Snap-up: Bavarian food is extremely safe - LGL is expanding its key role in risk prevention

Bavarian food is extremely safe. Health and consumer protection minister Werner Schnappauf took stock of this when presenting the 2003 annual report from the State Office for Health and Food Safety to the environmental committee of the Bavarian state parliament. "Only 0,46 percent of the 79.000 foods and consumer goods examined could be classified as harmful. This includes cases of bacterial spoilage. The low rate is meaningful proof of a well-functioning food control system. The manufacturers predominantly fulfill their responsibility and take food safety as a quality criterion seriously," emphasized Schnappauf. On the other hand, there are clear deficiencies in the labeling. Labeling violations are the main reason for the overall complaint rate of 13,6 percent.

Schnappauf recommends that consumers pay attention to local products and regional producers. "Domestic fruit and vegetables are significantly less contaminated with residues of pesticides than products from other German countries or especially imports from abroad. Buying regional products is not only healthier, but also benefits the environment because of the short transport routes," added the minister. 64 percent of the Bavarian fruit samples and 73 percent of the Bavarian vegetable samples were residue-free. In comparison, only 29 percent of the fruit and 43 percent of the vegetables of foreign goods were residue-free. Table grapes and strawberries, as well as peppers, are particularly frequently contaminated.

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Consumer prices lower than they have been for a long time

There is currently no shortage of eggs on the German market, and local consumers can expect very reasonable prices in the near future. Demand is not keeping pace with increasing production in Germany and other EU countries; Especially during the holiday season there is not so much interest in buying eggs. This keeps market prices at their low level.

At the shop level, in June a pack of ten eggs, most of which were caged, weight class M, cost an average of just 90 cents, nine cents less than in June 2003 and just as little as in 2002 and 2001. The retail price for eggs from conventional free-range husbandry, weight class M, remained stable in June at an average of 1,82 euros per ten pieces. It was thus eight cents higher than in the same month last year and ten cents higher than in June 2002, but compared to June 2001 the price advantage is only one cent.

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The European Commission has cleared the acquisition of Linde AG's refrigeration business by United Technologies Corporation under its Merger Regulations. The takeover does not raise any competition law concerns, since both strong competitors and powerful customers are present on the market.

Die US-amerikanische Holdinggesellschaft United Technologies Corporation (UTC) is weltweit tätig und stellt verschiedene Industrieausrüstungen her wie Flugzeugmotoren, Flugsteuerungssysteme und Aufzüge. In der Geschäftssparte Kältetechnik betätigt sich UTC über ihre Carrier group. Die Linde AG is ein in Deutschland ansässiger internationaler Technologiekonzern, der ua die Geschäftsbereiche Engineering, Materialtransport und Kältetechnik umfasst. Bei der Übernahme geht es ausschließlich um die Kältetechnik-Sparte der Linde AG.
Zu Überschneidungen kommt es im Bereich der Kühlsysteme, die in Supermärkten und Lebensmittelgeschäften für Tiefkühlkost oder gekühlte Lebensmittel sowie für Getränke zum Einsatz kommen. Die Kühlung erfolgt entweder durch ein external Kältesystem, zB in Supermärkten, oder durch Kühlmöbel in steckerfertiger Ausführung, so genannte Plug-in, zB für Eis und Flaschen.

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How a Lower Saxony state secretary observed the minister with Swiss free-range hens and what he saw differently there

The State Secretary in the Lower Saxony Ministry for Rural Areas, Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, Gert Lindemann, described Federal Minister Künast's remarks on a joint visit to Switzerland on the subject of alternative laying hen husbandry as a masterpiece of selective perception.

While Ms. Künast spread an all-round positive image of the laying hen husbandry visited there via the media, the condition seen on site was anything but praiseworthy. "Mrs. Künast apparently only visited the model barn with young laying hens that was presented to her in order to draw conclusions about the entire stock from their condition. Either Ms. Künast did not bother to look at the stock in the last laying stage, which was only 30 meters away and which in was in a catastrophic state, or she simply doesn't want to acknowledge the problems of alternative husbandry systems because they don't suit her," said Lindemann in Hanover. Some of the animals seen there were pecked completely bald and bleeding, the hen keeper there gave a mortality rate of 17,5% when asked.

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The Gourmet Academy in Gaggenau provided the stage for the "Culinary Workshop" with star chef Jörg Sackmann. Culinary art was staged at the highest level. Undisputed star in countless roles: Black Forest ham.

At the end of June, numerous guests from gastronomy, trade and the media accepted an invitation from the Protection Association of Black Forest Ham Manufacturers to come to Gaggenau. They all wanted to look over the shoulder of star chef and Black Forest chef Jörg Sackmann on the subject of "Black Forest ham in fine cuisine", but also lend a hand and spoon themselves.

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Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 101, 2512-2517

The human gastrointestinal tract (MDT) is a nutrient-rich environment colonized by a large and complex collection of microorganisms. The microorganisms play an important role in the function and development of the intestine. The composition of the microflora varies individually, depending on age and from intestinal section to intestinal section. It contains more than 500 types of bacteria. The bacteria are involved in the digestion of polysaccharides and proteins and are responsible for a large part of MDT metabolism. They also produce vitamins, short-chain fatty acids, and other nutrients for their host.

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Source: Food Control 15 (3) (2004), 197-203.

Ideally, preservation processes affect the status of a food as little as possible. The use of gamma radiation, which is imperceptible to humans, with its harmful effects on organisms, seems to be an obvious option for killing germs while preserving the food properties. Past investigations, however, showed very quickly that meat and meat products, among other things, can lead to massive changes in the sensory status of the food, mainly due to the release of free radicals. Therefore, the use of gamma rays as the sole preservation method is ruled out, but is fundamentally of interest as an accompanying factor to increase the shelf life of meat and meat products.

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Source: Food Science and Biotechnology 13 (1) (2004), 51-56.

Years ago, the replacement of animal fats with vegetable oils in the production of a wide variety of meat products was extensively investigated at the BAFF in Kulmbach. Primarily sunflower oil and hardened vegetable fats were used here, and it was shown that different sensory properties of these substitutes lead to different properties in the product. Effects on technological, but also on sensory aspects are possible to varying degrees, whereby skilful use makes quality improvements or the creation of high-quality products possible. gp HONG, S.LEE and SG. MIN investigated the replacement of pork back fat with soybean oil in the production of liver sausage. (Effects of replacement pork backfat with soybean oil on the quality characteristics of spreadable liver sausage). They replaced 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% back fat with soybean oil.

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International research team cannot repeat promising results from colleagues

An initially promising anti-obesity drug needs to be re-evaluated. The satiety hormone PYY 3-36, which was celebrated as a breakthrough two years ago, apparently does not deliver what doctors and harma manufacturers had promised. At least one international research group around Dr. Matthias Tschöp from the German Institute for Human Nutrition in Potsdam-Rehbrücke failed to repeat the success of a study that was published in Nature in 2002 (volume 418, p. 650). The 42-strong group, which also includes scientists from the Berlin Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW), also published their findings in Nature, in the latest July 8 issue.

Matthias Tschöp, currently working at the University of Cincinnati (USA),
says: We were surprised by the high number of negative results from PYY 3-36. Mainly because many experiments have ensured that the hormone preparations used are biologically active and that the test animals react to other appetite suppressants. Overall, the experts studied the effect of PYY 3-36 on more than 1000 rats and mice.

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