown from GM seeds, and these are used in exotic urban restaurants in India.Unknowingly people are consuming GM products, without realising the potential hazards.

As it is, soy oil (which is imported) has GM elements in it. In 2006, we tried to amend the Prevention of Food Adulteration(PFA) Act of 1955 to label GM mandatory. Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006 was dealt under Food Safety and Standards Authority of India(FSSAI) Bu still labelling of GM foods has not been done. After this came Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India Bill which had said that all living modified organisms and foods derived from them had to be dealt by them. But even then GM remained under FSSAI. Food Safety Standards Regulation Act of 2011 covered even irradiated food which had to be labelled but GM was not covered(therefore labelling was not mandatory) When issue of 'bt brinjal' was discussed, it has been banned in India, but what about issue of  'bt cotton'? Whether banned or not GM has entered our food chain by' bt cotton'. Milk products like yogurt(curd)  butter, cheese, chocolate, cakes and milk sweets have GM elements in them. We have consumed them now. It is irreversible now, we cannot reverse food chain. We must do ecological farming for surviving now,so that native species can be grown and gene pool is protected. Only then India will have a future.We must learn more about the genetically modified genes and modify our laws to ban them.

Dinamalar

Students tackle milk safety

The safety of milk sold in developing nations, are topics of study for this year's recipients of the State Hygienic Laboratory's Student Mentorship award.
The Student Mentorship Program teams laboratory scientists with junior high and high school students who need lab assistance in completing a science project. Through previous mentorship projects, students measured levels of estrogen and other pharmaceuticals in ground water, tested for pesticides in plant roots, and assessed the amount of bacteria on toothbrushes.
This year's recipients worked with Hygienic Lab staff in Coralville, Ankeny and Lakeside Lab to complete projects that may benefit people in Iowa and around the world. The program also was supported by the Iowa local section of the American Chemical Society and the Friends of Lakeside Laboratory.
A safe system to remove dangerous adulterants
Ankita Chatterjee, an eighth-grader at Callanan Middle School, Des Moines, hopes to improve the safety of milk in developing nations where contamination from chlorine, iron and pesticides is a common problem.

Ankita Chatterjee with mentor Megan Mekoli, Ph.D.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India reported last year that more than two-thirds of milk in the country was adulterated by a variety of substances, including detergents.
Last year, Chatterjee designed a simple method to detect contaminants in milk. She applied to the Student Mentorship program for laboratory support to expand her method to include detection of melamine.
Melamine is an organic compound, used to create fire-resistant materials, that is sometimes used illegally to falsely elevate protein content in foods. In 2008, melamine-tainted infant milk sickened thousands of babies and spurred a World Health Organization investigation.
"I would like to experiment with various substances that could either filter or absorb the majority of these contaminants," Chatterjee said in her Student Mentorship application. "My ultimate goal is to create a low-cost, effective, and safe system to remove dangerous adulterants, including melamine, which could be utilized in developing countries."
Chatterjee's lead mentor is Megan Mekoli, Ph.D.

Nothing wrong with import of arecanut, says traders’ body

Mangalore, April 1:  

Refuting charges of importing arecanut at zero import duty, a trade association has said that Customs duty to the tune of Rs 245 crore was paid during 2012-13.

The Kolkata-based Calcutta Kirana (Spices) Merchants’ Association was reacting, in an e-mail sent to Business Line, on a report of 50 MPs seeking ban on arecanut import.

Kamalesh Kumar Gupta, Secretary of the association, said that an estimated import duty of approximately Rs 245 crore has been paid by importers at Petrapole land customs station during 2012-13 for imports of arecanut under SAPTA (SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangement).

He said that “not a single kg of arecanut has been imported in India from Bangladesh under the SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Area) agreement.”

In one of the press conferences in February, K. Padmanabha, President of Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative (Campco) Ltd, said that arecanut was being imported into India from Bangladesh, taking advantage of SAFTA.

On the allegations of MPs memorandum to the Union Agriculture Minister that inferior quality of arecanut was imported, Gupta said that the Centre has established the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, and has mandated it to draft rules for import of all food products.

“Authorised officers from plant quarantine, in presence of Customs officers, collect samples of the consignments of arecanut imported and send them for laboratory testing to the Central Food Laboratory and the Export Inspection Agency before clearing them for entry for consumption. Therefore, the claim of inferior quality of products flooding the markets does not stand,” he said.

On the demand MPs that minimum tariff price for import of arecanut be fixed at Rs 125 a kg, Gupta said that the cost of cultivation is a variable factor depending upon several things such as cost of land, fertilisers, labour, electricity, interest rates for loans to farmers, size of farm land, climatic conditions, the socio-economic living status of farming community, etc.

“Therefore, if the cost of cultivation of arecanut by farmers of the southern States is high as a result of culmination of these above-mentioned factors, the farming community elsewhere cannot be blamed,” he said.

Drive to ban gutkha, pan masala kickstarts

VARANASI: The drive to put a complete check on the sale of gutkha will be visible in the district from today. Speaking to TOI, district magistrate Prajal Yadav said, "The process of constituting teams of officials to carry out this drive effectively has started. Apart from officers of district administration, officials and staff of other departments including food, safety and drugs administration and police will be responsible for making this drive a success."

In October 2012, office of commissioner of food safety and drug administration department, UP, had issued a notification which said, "Whereas, Regulation 2.3.4 of the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on sales) Regulation, 2011, made by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, in exercise of the powers conferred by clauses of Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 (Central Act 34 of 2006), prohibits articles of food in which tobacco and nicotine are used as ingredients as they are injurious to health."

In pursuance of the same regulation, manufacturing, storage, sale and distribution of gutkha and pan masala, containing tobacco or nicotine as ingredients, by whatsoever name it is available in the market, was prohibited in UP in the interest of public health from April 1, said the notification. It was expected that the gutkha and pan masala would be unavailable from betel kiosks and other shops from Monday morning but ground reality remained totally contrary to the notification of food safety and drug administration department.

When some staff members of this department's local office were contacted, they failed to tell the reasons for turning a blind eye to the order. Though, some of them revealed that guktha and pan masala manufacturers had taken shelter from court against this order. But now, the DM has made it clear that these manufacturers and traders have not got any stay order or relief from any court so far, hence, the drive is going to launch with immediate effect to ensure compliance of the notification issued in October 2012.