HEC SPECIAL

Limited offer: become a 'lifetime' subscriber of HEC for only $44 and receive:
- a copy of "Food Facts" on CD-rom by Professor Mark Wahlqvist
- access to do our body image module on-line
- member discounts for all our on-line healthy eating course modules
More.....

HEC short on-line Healthy Eating course (consists of 5 modules, $195)
The HEC website is the only website currently offering on-line reputable course
modules for the general public in nutrition. More ....

HEC FREE internet "Healthy Moments" TV channel
with Professor Wahlqvist & Dr Kouris. More...

WHAT'S NEW IN NUTRITION RESEARCH

Update on Trans fatty acids in margarine & vegetable shortening
by Professor Mark Wahlqvist More.....

Fat variety - a new concept in nutrition by Professor Mark Wahlqvist More...

Some organic foods may be unsafe

A nine-month review in 2001-2002 by the non-profit Center for Global Food Issues of monthly food and supplement product recalls reported by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Food Inspection Agency of Health Canada show products marketed as "organic" or "all natural" have significantly higher recall and warning rates than conventional foods. Reasons for recalls and warnings included failing to label products with potentially dangerous allergenic ingredients, mislabeled products, bacterial contamination and other serious safety-related concerns. Organic products represent less than one percent of the total marketplace, yet they have accounted for more than 8 percent of all recalls in the US. This implies that consumers have an eight-fold higher risk factor for safety-related recalls when they purchase higher-priced organic products.
To see a list of recalled products (mainly US products), the reason for the recall, and the date of notice see: http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/first/0605-160.html

Fish and fish oil may help improve insulin function in people who are vulnerable to developing diabetes and can also help arterial elasticity and prevention of arterial hardness. Consuming fatty fish several times a week or a fish oil supplement daily (if one does not eat fish) may help insulin action and prevention of fatal heart attacks.
de Deckere EAM et al. Health aspects of fish and n-3 polyunsatuarted fatty acids and marine origin.
Eu J Clin Nutr 1999; 52: 749-53. Nestel et al. Am J Clin Nutr 2002; 76: 326-330.

WHAT'S NEW ON THE WEB

New resources for Anaemia: free downloadable brochures from http://www.beefinfo.org/bh_iron.cfm
"Easy steps to iron rich eating" for infants, adolescent and adult women.

Nutritional Assessment of the Elderly - Tools available (new and old) http://www.health.vic.gov.au/agedcare/hacc/nutrition/index.htm
This instrument was recently released in Australia. The title explains its use "Identifying and Planning Assistance for Home based adults who are at Nutritional Risk. Risk Screening and Monitoring Tool".
http://www.aafp.org/nsi/
This instrument was released in Australia in 1994 as a public awareness tool, but not for nutritional assessment. It is called "Nutrition Screening Initiative" and is based on the US version of the tool.
http://www.mna-elderly.com
This instrument was released in Europe and US in 1994 to assess the Nutrition status of the elderly.It is called "Mini Nutritional Assessment"

Recipe of the month: Greek Spinach risotto (Spanakorizo)
quick and easy, a tasty way to eat the antioxidant rich spinach, and a great side dish to meat, chicken, fish or eggs - even the kids will like it.