As global food demand is poised for unprecedented growth, Australian agriculture can and will play a significant role in meeting demands, according to an Australian expert in international agriculture and economics. Chris Barrett is Professor of Applied Economics and Management and International Professor of Agriculture, and Professor of Economics, at Cornell University. Speaking at a public lecture at the University of Sydney yesterday, Professor Barrett said he believes that, as a surplus producer... ...Read more »

Coca-Cola Amatil Limited (CCA) has announced new deals with global brewers Grupo Modelo, Carlsberg and Molson Coors to distribute for Fiji, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Islands. Publicly-listed Coca-Cola Amatil bottles and distributes The Coca-Cola Company soft drinks and other beverages in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. In a shareholder trading update, Coca-Cola Amatil’s Group Managing Director, Terry Davis, said the company is confident about developing... ...Read more »

Taxes on unhealthy ‘food and drinks’ would need to be at least 20 per cent to have a significant effect on diet-related conditions such as obesity and heart disease, according to a new report by UK academic experts. Dr Oliver Mytton and colleagues at the University of Oxford, in England, examined existing evidence on the health effects of food taxes. Their views come ahead of the 65th World Health Assembly taking place in Geneva on 21-26 May 2012 where prevention and control of non-communicable... ...Read more »

A new study by scientists at the University California Los Angeles (UCLA) has found that a diet high in fructose can hamper memory and learning in lab rats. However, according to the same study, omega-3 fatty acids can counteract this disruption in the animals. The peer-reviewed Journal of Physiology published the findings in its 15 May 2012 edition. While earlier research studies had indicated how fructose harms the body through its role in diabetes, obesity and fatty liver. The researchers from... ...Read more »

The findings of a new Swedish study, published this week, suggest that a diet high in saturated fatty acids could have a better effect on blood sugar levels and blood lipids than previously thought. Results of the two-year dietary study, led by Hans Guldbrand, general practitioner, and Fredrik Nyström, professor of Internal Medicine at Linköping University are being published in the prestigious journal Diabetologia. In the study, 61 patients with Type 2, or adult-onset diabetes were put into two... ...Read more »

An expected rise in prosperity, purchasing power and desire for packaged liquid dairy products among  low-income consumers in developing countries is the Australian dairy industry’s next big growth opportunity, according to new research from food processing and packaging company Tetra Pak. According to Tetra Pak’s latest  Dairy Index study, consumption by low-income consumers in developing markets is forecast to increase from about 70 billion litres in 2011 to almost 80 billion litres in... ...Read more »

The third tranche of the Australian Government’s anti-dumping legislation through the  was passed by the House of Representatives yesterday (9 May 2012). Dumping occurs when goods are imported into the domestic market at below production cost or through unlawful subsidies from other foreign governments. Australian food manufacturers are hit hard by these practices. The Government’s purpose in reforming Australia’s anti-dumping system is to improve access to the anti-dumping system for Australian... ...Read more »

A new US study, published this week, has found that fetal exposure to the plastic additive bisphenol A, or BpA, alters mammary gland development in primates. The research appears in the latest Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences. Hunt and Tufts University School of Medicine researchers Ana Soto and Carlos Sonnenschein co-designed the study with Catherine VandeVoort at the University of California. BpA is one of the world’s highest production volume chemicals. The global population... ...Read more »

New research from Australia suggests that using a targeted high-risk prevention strategy to tackle obesity could avert around 220,000 cases of type 2 diabetes in the country by 2025. The research is by Professor Jonathan Shaw, Associate Professor Anna Peeters, Dr Kathryn Backholer, and Associate Professor Dianna Magliano, Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Australia, and colleagues. Professor Shaw and colleagues are presenting the research findings today at the 19th European Congress... ...Read more »

New research from the University of Sydney, Australia, has found that weight loss intervention in obese women undergoing fertility treatment substantially improves pregnancy rates. The study is being presented today at the 19th European Congress on Obesity in Lyon, France (the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Obesity). According to lead author, Dr Kyra Sim of The Boden Institute at the University of Sydney, the study is the first randomised controlled trial that brings... ...Read more »