'Frustrated' health sector turns to tobacco-like labelling to issue warning over sweetened drinks Posted about an hour agoFri 25 May 2018, 12:50am Despite years of warnings about Australia's obesity rates, public health advocates are frustrated by the lack of action and researchers are having to get creative to draw attention to the problem. Key points: Public health advocates turn to graphic labelling'Frustrated' sector wants Health Star Rating to be mandatory New study found label featuring decayed teeth to be a deterrent Health experts back introduction of labels as part of wider strategy The latest idea comes from researchers at Deakin University who have presented research at the European Congress on Obesity in Vienna finding graphic labelling, similar to that seen on cigarette cartons, is likely to reduce the consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks. The release of the research coincided with a similar study conducted at the University of Melbourne that assessed the effect of graphic labels on consumers evaluating snack foods items. Look familiar? Is sugar really as bad as tobacco?
New awesome Meat-Calculator: Check your impact on the environment A mild summer evening without a sizzling steak or a great burger on the grill? Unthinkable! America is a nation of meat eaters. Actually, Americans have the highest meat consumption in the world. But what does this mean on a personal level? The Meat Blitz-Calculator shows you how it all adds up, based on your personal diet. Meat Calculator All data used is based on Meat Consumption in the US. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), every American consumes more than 260 lbs carcass weight of meat (red meat and poultry) per year. Free Infographic (CC). The problem: the consumption of such quantities of meat has a negative impact on the environment and climate. Use of antibiotics in animal husbandry Animals in factory farming are prone to illness. This has huge negative side-effects. Meat Consumption by Country Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), FAOSTAT online statistical service. Meat consumption and CO2 emissions Use of antibiotics
'Global deforestation hotspot': 3m hectares of Australian forest to be lost in 15 years | Environment Australia is in the midst of a full-blown land-clearing crisis. Projections suggest that in the two decades to 2030, 3m hectares of untouched forest will have been bulldozed in eastern Australia. The crisis is driven primarily by a booming livestock industry but is ushered in by governments that fail to introduce restrictions and refuse to apply existing restrictions. And more than just trees are at stake. Australia has a rich biodiversity, with nearly 8% of all Earth’s plant and animal species finding a home on the continent. But land clearing is putting that at risk. Much of the land clearing in Queensland – which accounts for the majority in Australia – drives pollution into rivers that drain on to the Great Barrier Reef, adding to the pressures on it. And of course land clearing is exacerbating climate change. In Queensland, where there is both the most clearing and the best data on clearing, trees are being bulldozed at a phenomenal rate.
Bin liners to takeaway containers – ideas to solve your plastic conundrums | Environment Plastic has become an environmental disaster. Microplastic pollution has been found in our waterways, fish stocks, salt, tap water and even the air we breathe. Reducing our reliance on plastic by refusing it wherever possible has never been more important, especially as Australia’s recycling system is in crisis. Yet there are conundrums that continue to defeat even those dedicated to going plastic-free. From bin liners to takeaway containers, Guardian Australia has tried to solve them. What should I do about plastic liners for the kitchen bin? Many people justify their continued use of plastic bags by arguing each one is reused in the kitchen bin. Skip the unnecessary plastic bag altogether and simply rinse your bin after emptying it into the council bin. How can I avoid plastic packaging in supermarkets? Skip plastic bags altogether – including the smaller produce bags – by taking your own reusable bags. Unfortunately not, in most cases. Since you’re here …
Healthy Active - Sample Daily Kilojoule and Nutrient Calculator This sample daily kilojoule and nutrient calculator is for people over the age of 19 years. It does not apply to children. Calculate your daily energy and nutrient composition. Options have been provided for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and beverages. Choose one or more options from the list below that best represent your daily consumption to find out the total kilojoules and nutrient composition of the food you consumed for that day. Estimated range of kilojoules per day for males to maintain a healthy weight (ranges from sedentary through to active lifestyle) Estimated range of kilojoules per day for females to maintain a healthy weight (ranges from sedentary through to active lifestyle) Notes The energy obtained from food is measured in kilojoules (kJ). Certain information on this webpage has been reproduced with the permission of the Commonwealth of Australia, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), Associate Professor H.
Recycling row: China's ban stokes trade fears amid concerns councils will follow Ipswich's lead | Environment The body representing Australian councils is urging the federal government to take seriously China’s effective ban on accepting shipments of plastic for recycling, warning it should not ignore potential implications for trade between the two countries. The Australian Local Government Association is calling on state governments to stop treating hundreds of millions of dollars in landfill levies collected when rubbish was dumped as general revenue, and to instead invest it in long-term recycling and other sustainable waste solutions. On Wednesday Ipswich city council in Queensland announced it would no longer send kerbside waste to be recycled due to skyrocketing costs. The mayor, Andrew Antoniolli, said the cost of recycling in recent contract negotiations had increased fivefold and would have required the council to charge ratepayers an extra $2m a year. On Friday the environment minister, Josh Frydenberg, said he was keen to see waste-to-energy projects developed.
Diverse and Widespread Contamination Evident in the Unmapped Depths of High Throughput Sequencing Data Citation: Lusk RW (2014) Diverse and Widespread Contamination Evident in the Unmapped Depths of High Throughput Sequencing Data. PLoS ONE 9(10): e110808. Editor: Tom Gilbert, Natural History Museum of Denmark, Denmark Received: May 21, 2014; Accepted: September 15, 2014; Published: October 29, 2014 Copyright: © 2014 Richard W. Data Availability: The author confirms that all data underlying the findings are fully available without restriction. Funding: RWL was supported by NIH postdoctoral fellowship F32-GM100685 ( Competing interests: The author has declared that no competing interests exist. Introduction While contamination by foreign DNA is a concern for many experiments, it requires particular attention for those that rely on sensitive methods to describe samples that are themselves dilute or degraded. Materials and Methods Inference of human contaminants in E. coli sequencing data Results and Discussion Figure 1.
The Equality Effect - The Ethical Shop The Equality Effect is almost magical. In more equal countries, human beings are generally happier and healthier, there is less crime, more creativity and higher educational attainment. Danny Dorling delivers all evidence that is now so overwhelming that it should be changing politics and society all over the world. 'Here is a book which details - with irrefutable evidence - both the damage caused by inequality, and the benefits we all derive from living in more equal societies. We should all learn from it - and, above all else, act on it.' - Owen Jones. Chosen as Book of the Month July 2017 by the Bodleian Social Sciences Library for its "optimistic view of the future". The Equality Effect: Improving Life for Everyone, by Danny Dorling delivers evidence that more equal countries enjoy better outcomes, with their populations being happier, healthier and more creative, producing less waste and committing fewer crimes. Paperback: 280 pages Size: 21.6cm x 13.8cm
Complete Genes May Pass from Food to Human Blood Abstract Our bloodstream is considered to be an environment well separated from the outside world and the digestive tract. According to the standard paradigm large macromolecules consumed with food cannot pass directly to the circulatory system. Citation: Spisák S, Solymosi N, Ittzés P, Bodor A, Kondor D, Vattay G, et al. (2013) Complete Genes May Pass from Food to Human Blood. Editor: Andrew Dewan, Yale School of Public Health, United States of America Received: September 25, 2012; Accepted: June 4, 2013; Published: July 30, 2013 Copyright: © 2013 Spisak et al. Funding: We thank grants OTKA-80177 and OTKA-77779, TECH08:3dhist08 for the Hungarian Natioanal Technology Office. Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Introduction We are constantly exposed to foreign DNA from various sources like benign or malicious microbes in and on our body, pollens in the inhaled air and as the largest amount with the daily food supply. Blood is not free of DNA.