TheStar.com - High cholesterol? Head for Aisle 3

[This Toronto Star article suggests in a dozen years or so we could enter supermarkets and have individual food products "prescribed" to treat health problems. The whole thing makes me want to run screaming the othe rway to the farmer's market. There's a brief reference to DHA in infant formula in this article. - JC]

" Health Canada allows nutrients to be added to 27 other products; for example, vitamin C in fruit drinks and dried potatoes, and the eggs with an Omega-3 boost. A new infant formula incorporates a plant chemical called DHA, found in breast milk and considered vital to development of the brain and eyes. But while these might be considered functional foods, they can't make health claims; their labels can't state what the added ingredients are supposed to do.

On the other hand, not all enriched foods are functional foods. Some are refined to nothing but empty calories and packed with sugar, fat or salt.

Health claims are the industry's Holy Grail. They're what make a product burst on to the scene, says Clough. "When a company can say `oats help to reduce cholesterol,' the gun goes off."

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, pushed by court rulings and strong industry lobbying, has approved 14 claims, including some specific to certain products...."

Martek licenses oils to overseas baby food maker
2003-02-12 - Baltimore Business Journal
"A Spanish baby-food maker signed a license agreement with Columbia-based Martek Biosciences Corp. Laboratorios Ordesa gets the right to use Martek's technology for including fatty acids in infant formula. Martek will receive an unspecified cash payment and royalties from the sale of Laboratorios Ordesa's products in Spain and Italy. The Barcelona, Spain-based firm makes infant formula and baby foods. Martek develops nutritional supplements and oils for use in infant formulas."

Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation Announces $3 Million in HIV/AIDS Research Grants
Wed Feb 12 14:30:34 2003 Pacific Time
BOSTON, Feb. 12 (AScribe Newswire)
"At a special ceremony held in conjunction with the 12th Conference for Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections today, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation announced more than $3 million in new grants for its HIV/AIDS research programs. The Foundation presented two of the most promising HIV/AIDS scientists - Dr. Paul Bieniasz and Dr. Grace John-Stewart - with its highest award, the Elizabeth Glaser Scientist Award. The Award provides $700,000 for five years of research dedicated to the treatment and prevention of pediatric HIV/AIDS. The Foundation also announced new funding to support eight Basic Research Grants and three Scholar Awards, including studies focused on preventing mother-to-child transmission, a unique project aimed at preventing breastmilk transmission, and a novel drug discovery project, among others....Dr. Grace John-Stewart is an associate professor at the University of Washington in Seattle. Through her Elizabeth Glaser Scientist Award she will evaluate viral and immune responses to antiretroviral regimens in breastfeeding HIV positive mothers and their infants to increase our understanding of how these regimens may decrease breastmilk transmission of HIV..."

Concerns about soya in pregnancy
Onenews.nzoom.com,
"An animal study has raised concerns about the safety of eating soya during pregnancy after male offspring of rats fed a chemical found in soya suffered sexual development problems. Male rats exposed to the chemical, called genistein, while still in the womb and later through breastfeeding developed large prostate glands and small testes and were unable to mate. Although the finding does not prove genistein is harmful to humans, scientists at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Maryland who conducted the research are calling for more studies...."