News summary

Health committee report published

The Commons Health Select Committee has attacked the government, food industry and advertisers for failing to act to stop rising levels of obesity. Its report, which makes 69 conclusions and recommendations, calls, among other things, for a voluntary ban by the food industry on TV junk food ads. Other ideas range from a national food survey to legislation for the “traffic light” food labelling system. The report also calls for the NHS to make obesity services more of a priority, citing the “desperate inadequacy” of treatment and support for obese children.

Committee chairman David Hinchliffe says, “We have lost the plot with public health perhaps for the last 30 years. Our inquiry is a wake-up call for government to show that the causes of ill health need to be tackled by many departments, not just health. It is simply unacceptable that sports and education ministers should have endorsed initiatives to supply schools with sporting equipment or books but which required children to buy Cadbury’s chocolate or Walker’s crisps.”
(BBC News Online)
(www.bbc.co.uk)

Rare steak “is safe”

Researchers at the University of Nottingham say eating rare steak will not cause food poisoning if kitchen utensils used in its preparation are kept clean. They infected samples of meat with E.coli, and found that the bacteria survived only where the steaks were touched during cooking by utensils that were not cleaned after being used on raw meat. The study was carried out for the Meat and Livestock Commission, which says there should no longer be any doubt over the safety of rare steak – a claim supported by advice issued by the Food Standards Agency.
(BBC News Online)
www.bbc.co.uk

Call for ban on artificial colourings

Artificial food colourings should be banned in the interest of public health, according to researchers at Southampton University. They say the removal of the substances from foods could cut hyperactivity rates in young children, and are extending their research to see whether an additive-free diet would have a positive effect in older children too. Professor John Warner says, “I want this to address a fundamental issue which is ‘Why do we have to have coloured food?’ It’s absolutely imperative to have follow up studies because we are not now just talking about a population of children with a particular problem; we are saying there’s a potential for this to be an effect on all children.”
(BBC News Online)
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WHO takes on food issues

The World Health Organization has formally adopted a global strategy to combat bad diet and exercise habits. The plan offers a blueprint for countries trying to develop policies that make it easier for people to eat healthier food and take more exercise. It sets out recommendations such as the reduction of sugar, fat and salt in processed food, the control of food marketing to children and of health claims on packaging, and more comprehensive nutrition labelling and health education.
(San Francisco Chronicle Online)
www.sfgate.com

Zinc “beneficial in pneumonia”

Treatment with zinc seems to speed recovery from severe pneumonia in children who live in areas where zinc deficiency is common, according to a study in Bangladesh. Dr W Abdullah Brooks, at the Centre for Health and Population Research in Dhaka, attributes the results to the effects of zinc in enhancing the immune response and reducing lung inflammation.
(Reuters Health Online)
www.reutershealth.com

Eating disorders and suicide risk

A new study suggests that women who binge and purge may be at particular risk of committing suicide. Swiss scientists have found that in a study group of 288 women with an eating disorder, those who purged were more likely to have attempted suicide in the past. They also found that women with anorexia are more likely than those with bulimia to contemplate suicide. The researchers, at the University Hospital Zurich, say an understanding of which eating disorder patients are most likely to attempt suicide will help high-risk individuals get the treatment they need.
(Reuters Health Online)
www.reutershealth.com

Call for ban on trans fat source

A consumer group in the US has asked the government there to bar restaurants and food manufacturers from using a type of fat found in pastries, biscuits, and deep-fried foods. Partially hydrogenated vegetable oil is the main source of trans fat in the American diet, and the Center for Science in the Public Interest says its removal from the food supply could save between 11,000 and 30,000 lives each year. Food industry groups say some companies have already reduced or replaced trans fats in their products, and others are looking for alternatives. Stephanie Childs, for the Grocery Manufacturers of America, says the challenge is to find a substitute that does not raise the level of saturated fat, another major contributor to high cholesterol.
(Reuters Health Online)
www.reutershealth.com

Message getting through?

A bid by a Labour MP to stop the marketing of unhealthy foods to children seems to coincide with figures suggesting that the public is heeding warnings on salty snacks. Market analysts TNS say UK sales of the products have dropped. Trade magazine The Grocer, which published the figures, says, “Obesity has been one of the hottest media issues of the past year and it appears that the acres of newsprint covering government scare tactics to shock the nation into slimming may finally be taking its toll in the impulse [buying] arena.” Debra Shipley?s Children’s Food Bill, which has recently been introduced in the House of Commons, is backed by more than 100 organisations, including the British Heart Foundation and the National Union of Teachers.
(BBC News Online)
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Atkins diet “is a short-term measure”

The Atkins diet outperforms traditional low-fat diets in the short term but offers no weight-loss advantage after a year, according to two studies. One, funded by the Robert C Atkins Foundation ? a separate organisation from Atkins Nutritionals, which sells the diet products ? was carried out at Duke University in North Carolina. The lead researcher, Dr William Yancy concludes that at the end of a year the diet “negates what happens at six months”. The second study, funded by the US government and conducted at a Philadelphia hospital, found that after a year the two groups of patients under scrutiny (on a low-carbohydrate or low-fat diet) showed equal weight loss.
(San Francisco Chronicle Online)
www.sfgate.com