Demographic trends in Switzerland show that, owing to an increased life expectancy, the over-65 population group will continue to grow in the 21st century. A balanced, healthy diet is of vital importance for health and well-being in old age, in order to reduce the risk of various chronic diseases such as diabetes, osteoporosis and cardiovascular ailments. A survey of 632 individuals aged between 50 and 81 years was conducted to determine both the eating habits and behaviours and the nutritional knowledge of this demographic, as well as the frequency with which they consumed various foods, particularly those of animal origin. More on this topic can be found at the link below:
Dairy products: requirements concerning
added fruit
The addition of fruit to dairy products can lead to food-safety risks. As part of a Bachelor’s thesis, an assessment was created for the evaluation and management of potential risks in order to reduce the likelihood of contamination to a minimum. The findings of the thesis are very important for smaller and medium-sized milk-processing establishments in particular, and are to be published as part of the InterLab sampling guidelines.
Tanneberger F., Tegetmeyer C., Busse S., Barthelmes A., Shumka S., Moles Mariné A., Jenderedjian K., Steiner G.M., Essl F., Etzold J., Mendes C., Kozulin A., Frankard P., Milanović D., Ganeva A., Apostolova I., Alegro A., Delipetrou P., Navrátilová J., Risager M., Leivits A., Fosaa A. M., Tuominen S., Muller F., Bakuradze T., Sommer M., Christanis K., Szurdoki E., Oskarsson H. , Brink S.H., Connolly J., Bragazza L., Martinelli G., Aleksāns O., Priede A., Sungaila D., Melovski L., Belous T., Saveljić D., de Vries F., Moen A., Dembek W., Mateus J., Hanganu J., Sirin A., Markina A., Napreenko M., Lazarević P., Šefferová Stanová V., Skoberne P., Heras Pérez P., Pontevedra-Pombal X., Lonnstad J., Küchler M., Wüst-Galley C., Kirca S., Mykytiuk O., Lindsay R., Joosten H.
Based on the ‘European Mires Book’ of the International Mire Conservation Group (IMCG), this article provides a composite map of national datasets as the first comprehensive peatland map for the whole of Europe. We also present estimates of the extent of peatlands and mires in each European country individually and for the entire continent. A minimum peat thickness criterion has not been strictly applied, to allow for (often historically determined) country-specific definitions. Our ‘peatland’ concept includes all ‘mires’, which are peatlands where peat is being formed. The map was constructed by merging national datasets in GIS while maintaining the mapping scales of the original input data. This ‘bottom-up’ approach indicates that the overall area of peatland in Europe is 593,727 km². Mires were found to cover more than 320,000 km² (around 54 % of the total peatland area). If shallow-peat lands (< 30 cm peat) in European Russia are also taken into account, the total peatland area in Europe is more than 1,000,000 km2, which is almost 10 % of the total surface area. Composite inventories of national peatland information, as presented here for Europe, may serve to identify gaps and priority areas for field survey, and help to cross-check and calibrate remote sensing based mapping approaches.
Leafy-green vegetables are a significant source of the carotenoids lutein and beta-carotene, both of which are important for sight. The findings of a recently concluded intervention study point towards lower baseline serum levels and poorer absorption of these carotenoids in short-bowel patients than in healthy individuals. Potential long-term effects on vision owing to malabsorption of these food constituents have yet to be elucidated.
The number of infectious diseases caused by the consumption of vegetables contaminated with human-pathogenic bacteria is on the rise worldwide. The location and potential absorption of such bacteria in vegetable plants as well as the role of input sources such as irrigation water are currently only partially clarified. In a current research project, Agroscope is investigating the colonisation of salad plants with enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) in cooperation with the University of Hohenheim, Germany.