Food & Nutrition Research Briefs, January 2007
For tomorrow's infants:
Science-based growth charts. |
Better guidelines for determining if a
baby's weight gains are healthful may emerge from studies using an
air-displacement device known as a PEA POD. Weight gains early in
lifeespecially weight gained as fat instead of bone and musclemay
be a predictor of a child's risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, or
other chronic diseases in later years, studies have suggested.
For that reason, investigators at the
ARS-funded Children's Nutrition Research Center, Houston, Texas, want to
develop science-based growth charts for infants. The charts would be based on
estimates of an infant's ratio of fat to lean tissue, called "body
composition." This ratio is thought to be a better indicator of overall health
and growth than height and weight tables.
Right now, there are no body composition
standards for children under 2 years.
The PEA POD device, made by Life
Measurement, Inc., Concord, Calif., may help the researchers gather needed
statistics about changes in the amounts of fat and lean tissue during normal
growth. Until now, scientists had to take measurements with a total of four
different instruments to estimate an infant's body compositiona process
that takes 3 to 4 hours. PEA POD readings take less than 5 minutes and are safe
and painless.
Results from Children's Nutrition
Research Center tests of 54 healthy babies indicate that PEA POD measurements
are accurate to within about 1 percent (American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition, volume 85, pages 90 to 95).
For details, contact:
Kenneth
J. Ellis, (713) 798-7131; USDA-ARS
Children's
Nutrition Research Center, Houston, Texas.
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Middle-schoolers learn label
basics quickly. |
Middle-school children are capable of
understanding nutrition labels printed on the packaging of many foods, a study
at the Children's Nutrition Research Center, Houston, Texas, indicates
(Journal of the American Dietetic Association, volume 106, pages 913 to
916).
After about a half-hour of training with
a small group of their peers, 34 volunteers age 11 to 14 were able to
knowledgeably compare serving sizes, fat content, and other information on
labels of familiar foods such as yogurt, cookies, pizza, and potato chips.
Now researchers want to determine if the
training leads youngsters to make healthier food choices. Better choices are
needed: Obesity rates have doubled in the past two decades for kids in this age
range.
For details, contact:
Keli M. Hawthorne, (713) 798-7085;
USDA-ARS
Children's
Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston,
Texas.
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New
research suggests an intriguing blueberry compound has yet another protective
role. |
Blueberries and grapes that contain a
compound with the tongue-twisting name of pterostilbene (pronounced
TARE-o-STILL-bean) might help the body combat a problematic protein, cytochrome
P450. The protein is associated with increased risk of cancer.
In laboratory tests with liver cells from
mice, pterostilbene suppressed a specific form of the protein
(Xenobiotica, volume 36, pages 269 to 285).
A pterostilbene expert at the
Agricultural Research Service's Natural Products Utilization Research
Laboratory, Oxford, Miss., collaborated in the cytochrome P450 work with
medical researchers based in Poland.
Earlier tests directed by the U.S. team
showed that pterostilbene can help lower cholesterol in laboratory animals, and
that the compound is present in many types of berries.
For details, contact:
Agnes
M. Rimando, (662) 915-1037; USDA-ARS
Natural
Products Utilization Research Laboratory, Oxford, Miss.
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Eating fish such as salmonoften paired with
bagelsmay reduce risk of dementia. |
Some 55- to 88-year-old Framingham Heart
Study volunteers who ate fish regularly were less likely to develop Alzheimer's
disease or other forms of mental deterioration than those who did not eat fish
as often, results from an Agricultural Research Service-funded study suggest.
The findings agree with those from earlier investigations, conducted elsewhere,
which showed an association between a higher incidence of dementia among
individuals who ate lesser amounts of fish.
For the new investigations, researchers
analyzed 9 years' worth of data documenting the food choices of nearly 900 men
and women in the Framingham Heart Study.
Volunteers who reported consuming an
average of three servings a week of "fatty" fish rich in a compound known as
docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, were about half as likely to develop
dementiaover timeas the other participants. Salmon, herring, and
sardines are good sources of DHA.
The researchers, based at the ARS Jean
Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in
Boston, Mass., report the work in a recent issue of Archives of
Neurology (volume 63, pages 1545 to 1550).
For details, contact:
Ernst
J. Schaefer, (617) 556-3100; ARS Jean Mayer USDA
Human
Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston,
Mass.
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No math needed: ARS's new Ground
Beef Calculator determines nutrients for you. |
Nutrients in ground beef, America's most
popular form of beef, are now easier for everyone to size up. That's thanks to
a new "Ground Beef Calculator" that Agricultural Research Service scientists at
the Beltsville (Md.) Human Nutrition Research Center, and their university
coinvestigators in that state and in Wisconsin, have developed. It's online at
ars.usda.gov/nutrientdata/GroundBeefCalculator.
The computerized calculator indicates
levels of protein, vitamins, minerals, and more than two dozen other nutrients
in ground beef that has from 5 to 30 percent fat.
With just a few keystrokes, users can
quickly and easily find out the nutrient profiles of raw ground beef, broiled
or pan-broiled patties, beef crumbles, or a baked loaf.
The scientists based the calculator on
equations that they developed after determining the nutrients in samples of
ground beef products from supermarkets across the county. The equations newly
establish the mathematical relation between fat content and levels of other
nutrients.
For details, contact:
Juliette
C. Howe, (301) 504-0643; USDA-ARS
Beltsville
Human Nutrition Research Center, Beltsville, Md.
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In
tests, E-beam irradiation didn't harm ground beef flavor or aroma.
|
Electron-beam irradiation holds promise
as an alternative technology for preventing ground beef from becoming
contaminated with pathogenic bacteria such as Escherichia coli
O157:H7.
Agricultural Research Service scientists
based at the Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center, Clay Center,
Neb., and their industry colleagues collaborated in tests of e-beam irradiation
of samples from the surface of beef carcassesthe site where pathogens are
most likely to lurk. Irradiation eliminated even extremely high levels of E.
coli O157:H7, the tests showed.
Experiments with e-beam-irradiated ground
beef and stir-fry beef indicated that the technique doesn't alter flavor or
other eating qualities. The research was documented in a 2005 article in the
Journal of Food Protection (volume 68, pages 666 to 672) and highlighted
in a recent, food-safety-focused issue of Agricultural Research (ars.usda.gov/is/ar/archive/oct06/beef1006.htm).
The beef industry is determining whether
today's packinghouses can use the procedure.
For details, contact:
Terrance
M. Arthur, (402) 762-4227;
Roman
L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center, Clay Center, Neb.
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Using cooler water for eggs' second rinse can
reduce pathogens' growth. |
Using cooler-than-usual water for the
second of two washings of shell eggs can help hold pathogens like
Salmonella, Campylobacter, and Listeriain check.
ARS egg quality and safety specialists
and their Auburn University colleagues report that none of the troublesome
microbes showed up inside eggs that had been cleansed and cooled in water at
120° F for the first wash and 75° F for the second, then stored for 8
weeks (Journal of Food Safety, volume 26, pages 264 to 274).
The findings could be useful in updating
guidelines for processing eggs to qualify for the USDA quality shield.
For details, contact:
Deana
R. Jones, (706) 546-3486; USDA-ARS
Richard
B. Russell Agricultural Research Center, Athens, Ga.
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Electron micrograph of
Listeria monocytogenes. Image courtesy Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. |
High-tech tests for detecting Listeria
monocytogenes in food might rely on a proteinisolated by Agricultural
Research Service scientiststhat binds specifically to this pathogen. The
protein, or antibody, is the first reported to uniquely detect L.
monocytogenes in the medley of harmless bacteria commonly found in foods.
Most current antibody-based detection
methods can't do that, according to food safety scientists at the agency's
Eastern Regional Research Center, Wyndmoor, Pa.
The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention estimate that foodborne L. monocytogenes sickens about 2,500
people in the United States every year, killing some 500 of them.
The scientists first described the
promising new antibody in 2004 (Journal of Immunological Methods, volume
289, pages 147 to 155). Their more recent investigations, using the antibody
coated on microscopic magnetic beads, could lead to a quick, accurate,
affordable test for L. monocytogenes. That research is scheduled to be
published in the March 2007 issue of Foodborne Pathogens and
Disease.
For details, contact:
George
C. Paoli, (215) 233-6671; USDA-ARS
Eastern
Regional Research Center, Wyndmoor, Pa.
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A working version of the Gpc-B1 gene
increases key nutrients in bread and pasta wheats. |
Popular breads, breakfast cereals, or
pastas might soon be made with wheat flour that's richer in protein, zinc, and
iron. That's good news for the estimated 36 million Americans who don't get
enough zinc, and the more than 15 million who are short on iron. And though
most people in the United States get enough protein, the same is not true for
millions of other people, worldwide, who could benefit from the
protein-enriched wheat flour.
If a gene known as Gpc-B1 is
working actively inside wheat kernels from which flour is to be made, the gene
can increase the kernel's protein, iron and zinc content by 10 to 15 percent
(Science, volume 314, pages 1298 to 1301).
The gene can do that in bread wheats and
pasta wheats alike, according to Agricultural Research Service scientists at
the Western Regional Research Center, Albany, Calif., and colleagues in Davis,
Calif., and Haifa, Israel.
For details, contact:
Ann E.
Blechl, (510) 559-5716; USDA-ARS
Western
Regional Research Center, Albany, Calif.
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Prunus domestica, "Pacific prune." Image
courtesy National Agricultural Library. |
Large pieces of a plum's pit are unlikely
to escape the scrutiny of a plum-pit detector invented by Agricultural Research
Service engineers. The device boasts an impressive rate of accuracy: False
positives occur less than one percent of the time. And, the detector could
likely be used to check other dried stonefruits as well, such as apricots,
cherries, and peaches.
Researchers put thousands of tender,
moist dried plums to the test in their laboratory experiments at the agency's
Western Regional Research Center, Albany, Calif., before determining the device
was ready for packinghouses to use as an inexpensive addition on processing
lines already equipped with other detectors (Applied Engineering in
Agriculture, volume 21, pages 1021 to 1026).
The computerized device applies pressure,
measures resistance, and uses a mathematical formula written by the scientists
to determine whether an automatic sorter should quickly remove a suspect dried
plum from the processing line to be re-tested, hand-sorted, or simply rejected.
For details, contact:
Ronald
P. Haff, (510) 559-5868; USDA-ARS
Western
Regional Research Center, Albany, Calif.
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Autumn King seedless grapes: A
sweet taste of summer in fall and early winter. |
Plump, sweet, and luscious, Autumn King
seedless grapes may begin showing up in supermarkets within two or three years.
These light-green (technically known as "white") grapes are ready to harvest in
late October. The timing is perfect, because that's when the U.S. harvest of
another white seedless grape, summertime classic Thompson Seedless, is winding
down.
Since Autumn King stays sweet, firm, and
juicy in cold storage, these autumn-harvested grapes may even be available
through late December.
The attractive, amply-sized grape is
larger than Thompson Seedless. Agricultural Research Service plant geneticists
with the agency's San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center, Parlier,
Calif., developed Autumn King over nearly a decade of research and
testing.
Patented by the scientists and licensed
to the industry-sponsored California Table Grape Commission, Fresno, Autumn
King was made available for the first time in 2005 to grapevine nurseries. So
far, the nurseries have produced more than 100,000 young Autumn King vines for
planting in central California's commercial vineyards, where most of the
nation's fresh-market grapes are grown.
For details, contact:
David
W. Ramming, (559) 596-2823; USDA-ARS
San
Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center, Parlier, Calif.
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