NEGATIVE IMPACT OF FOOD TECHNOLOGY-THE TOMATO STORY

By products and waste materials from the food processing industry can be a money spinner if they are appropriately utilized using newer knowledge and technologies. One of the classical examples is production of pectin, essential oils and dietary fiber from citrus wastes. There are many other phytochemicals and biologically active substances derived from food materials having health promoting properties. These include Tocopherol from wheat germ, dietary fiber from cereal bran fractions, protease enzyme bromalin from pine apple core, pectin from apple pomace, triacontanol from sugarcane mud, caffeine from tea waste, protein isolates from deoiled residues of soybean and peanut, chitin and chitosan from shrimp waste, fish protein isolate from trash fish, gelatin from slaughter house waste and many others.

Tomato is a fruit used as a vegetable mainly because of the low sugar content and it is consumed both in fresh as well as processed forms. It happens to be one of the important components in salads and over the years revolutionary developments have taken place in evolving fruits with more flesh and color, special qualities that endear it to consumers of salads. Of the world production of 126 million tons (mt), India accounts for only 8.6 mt while China, the top producer recorded an out put of 33.7 mt. Considerable gap exists between home grown and commercial varieties with latter focusing on qualities like consistent size and shape, disease and pest resistance, amenability for mechanized harvesting, suitability for packing and distribution before fully ripening etc. Tomato varieties are now available with double the vitamin C, 40 times more vitamin A, high levels of anthocyanins and 2-4 times more lycopene compared to that in traditional varieties. Tomato contains over 80 nutrients beneficial to humans.

Lycopene is one of the most studied components in Tomato as it has been found to have a vital role in protecting humans from various types of cancer including colorectal, prostate, breast, endometrial, lung and pancreas. Being a powerful antioxidant it has the ability to protect living cells and other structures in the body from oxygen damage and maintain DNA integrity in white blood cells. Lycopene is also believed to be able to activate cancer preventing Phase II enzymes. There is another view which gives credit to other components present in tomato along with lycopene for the anticancer activity of the fruit. Lycopene is also linked to improved skin health by virtue of its ability to protect against undesirable UV ray exposure.

The observation that tomato paste from whole tomato is more beneficial compared to that made from peeled fruit implicated that peel might have the active principles in greater concentration than in the edible portion. 75% more lycopene and 41% more beta carotene are absorbed from whole tomato paste compared to that from peeled tomato paste. Peel contains about 100.8 gm of proteins, 256.4 gm of ash, 299.4 gm of acid detergent fiber per kg and 734 micro gram of lycopene per gm of the peel on dry weight basis. High ash content reported here is due to lye peeling commonly employed for removing the peel portion by the processing industry. Peel is also a source of lutein, beta carotene, cis-beta carotene. Presence of the flavonols Quercitin and Kaempferol, about 5-10 mg per kg of peel on fresh weight basis, is responsible for the cardioprotective role attributed to tomato. According to industry estimates, waste generated containing peel and the seeds can account for as much as 40% of the fresh fruit processed which cannot not be considered insignificant. Here is a typical case where the technology for processing tomato is skewed to deprive the processed products of most healthy nutrients which escape through the waste that are discarded!

Successful extraction technology for lycopene recovery from tomato waste can significantly improve the economic aspects of tomato industry besides making available one of the most potent antioxidants for formulating health supplements. Treatment with commercial enzymes like pectinase, cellulase and hemicellulases followed by extraction with solvents like hexane, ethyl acetate or mixtures of hexane, acetone and ethanol can achieve recovery as high as 77-88% of the lycopene present in the peel. Supercritical fluid extraction with CO2 also gives comparatively purer fraction of lycopene in significant yields. Development of a pill based on lycopene extracted from tomato waste, milk powder and soy protein isolate by UK scientists for protection against heart attack and stroke seems to have opened the door for marketing such products for the benefit of consumers vulnerable to such disorders. It is claimed that the lycopene tablet is much more effective than statins in controlling cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the blood and prevent damage to arteries. The multibillion dollar statin industry may frown upon such a development but a natural pill like the one above is certainly preferable to synthetic drugs. Tomato may even become more useful as a health protecting commodity than as a food, if the claims of the virtues attributed to it are confirmed by scientific field trials.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/

WHEN CAN HIGH FAT IN DIET BE NOT UNHEALTHY? ASK YOUR GENES!

Too much fat in the diet is associated with over weight and obesity. Besides consumption of too much fat is also responsible for a number of health disorders. When too much calories through fat are consumed , excess calories after meeting the needs of the body are stored in fatty tissues and the fat cells are embedded in an extracellular matrix made of connective tissues that provides support to them just like a scaffolding. Fat cells also excrete some important hormones like leptin into the same matrix.

One of such special proteins in the fatty tissues is Collagen VI and if too much of this protein is present in the extracellular matrix a situation may develop where the fat cells are not able to expand leading to inflammation. Deficiency of collagen enables the cells to assume huge sizes without causing any inflammation. Collagen VI, alpha 1 also known as COL 6 A1 is a human gene and it encodes a protein, alpha subunit of Type VI collagen chain. At high levels of Collagen VI can cause fibrosis and then severe inflammation which is contributory factor in metabolic disorders in humans. Inflammation leads to increased cell deaths and consequent systemic insulin resistance. Fat cells lacking in Collagen VI can grow to huge sizes without getting inflamed manifesting in apparent obesity though this is not considered unhealthy. The discovery of the role of Collagen VI in obesity in animal experiments may or may not have relevance to humans but if true it may explain the paradox, why all obese people, measured on BMI scale, are not always unhealthy. Such obese people, apparently enjoying good health, might be lacking in Collagen VI. What other consequences such huge fat cells will have on other body functions are not clear. It is a challenge to the scientists to confirm what is seen in animals as applicable to humans but it is certain that the COL 6 A1 gene in humans cannot be knocked out that easily. May be there is the possibility of inhibiting formation of Collagen VI in the body some way in future which can have a positive impact on human well-being.

There is also another situation when high intake of dietary fat is not manifested in developing obesity and according to some scientists, this probably involves the human gene Mgat 2 which finds expression in the formation of an important intestinal enzyme acyl: monoacylglycerol acyl transferase 2 (Mgat 2 enzyme), playing a role in fat absorption across the small intestine. The dietary fat which contributes almost one third of calories needed, is split into fatty acids and glycerol first by lipase and then recombined into triglyceride with the help of Mgat 2 enzyme for entry into blood stream. Again in animal studies Mgat 2 deficient subjects were found to be able to consume comparatively high amounts of fat without becoming obese or any other symptoms like glucose intolerance, hypercholesterolemia and fatty liver. This is interpreted to mean that lack of Mgat 2 reduces uptake of fat in the small intestine and delays its entry into the blood stream. Differences in Mgat 2 expression may contribute to the propensity of some people to gain weight from diets rich in fats while many others do not respond the same way. Inhibiting this particular enzyme may turn out to be an effective way to treat metabolic diseases that result from excessive fat consumption, at least theoretically since such a surmise presupposes that what emerged in animal studies is applicable to human beings also. Lot of home work needs to be done before coming to any definitive conclusion.

Findings vis-a-vis COL 6 A 1 and Mgat 2 open up two different potential routes for evolving remedial measures at the gene level against weight gain epidemic that is wide spread to day and redoubled efforts are called for in exploring them further in the coming years.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/

IDIOT BOX-A HEALTH HAZARD?

Of all the causes cited for diabetes epidemic, the one that stands out is TV watching! Is there any substance in such an argument? Diabetes was a disease afflicting mankind even before the advent of television and other electronic entertainment technologies and many will consider such a view as preposterous. While stress and emotional disturbances encountered in actual life situation can have an influence on the onset of diseases like diabetes, BP and CVD, dispassionate watching of a TV program, even if it is emotionally affecting, may not have any lasting impact on health. Watching from close quarters is known to have adverse effect on eyes because of the radiation emitted from the TV. Then how come some believe TV has an influence on developing disorders of different types amongst the viewers?

With massive expansion of television net works and satellite TV net works beaming non-stop programs, 24x7 through out the year, there is bound to be a tendency to hook on to TV viewing for longer periods, especially by house wives, who do not go for work. Even amongst gents, depending on the work load at the work place, TV viewing can take considerable time in a day. On an average man spends about 8 hours in sleep while remaining time of 16 hours is spent on activities like work, travel and watching TV, all sitting comfortably. On week ends the proportion of time devoted to TV can increase dramatically while modern kitchens give lot of spare time to house wives for watching their favorite programs on TV. In Western countries over eating because of TV is rampant adding unwanted calories and undesirable fats to the daily foods. TV is also accused of creating the 'compulsive' eating habits when one consumes food without the need to satisfy hunger. Less and less physical activity and more and more eating activity can be very devastating on human health.

The startling finding by a study group in Australia that for almost 23 hours in a day people are in resting posture while remaining in upright position only for one hour, raises many disturbing questions regarding the life style brought about by affluence across the world! Probably blaming TV alone for this effect on the society may not be justifiable. Even if it is partially true, simple adjustments in TV watching can bring about dramatic improvements for the well being of the viewers . Since in many programs more than 50% of the time is taken up by commercial advertisements, one is advised to get up and walk a little bit before resuming the sitting posture for viewing the program. Of course the promoters who sponsor the ads may not like the idea! Similarly, not using the remote control device and instead, getting up to change channels can give some respite from ill effects of continued sitting for hours together in front of the idiot box. It is believed that longer one sits, higher can be the risk for developing disorders like diabetes, BP and CVD and frequent getting up and short walk can preempt such risks to a great extent.

New home designs even incorporate a unique feature where house wives can continue to do their kitchen chores while watching programs on TV and such innovations can bring about dramatic improvements in health status of women who are avid TV watchers with about a dozen regular serial shows in their 'must see list'. Many modern homes combine living room, dining and kitchen facilities in such a way one can have the flexibility to mix entertainment with daily chores like food preparation and consumption without disruption. Of course puritans will always frown upon the idea of open cooking area since food preparations can generate strong smells but smell is an integral part of the appetite stimulating mechanism and such designs can contribute to more desirable eating environment.

Avoiding sitting for long time is advocated by medical experts also for improving blood circulation and air travelers on long haul routes are even advised to move their limbs and body often to prevent development of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) which can be fatal in some cases. Probably watching TV for long time in sitting or inclined positions, especially in house holds where servants shoulder the major responsibility of physical work, DVT may not be a danger but long term risks of diabetes, CVD and BP could be real unless TV viewing is regularly interrupted by frequent moving around in the house. Frequent power failures, scheduled or unscheduled, in many parts of the country was indirectly helping the situation as many cable net works do not provide service during such occasions though lately advent of Direct TV through dish antennae and wide scale use of inverters ensure 24 hour viewing of programs with practically no disruption. Voluntary restraint and exercising discretion while viewing the programs can be the best course to avoid diseases than cripple life by uncontrolled TV watching, accompanied by frequent snacking. Calling the TV set as an idiot box may not be fair because it is the people who watch them deserve the epithet more appropriately!


V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/

ICE CREAM-A MISNOMER?

Who does not like an ice cream if offered on any occasion? Of course people with compromised health conditions like diabetes, over weight etc, voluntarily abstain from indulging in ice cream, though they have the desire for the same. Conventionally ice cream is a concoction of sugar, dairy cream, sugar and flavor in which cream provides texture, sugar the taste and the flavor, real or artificial tickles the olfactory senses. Variants of ice cream are also made incorporating natural fruits and their derived products, chocolate ingredient, confectionery and caramel components and many others. Looking at the recipe, one is struck by the amount of sugar that is present in the product and more appropriately it should have been called frozen sweet cream or iced sweet cream. Probably during the early stages of ice cream industry in the eighteenth century, the type of ingredients available then could not give a smooth textured product as we are accustomed to now and therefore the water in the recipe got frozen into ice crystals apparently giving it the name which has become a popular generic name over a period of time.

Ice cream as we know to day is a product composed of milk fat, milk solids-non fat (MSNF), sugar and many functional additives which include stabilizers, emulsifiers and flavoring substances. Water and air constitute the most critical components that give the product the typical mouth feel enjoyed by the young and the old alike. Milk fat in ice cream products can vary from 10% to as high as 20% and higher the fat better is the eating quality of ice cream. In contrast there is a category of products similar to ice creams called Ice Milk with fat content 3-6%. Sugar levels are generally adjusted to 13-17% while MSNF is in the range 5-11% in ice creams and 11.5-14% in Ice Milk. There is a separate category of products going under the name Sherbets containing fat less than 3%, sugar up to 35% and MSNF 1-3%. Frozen Desserts are products not conforming to specifications of standard ice creams especially with regard to quantity and type of fat contained in them. These specialty ice cream-like products with low fat content and plant derived fats to avoid cholesterol issues are made for health freaks. Frozen yogurts, another member of the ice cream family is made from fermented milk solids and contain plenty of probiotics as a bonus.

Froozer is a new product introduced in the US market based on strawberry, blueberry and raspberry and does not contain any milk solids. This product made from frozen fruit pulps can compete with true ice cream in terms of taste, texture and mouth-feel though it has neither the fat nor other typical ingredients that go into ice cream and imagine, a 100 gm serving is equivalent to more than 65 gm of the natural fresh fruit. Availability of a fantastic range of functional ingredients makes it possible to simulate any products which are popular with the consumers. In mid-nineteen nineties, similar products were developed in Malaysia using fruit pulps and MSNF to simulate ice creams and were appropriately called frozen fruit creams. However such products could not get adequate consumer response at that time but to day with health concerns upper most in the minds of consumers, they may yet click.

Under the current Indian food legislation, the standards set forth for ice cream is rather stringent and there is very little scope for any innovation that would have resulted in more healthy products. The frozen dessert category of products similar to ice creams opened up a route for replacing milk fat with vegetable fat, considered much more healthier than any animal fat including milk fat but still stipulates inclusion of MSNF and sugar. With so much knowledge emerging on the health front, one would have thought that a wiser policy must prevail allowing freedom to the industry to develop and offer to the consumers frozen products with healthier ingredients like fruits and others and encourage consumers to switch over to such products instead of the conventional ice cream. Ice cream is consumed mainly for the pleasure of eating, the nutrition aspect being secondary and encouraging the industry to offer products similar to ice cream but more nutritious and safer makes eminent sense. Government policies should not be a hindrance but a facilitatory step for such initiatives on the part of the processing industry.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/

'PRO-HEALTH' TAXATION POLICY-WILL 'GOI' LISTEN?

Taxation is a powerful tool in the hands of governments vested with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the country. In India as per the constitution both the state as well as the central governments are empowered to impose taxes and financial levies. Currently excise duty, import duty, service tax, income tax and vat provide major resources for meeting the expenditure to run the governments and take up development projects. Taxation policies can play a vital role in encouraging or discouraging consumption of any materials by the population besides protecting domestic manufacturing sector from unfair imports. Of course under the WTO regime it is becoming increasingly difficult to put in place any protectionist policy that will affect the exports of other member countries with a redressal mechanism available to the members for addressing such incidences.

One of the most successful efforts in using taxation as a tool to discourage consumption is in the tobacco field and if current smoking trend is any indication, imposition of high taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products is certainly a major disincentive against tobacco consumption including smoking. Same approach to alcohol consumption could not be as effective though the growth of the liquor industry did slow down on account of high prices caused by punitive rate of taxation. The politics associated with alcohol production and consumption can be held responsible for the survival of liquor industry because in states like Kerala the local government itself took up manufacture and marketing of low cost liquors for the benefit of "poorer" segments of society leaving high end products to the private sector! It is difficult to understand the logic of such an approach though the argument supporting low cost alcohol products points out to further "economic bleeding" of poor families if they are to depend on costly varieties offered by the private sector.

For a number of years GOI focused its attention on food products that are considered luxury oriented and in absence of a clear demarcation between luxury foods and common man's foods, most of the processed foods came under the first category attracting heavy taxation. Naturally such a policy made such foods unaffordable to a large segment of the population thereby stunting the growth of food processing industry during seventies, eighties and nineties of the last millennium. Introduction of VAT addressed this issue to a limited extent but leaving the states to decide on the items to be included under various VAT rates has created wide disparities in prices of same products in different states. Unless GOI takes a pro-active policy to bring all foods under a uniform tax regime this situation is likely to continue.

If we have to live with a situation where processed foods are taxed, why not make use of the policy to favor healthy foods? If we are convinced that high levels of consumption of sugar, salt and fat through processed foods needs to be discouraged and curbed, can we think of a taxation structure that will reduce their consumption through price differential brought about by higher taxation on such products? Is it conceivable that one pays more for a sugar based drink than that paid for a natural juice? Or high fat products are made costlier through appropriate taxation while low fat ones are made available at a lesser cost? Or low salt food products are exempted from taxes to attract more consumers? Or can the food products be classified based on nutrient density with those with empty calories being taxed heavily? What about corporate taxation incentives to encourage the industry to expand their product portfolio containing certain category of healthy foods? All these initiatives require massive technical inputs to GOI for arriving at a rational tax regime vis-a-vis processed foods. If there is a will and determination this is not beyond our reach.

The recent proposal by New York state in the US to impose a 18% tax on soft drinks, considered to be one of the culprits for American obesity was shot down because of strong lobbying by the industry. How far the new proposal being taken up by the US government to introduce punitive taxes nation wide on sugar products will succeed remains to be seen. Experts believe that every penny increase in the price of a 12 oz can of soft drink can reduce the consumption by 1% because of its high price sensitivity. Such taxation can contribute to foot the bill that country has to bear for programs aimed at fighting obesity and other health care projects. Same holds true for India also and it is time GOI considers seriously the health related problems waiting to become epidemic in the coming years due to increasing imbalances in food consumption.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/

FOODS NOT KNOWN WIDELY!

Dr Ramesh V Bhat writes from Hyderabad:
Many mouth watering dishes in South India (see enclosed pictures) are cooked wrapped in a variety of leaves. Be it teak, banana or jack leaves,it is mostly the use of locally available resources which are eco friendly and biodegradable, without any toxic or harmful constituents. Moreover, the natural leaves packing, besides imparting special unique flavour to the dish, during the process of steam cooking imparts to the food various photochemicals, flavours and even colour . A good example for leaching of the colour is the pinkish brown colour of tender teak leaf to " Gidde" , a jackfruit preparation. The leaf packing culture of food had spread from India to countries like Indonesia .The leaf packing culture for food need to be preserved for posterity

FIGHTING GI INJURY THROUGH FOOD

In an earlier Blog the ability of friendly bacteria to outnumber pathogenic ones in the GI tract was highlighted with reference to Cl.difficile eruptions amongst people using heavy antibiotic regimes for fighting different diseases. Probiotic and prebiotic foods, many in number, achieve the purpose of maintaining GI tract health under optimal conditions, staving off a host of intestinal afflictions. By far the richest source of probiotics are dairy products containing lactic acid bacteria (LAB) with varied beneficial actions on human body. While lactic fermented foods like yogurt are available in stabilized formats with relatively long shelf life, advances made by food technologists in developing freeze drying technology have made it possible to culture, harvest and dry the microbiological cells without affecting their ability to multiply under favorable conditions. Freeze drying, also known as Lyophilization was developed for preserving biological activity of live creatures like microorganisms and enzymes and temperature sensitive chemicals for long periods of time. Unlike the freezing technology which needs sub-zero conditions to preserve the frozen products, freeze dried materials can be stored under ambient conditions with minimum loss of activity. If pharma industry is able to deliver millions of live cells through capsules for easy delivery it is due to the marvels of freeze drying technology.

Millions of people in the world suffer intestinal damage like ulcers due to many reasons and this can lead to pain and loss of blood leading to anemic condition. Helicobacter pylori is a host organism found in the stomach linings of many people and they are usually harmless till there are occasional eruptions causing stomach ulcers. More than 50% of human population have this microorganism in their stomach but only a few show signs of ulcers. Similarly widespread consumption of high doses of Aspirin as a routine measure to preempt clot formation in arteries for people above 45 years and over consumption of non-steroid anti-inflammatory medications can cause stomach ulcers. Acid suppressants and antacid preparations are routinely being used to give relief to the ulcer symptoms while antibiotics are recommended under acute eruptions of H.pylori in the stomach. But overwhelming the H .pylori population with lactic acid bacteria contained in yogurts is another strategy that may work in many affected patients.

Looking at the mechanism by which H.pylori infects the stomach, it was discovered that the microbe uses an enzyme called urease to attach itself to the stomach wall and causes havoc to the infected person. H.pylori contains urease enzyme in high concentrations which produces ammonia to neutralize the acidic environment so that the microbe can grow unhindered. As the stomach acid is neutralized, more and more acid is produced by the body creating ideal conditions for developing ulcers. Peptic ulcers, also known as gastric ulcers are manifested as sores or holes in the linings of the stomach, causing pain and bleeding in many cases. Japanese food scientists recently explored the possibility of using an urease antibody through the oral route to disable these microbes from getting established in the stomach and found it was feasible. As yogurt has some favorable effect in counteracting the severity of stomach infections, urease antibody was formulated into yogurt preparations as a possible easy way of controlling stomach ulcers. Urease antibody can be produced by injecting urease enzyme into chickens and extracting the antibody from their eggs for use in formulated yogurt preparations. In presence of these antibodies, urease activity of H.pylori is disabled making it difficult for them to grow and cause ulcer. The antibody protein does not seem to have any side effect and is eventually digested in the stomach routinely.

Though such yogurt preparations are on the market shelves in some countries, they are yet to be established internationally. While H.pylori infection is more commonly encountered in western population, it is not a major cause of concern in India yet probably due to the food habits cultivated over centuries and the prominent place enjoyed by curd or butter milk in the diet of the population. Urease antibody route to fight peptic ulcers, however, is limited to those caused by only H.pylori and other types of gastric ulcers are not preempted by this . Using food as a medium to tackle some of the illnesses, as brought out by the example of modified yogurt, is a practical approach that needs to be fully exploited to lessen our dependence on synthetic medicines.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/