Caffeine has positive effect on memory, Johns Hopkins researchers say

Whether it's a mug full of fresh-brewed coffee, a cup of hot tea, or a can of soda, consuming caffeine is the energy boost of choice for millions who want to wake up or stay up.
Now, researchers at Johns Hopkins University have found another use for the popular stimulant: memory enhancer. Michael Yassa, an assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences at Johns Hopkins, and his team of scientists found that caffeine has a positive effect on our long-term memory. Their research, published by the journal Nature Neuroscience, shows that caffeine enhances certain memories at least up to 24 hours after it is consumed.
"We've always known that caffeine has cognitive-enhancing effects, but its particular effects on strengthening memories and making them resistant to forgetting has never been examined in detail in humans," said Yassa, senior author of the paper. "We report for the first time a specific effect of caffeine on reducing forgetting over 24 hours."
The Johns Hopkins researchers conducted a double-blind trial in which participants who did not regularly eat or drink caffeinated products received either a placebo or a 200-milligram caffeine tablet five minutes after studying a series of images. Salivary samples were taken from the participants before they took the tablets to measure their caffeine levels. Samples were taken again one, three, and 24 hours afterwards.
The next day, both groups were tested on their ability to recognize images from the previous day's study session. On the test, some of the visuals were the same as those from the day before, some were new additions, and some were similar but not the same.
More members of the caffeine group were able to correctly identify the new images as "similar" to previously viewed images rather than erroneously citing them as the same.
The brain's ability to recognize the difference between two similar but not identical items, called pattern separation, reflects a deeper level of memory retention, the researchers said.
"If we used a standard recognition memory task without these tricky similar items, we would have found no effect of caffeine," Yassa said. "However, using these items requires the brain to make a more difficult discrimination—what we call pattern separation, which seems to be the process that is enhanced by caffeine in our case."
The memory center in the human brain is the hippocampus, a seahorse-shaped area in the medial temporal lobe of the brain. The hippocampus is the switchbox for all short- and long-term memories. Most research done on memory—the effects of concussions in athletes, of war-related head injuries, and of dementia in the aging population—focuses on this area of the brain.
Until now, caffeine's effects on long-term memory had not been examined in detail. Of the few studies done, the general consensus was that caffeine has little or no effect on long-term memory retention.
The research is different from prior experiments because the subjects took the caffeine tablets only after they had viewed and attempted to memorize the images.
"Almost all prior studies administered caffeine before the study session, so if there is an enhancement, it's not clear if it's due to caffeine's effects on attention, vigilance, focus, or other factors," Yassa said. "By administering caffeine after the experiment, we rule out all of these effects and make sure that if there is an enhancement, it's due to memory and nothing else."
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 90 percent of people worldwide consume caffeine in one form or another. In the United States, 80 percent of adults consume caffeine every day. The average adult has an intake of about 200 milligrams—the same amount used in the Yassa study—or roughly one cup of strong coffee per day.
Yassa's team completed the research at Johns Hopkins before his lab moved to the University of California, Irvine, at the start of this year.
"The next step for us is to figure out the brain mechanisms underlying this enhancement," Yassa said. "We can use brain-imaging techniques to address these questions. We also know that caffeine is associated with healthy longevity and may have some protective effects from cognitive decline like Alzheimer's disease. These are certainly important questions for the future."
The lead author of the paper is Daniel Borota, an undergraduate student in Yassa's lab who received a Provost's Undergraduate Research Award from Johns Hopkins to conduct the study.
Additional authors, all from Johns Hopkins, are: Elizabeth Murray, a research program coordinator in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences; John Toscano, professor in the Department of Chemistry; Gizem Kecili, a graduate student also in the Chemistry Department; and Allen Chang, Maria Ly, and Joseph Watabe, all undergraduates in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.
This research was supported by grants number P50 AG05146 and R01 AG034613 from the National Institute on Aging as well as CHE-1213438 from the National Science Foundation.
Johns Hopkins University

Sugar is the new tobacco” says expert
Professor Simon Capewell, from the University’s Institute of Psychology, Health and Society is part of a campaign, `Action on Sugar’, aimed at reducing the amount of added sugar in food and soft drinks to help tackle the obesity epidemic.
Professor Capewell is one of a number of leading health experts from around the world to support the campaign. Experts want to make the public more aware of the damage that refined sugars have on our health, and to encourage shoppers to read the labels on food and drink products in order to avoid items with high levels of hidden sugars.
Campaign
The campaign will also highlight children as a particularly vulnerable group who are targeted by the marketing of high calorie snacks and drinks by the food industry.
Children’s health is at particularly risk from high sugar intake, both in terms of obesity and diabetes, and also dental disease (caries).
The major initial focus of the Action on Sugar group is to convince the food and drink industry and the Department of Health to adopt a reformulation programme to gradually reduce the amount of sugar added to all of their products.
Successful
A similar programme to reduce salt intake, pioneered by Consensus Action on Salt and Health, was very successful. It resulted in 20% to 40% less salt in most supermarket products, and an overall 15% reduction in individual’s salt consumption.
‘Action on Sugar’ calculates that a 20% to 30% reduction in sugar added by the food industry over a three to five years period is easily achievable.
This would result in a valuable reduction in calorie intake, averaging approximately 100 fewer calories per day, and even more in people particularly prone to obesity.
Simon Capewell , Professor of Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Liverpool, UK, said: “Sugar is the new tobacco. Everywhere, sugary drinks and junk foods are now pressed on unsuspecting parents and children by a cynical industry focused on profit not health.”
“The obesity epidemic is already generating a huge burden of disease and death. Obesity and diabetes already costs the UK over £5billion every year. Without regulation, these costs will exceed £50billion by 2050”. “The public deserves effective action now”.
To find out more about `Action on Sugar’ visit: www.actiononsugar.org.
Liverpool University

Eating slowly may cut meal size
People may consume fewer calories over the course of a meal when they eat slowly, a new study suggests. But it's not clear if that strategy works as well for people who are overweight or obese as it does for their slimmer peers.
Past studies have come to mixed conclusions on whether how fast people eat affects how much they end up eating, Meena Shah said. She led the new research at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.
"In addition most of the previous studies have not compared the effect of eating speed on energy intake in normal weight or overweight and obese subjects," Shah told Reuters Health in an email.
Her team's study included 35 normal weight people and 35 who were overweight or obese.
All of the participants were asked to eat the same vegetarian pasta meal on two different occasions. The first time around, people were asked to eat either quickly or slowly, based on a random assignment. A few days later, they were given the opposite instructions.
On fast eating days, the researchers asked participants to eat as quickly as possible without feeling uncomfortable - as though they had time constraints. They told them to take large bites, chew quickly, not put utensils down and not pause between bites.
On the slow eating days, they told people to eat as if they had no time constraints. They instructed them to take small bites, chew thoroughly and put their fork or spoon down and pause between bites.
The researchers secretly measured how much food participants ate by weighing their plates after meals.
Normal weight participants consumed 88 fewer calories during the meal when they ate slowly, on average - 805 calories compared to 893 calories during the faster meal. That was a clear change.
Overweight and obese people consumed 58 fewer calories during the slow meal - 667 calories versus 725 calories. But that difference could have been due to chance, according to findings published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Shah believes the overweight and obese participants may have eaten less because they felt self-conscious during the study.
Participants in both groups drank more water when they ate slowly and felt less hungry at the end of the meal.
"This study provides new data that supports the hypothesis that how you eat may have an effect on appetite and influence body weight," James Hollis told Reuters Health in an email.
Hollis, from Iowa State University in Ames, was not part of the new research.
"This is an interesting study and any method that reduces food intake by 8-10 percent at a single meal would be useful," he said. But more studies are needed to show whether eating slowly could help people manage their weight, Hollis said. His own recent report published in the same journal found people tended to eat less when they were instructed to chew more before swallowing.
"It has not been adequately determined how slow is slow enough or what is the minimum reduction in eating speed required to have an effect on food intake," Hollis said.
He said it's also not clear if all of the techniques - chewing slowly and more times and taking more pauses during meals - have the same effect on how much people eat.
"I would recommend slowing the speed of eating because it may reduce the amount of food consumed as well as lead to a greater degree of fullness or less hunger later on. It is not necessary to time the meal, though," Shah said.
"Eating in my opinion should be an enjoyable experience without having to check the time," she said.
SOURCE: bit.ly/19X8gqo Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, online January 2, 2014.
Reuters

Several forms of vitamin E protect against memory disorders
Elderly people with high serum vitamin E levels are less likely to suffer from memory disorders than their peers with lower levels, according to a study published recently in Experimental Gerontology. According to the researchers, various forms of vitamin E seem to play a role in memory processes. The study was carried out in cooperation between the University of Eastern Finland, the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare, Karolinska Institutet, and the University of Perugia.
Studies investigating the link between vitamin E and memory disorders have usually focused on a single form of vitamin E, namely α-tocopherol, which is also used in vitamin E supplements. However, vitamin E exists in eight different natural forms, tocopherols and tocotrienols, all of which have antioxidant properties.
This recently published study comprises a sample of 140 over 65-year-old Finnish persons with no memory impairment at the onset of the study. During the eight-year follow-up, it was discovered that higher total serum levels of vitamin E, and higher levels of γ-tocopherol, β-tocotrienol and total tocotrienols in particular, seemed to protect against memory disorders. According to the researchers, the results show that the entire vitamin E family plays a role in memory processes. Accordingly, measuring the levels of vitamin E from serum is the most reliable way to determine whether they are sufficiently high.
The study comprised part of the more extensive Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging, and Dementia (CAIDE) study, which focuses on the association between the risk factors of cardiovascular diseases and memory disorders.
University of Eastern Finland

Dietary fibre protects against asthma
The Western diet probably has more to do with the asthma epidemic than has been assumed so far because developing asthma is related to the amount of fruit and vegetables consumed. Gut bacteria ferment the dietary fibres contained in them and fatty acids enter the blood as a result, influencing the immune response in the lungs. This has been shown by a research project funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).
In the West, an increasing number of people have developed allergic asthma in the past fifty years. But dietary habits have also changed during the same period: fruit and vegetables are playing an ever smaller role in people's diets. Now new results suggest that these two developments are not merely simultaneous, they are also causally linked. A team of researchers led by Benjamin Marsland from Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) has shown in experiments with mice (1) that the lack of fermentable fibres in people's diet paves the way for allergic inflammatory reactions in the lungs.

Influence extends to the lungs
Researchers have already known for some time that the microbial diversity in the gut when digesting and fermenting fibres plays a significant role in preventing intestinal cancer. "We are now showing for the first time that the influence of gut bacteria extends much further, namely up to the lungs," says Marsland. His team either put mice on a standard diet with four percent fermentable fibres or gave them low-fibre food with merely 0.3 percent fermentable fibres. This low-fibre food is largely comparable to the Western diet, which contains no more than 0.6 percent fibres on average.
When the researchers exposed the mice to an extract of house dust mites, the mice with the low-fibre food developed a stronger allergic reaction with much more mucus in the lungs than the mice with the standard diet. Conversely, a comparison between mice on a standard diet and mice who received food enriched with fermentable fibres likewise showed that these dietary fibres have a protective influence.
This protection is the result of a multi-level reaction chain, as Marsland's team has now shown. First the fibres reach the intestine, where they are fermented by bacteria and transformed into short-chain fatty acids. These acids then enter the bloodstream and influence the development of immune cells in the bone marrow. Attracted by the extract of house dust mites, these immune cells wander into the lungs, where they eventually trigger a weaker allergic response.

Another reason why fruit and vegetables are good for you
Marsland thinks that the results obtained by his group are clinically relevant not only because the share of plant fibres in Western diets is comparable to the low-fibre food of the mice, but also because the examined aspects of the immune system are virtually indistinguishable in mice and humans. Many questions still remain unanswered. "We plan to conduct clinical studies to find out how a diet enriched with fermentable fibres affects allergies and inflammations." It is already sufficiently clear, however, that here is another reason why one should eat more fruit and vegetables.

References
1. Aurélien Trompette, Eva Gollwitzer, Koshika Yadava, Anke K. Sichelstiel, Norbert Sprenger, Catherine Ngom-Bru, Carine G. Blanchard, Tobias M. Junt, Laurent P. Nicod, Nicola L. Harris, Benjamin J. Marsland (2014). Gut microbiota metabolism of dietary fiber influences allergic airway disease and hematopoiesis through GPR41. Nature Medicine. doi: 10.1038/nm.3444

POSITIVE EFSA CLAIM EVALUATION BASED ON NEW RESEARCH ON CHICORY OLIGOFRUCTOSE TO LOWER BLOOD GLUCOSE RESPONSE 
Following collaboration between BENEO, Cosucra and Sensus, a dossier for an EU Art 13.5 claim was filed that contains new data to show the link between oligofructose and improved blood glucose response after intake. The dossier submitted to EFSA was based on several studies including newly developed science, and shows that oligofructose has a significant part to play in the area of glycaemic control. The application targeted an EU Art 13.5 claim on the contribution of oligofructose to a reduction of post-prandial blood glucose response. EFSA’s positive evaluation allows the approval by the Commission, the Member States and the European Parliament within the health claim procedure. This opens the way for new food and drink applications to benefit both the industry and consumers alike.
www.beneo.com
www.efsa.europa.eu

FRUTAROM HEALTH BU BUILDS INNOVATION ON FOUR FOUNDATIONS
Frutarom Switzerland Ltd., Health BU Switzerland, is making a strategic move in the global nutraceutical and functional food market to better address customers’ needs. The strategy is based on four critical foundations: innovation, natural ingredients, research and responsible sustainability. Holger Riemensperger, General Manager of Frutarom Health BU refers: “We made significant investments in the last year to improve our plants in Switzerland and North Bergen, N.J., to provide high-quality, sustainable natural ingredients [...] We also sponsored several clinical research trials on specific nutraceuticals, plus our R&D team developed several innovative ingredients intended for world-wide launch this year. We are attentive to our customers’ needs and seek for smart ingredient solution to address specific health conditions and market trends in functional food and supplements”.
www.frutaromhealth.com

CHOOZIT^® FNR 1: FOR SPECIALTY CHEESES
DuPont Nutrition & Health were inspired to develop CHOOZIT® FNR 1 – an innovative culture from the DuPont™ Danisco® range that enables authentic, more artisanal flavour development in a variety of specialty cheeses, even in the absence of a rind (FNR stands for Flavour No Rind), while also reducing ripening time and ensuring consistency.
www.danisco.com

LABORATOIRE LESCUYER^® OBTAINS A POSITIVE OPINION FROM EFSA
Getting EFSA recognition is a lengthy process requiring extensive work. EFSA not only represents the highest European authority for food safety but it is also one of the most demanding panels of experts in Nutrition in the world. Hence, a positive opinion from EFSA is equivalent to the very highest scientific recognition at a European level. Laboratoire LESCUYER® has obtained a positive opinion from EFSA1 for a health claim under Article 14 for its product LIMICOL®. It is the first time a dietary supplement has ever received a favourable opinion for such a health claim. This is a real landmark in the European market and makes Laboratoire LESCUYER® a true pioneer in its field. LIMICOL® is, today, the only exclusive patented dietary supplement with efficacy officially recognized by Europe.
www.laboratoire-lescuyer.com

THE ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP AWARD
Frutarom USA Inc. has announced that improvements made at its New Jersey facility resulted in official recognition from the state of New Jersey for environmental achievements. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection ("NJDEP") recognized Frutarom’s North Bergen facility, for “voluntary and proactive measures taken to go beyond compliance in an effort to improve the environment and ensure a sustainable future” and commended the plant with The Environmental Stewardship Award. The award was granted to Frutarom for significant reduction in industrial waste.
www.frutarom.com

DDW ACQUIRES DUPONT™ DANISCO® FOOD COLORINGS
D.D. Williamson (DDW) announces the acquisition of the food colouring product line and related processing equipment from Danisco USA Inc., a part of DuPont Nutrition & Health since 2011. The transaction broadens DDW’s portfolio of natural colour solutions for customers and positions DDW as the largest manufacturer of annatto-based food colourings in North America. The financial terms of this transaction were not disclosed. Ted Nixon, chairman and CEO refers: “This acquisition allows DDW to strengthen its existing offerings for customers around the world […] The larger toolkit will improve DDW’s ability to develop unique colour solutions for applications, one customer at-a-time, and will extend our manufacturing expertise in Wisconsin”.
www.ddwcolour.com

VITAMIN K2 STATUS IN HEALTHY VOLUNTEERS
NattoPharma has announced the publication of a new study performed in collaboration with VitaK BV, the research Institute in Maastricht, Nederland. The study is now published in Food & Function, 2014, xx, 1-6. In the paper it is described that 896 blood samples have been collected from 110 healthy volunteers, 42 children and 68 adults. The samples have been used for measurements of biomarkers reflecting the vitamin K2 status in healthy volunteers by measuring the both circulating dp-ucMGP and ucOC. From the age of 40 years the dp-uc MGP levels at baseline – before any intake of vitamin K2 - gradually increased, pointing to an increased need for vitamin K2 supplement with increasing age. Children had the highest levels of ucOC, also pointing to a vitamin K2 deficiency. The children and adults with the most pronounced vitamin K 2 deficiency gave the highest response s to supplementation with MenaQ7.
http://news.cision.com

NEW CHOCOLATE AND COCOA INNOVATIONS
Barry Callebaut has presented its extended range of compound coatings and diversely flavoured fillings. These specialty offerings are customized solutions for the dairy, confectionery, bakery products as well as ice cream segment. Another technology breakthrough Barry Callebaut will be presenting at the ISM fair in Cologne is its Cocoart™ Collection. The red and purple cocoa powders used as colourings have been obtained by patented cocoa processing (Patent Number WO 2010/093030). This innovation answers to the growing demand for clean labels and is, above all, the opening chapter of a whole new storybook: 100 percent E-number free coloured designs. Sofie De Lathouwer, Marketing Director FM Western Europe explains: "Barry Callebaut is the only player in the market able to produce and offer E-number free designs based on cocoa, printed on transfer sheets or rolls for food applications. Revolutionary element in the collection is the world's first all-natural, e-number free red colour. Therefore the Cocoart Collection™ holds a unique position on the market".
www.barry-callebaut.com

FORTITECH® PREMIXES
DSM has launched Fortitech® Premixes, the company’s Human Nutrition and Health (HNH) custom nutrient premix service. This new service will deliver innovative formulation solutions with unparalleled technical expertise and customer service. Utilizing our 12 state-of-the-art premix facilities, five innovation centres and 40+ sales offices throughout the world, the backbone of this new brand is to not just meet, but exceed customer expectations, along with meeting the highest quality standards within the industry. All Fortitech® Premixes adhere to the criteria set forth in our Quality for Life™ program, which represents our unwavering commitment to quality, reliability, traceability and sustainability. A new logo was developed to build on the global equity of Fortitech’s decades long experience as a custom nutrient premix manufacturer for the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries. The dots which hover over the ‘i’ in the Fortitech® Premixes logo are representative of the growing catalog of nutrients we can provide, as well as our expanded expertise with flavours, sweeteners, colours and stabilizers.
www.fortitechpremixes.com

NEW STUDY ON SUPERBA™ KRILL OIL
Researchers from Aker BioMarine Antarctic AS have announced the acceptance of a new study on Superba™ Krill oil in the journal Nutrition Research. The study is scheduled for publication in early 2014. The study investigated the effects of Superba™ Krill on blood lipids in subjects with borderline high or high triglyceride levels. In terms of design, a total of 300 volunteers were divided into five groups and supplemented with krill oil at either 0.5, 1, 2 or 4 grams per day or placebo (olive oil). The subjects included in the study had blood triglyceride values between 150 and 499 mg/dL. Blood lipids were measured at baseline, 6 weeks and 12 weeks of treatment. Study coordinator Kjetil Berge, PhD, R&D Director, Aker BioMarine Antarctic commented: "This is exciting because it is the biggest krill study conducted in humans to date. We look forward to sharing the full results in the coming weeks".
www.akerbiomarine.com

THE WINNER IS: ZINC CITRATE
Zinc citrate is produced in Jungbunzlauer’s Pernhofen, Austria plant and supplied to food, dietary supplement and pharmaceutical industries worldwide. According to new research published online in The Journal of Nutrition, zinc citrate showed superior absorption compared to zinc oxide and was on pair with the nutritional benchmark zinc gluconate. The randomized, double-blind, three-way cross-over study was led by Rita Wegmüller and Richard Hurrel of the ETH Zurich. The researchers report that median fractional absorption of zinc from zinc citrate was 61.3 percent and was not different to that from zinc gluconate with 60.9 percent, but absorption from zinc oxide was at 49.9 percent significantly lower than from both other supplements (P < 0.01). Interestingly, three subjects had little or no absorption from zinc oxide. This might be explained by the fact that zinc oxide is an insoluble compound which may not be dissolved sufficiently by people with low gastric acid production. The authors conclude that: “Zinc citrate could be a useful compound for zinc supplementation. At the present time, WHO recommends the use of the water-soluble compound zinc sulfate, zinc acetate or zinc gluconate in the form of syrups or dispersible tablets in the management of diarrhoea. Zinc citrate might be a useful addition to this list and be especially suitable for chewable/crushable tablets since it has better sensory properties”.
www.jungbunzlauer.com

HIGH LIPID ALGAL FLOUR DOUBLE WINNER
And the winner is … Roquette’s microalgae High Lipid Algal Flour! This announcement was heard twice during the FIE Innovation Awards ceremony last 19th November in Frankfurt, Messe. Recognised as the most innovative ingredient of the year – taking all categories together, Roquette’s high lipid algal flour had also won the Award for the bakery products category a few minutes earlier.
www.roquette-food.com

NESTLÉ: SOLD ITS WEIGHT MANAGEMENT BUSINESS JENNY CRAIG
Nestlé has announced it has sold its weight management business Jenny Craig in North America and Oceania to a US-based private equity group North Castle Partners. The Jenny Craig business in France is not part of the transaction. The new owners will take over the businesses and offer employment to Jenny Craig staff in North America and Oceania.
www.nestle.com

SVETOL^® VS. WEIGHT
Svetol® is a natural plant extract derived from unroasted premium Robusta coffee beans. Demonstrated in numerous scientific studies, its unique profile reduces intestinal glucose absorption and increases the burning of fat. Naturex’s traditional extraction process ensures a well-balanced chlorogenic acids profile, unlike most GCB extracts on the market that primarily focus on one particular acid. This distinct profile preserves all the active molecules found in coffee and proves to be most effective in clinical studies. Dr. Antoine Bily, R&D Director, Nutrition & Health of Naturex refers: “Our unique process of extraction aims to preserve the plant’s identity while extracting a high concentration of key chlorogenic acids […] Research has shown that these compounds increase the lean/fat body mass ratio by 4 percent and weight loss by 5.7 percent after 60 days of supplementation”.
www.naturex.com

FOOD INGREDIENTS EUROPE BEVERAGE INNOVATION OF THE YEAR AWARD
Tate & Lyle, a global provider of ingredients and solutions to the food, beverage and other industries, has been crowned the winner of the Food Ingredients Europe Beverage Innovation of the Year Award in Frankfurt, for its innovative PROMITOR® Soluble Gluco Fibre.
www.tateandlyle.com

SYMRISE: WINNER OF THE FI EUROPE EXCELLENCE AWARDS
Symrise has received the prize in the category of Sustainability Initiative of the Year of Europe’s biggest industry trade show. The sustainable vanilla commitment in Madagascar was recognized. Heinrich Schaper, President F&N EAME at Symrise refers: “We are very happy that our sustainable vanilla project was selected as winner of the Fi Europe Excellence Awards in the category of Sustainable Initiative of the Year […] We feel especially honoured to receive this distinction in a year that marks the ten-year anniversary of Symrise”.
www.symrise.com

RESISTAID™ BY LONZA
New research demonstrates the ability of ResistAid™, Lonza’s proprietary, arabinogalactan-based immune support ingredient, to increase the antibody response in healthy adults after exposure to the Tetanus vaccine. Conducted at a dosage of 1.5 g/day, the study finds the efficacy of ResistAid™ at a significantly lower dosage, as compared to the 4.5 g/day that was previously found to be effective. The findings were recently published in the October issue of Journal of the American College of Nutrition.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07315724.2013.839907
www.lonzanutrition.com

EXPANDED SAFE USE OF ACACIA (GUM ARABIC) IN FOODS
In response to a petition filed by Nexira, the FDA is amending the food additive regulations to provide for the expanded safe use of acacia (gum arabic) in foods. The rule became effective December 6. The announcement detailed that written regulations now allow for higher maximum usage levels of acacia gum permitted in products, and they also include distinctions allowing for even greater use of acacia gum as a source of fibres. From beverages and some soups, to breakfast cereals, baked goods and more, the FDA is increasing the allowable amount of acacia gum exponentially. As an example of an increase in permitted levels thanks to this new ruling, the maximum level of acacia gum in grain-based bars, such as breakfast bars, granola bars and rice cereal bars is now 35 percent.
www.nexira.com

NATURAL COLOURS FOR PAN COATED SWEETS
Sensient Food Colours Europe announces a new range of high load natural colours for pan coated sweets which achieve bright, attractive colour shades with advantages in coating performance versus standard natural colours. Using natural based colours in coated sweets had presented serious challenges because higher dosing levels were required over synthetic alternatives which negatively affected the efficiency of the coating process. Dr. Andreas Klingenberg, Technical Director, Sensient Colours Europe explains: “Our new innovative range, developed after extensive research, achieves superior coating properties with unusually low dosages compared to other natural alternatives. Now we can offer brilliant natural shades with fewer panning process applications. These advanced high load products create intense and vibrant colour shades with superior stability performance and virtually no flavour impact compared to other natural alternatives”. Extensive application testing has shown that these high loaded and uniquely protected colour formulations successfully pass light and heat stability tests. Attractive shades of yellow, orange, red, pink, green and brown are now available to offer bright solutions for pan-coated sweets.
www.sensient-fce.com

A FALSE ALERT
On August 2, 2013, Fonterra issued an alert concerning a possible contamination of certain ingredients supplied to Danone. Additional tests revealed later on that it was in fact a false alert. This affair illustrates serious failings on Fonterra’s part in applying the quality standards required in the food industry. Danone is terminating its existing supply contract with Fonterra and making any further collaboration contingent on a commitment by its supplier to full transparency and compliance with the cutting-edge food safety procedures applied to all products supplied to Danone. Danone is also initiating proceedings in the New Zealand High Court, as well as arbitration proceedings in Singapore to bring all facts to light and to obtain compensation for the harm it has suffered.
www.danone.com

COFFEE FOR NEEDED FLUID INTAKE
Water is the main ingredient in a cup of coffee. A typical 150 ml cup of coffee corresponds to 10 percent of our average daily water requirement from beverages. And soluble coffee is practically free of calories, with only 2kcal per cup, while brewed coffee, espresso, or coffee mixtures (coffee chicory) have just 5kcal per cup. Coffee can thus contribute in a pleasurable way to your daily needed fluid intake.
www.nescafe.com

DUPONT™ DANISCO^® PROBIOTIC RANGE
A study to investigate the ability of a unique probiotic formulation to reduce potential gastrointestinal side effects of antibiotic treatment has found significant benefits from dietary supplementation with HOWARU® Restore, part of the DuPont™ Danisco® probiotic range from DuPont Nutrition & Health.
www.danisco.com