Is food preference innate instinct driven or human's free will?

The question whether food preference decisions are controlled by innate instincts, or a conscious decision-making process is still open. The answer to this question is important not only for neuroscientists, psychologists, and philosophers but also for food scientists and developers. Looking from different perspectives involved in food preference decisions could not only settle a long ongoing debate but also pave the way to understand why people prefer to eat what they eat.     

Is authentication of regional and traditional food made of meat possible?

Authentication of regional and traditional food made of meat poses a significant challenge. It continues to be a very difficult task which requires employment of quite advanced analytical techniques. These products, despite a similar process of manufacturing, differ in taste and aroma. This happens due to the use of special breeds of animals, the application of appropriate feeding regimes as well as the effect of the place and climate. In order to perform correct identification of geographical origin, a good solution is to determine both stable isotopes as well as trace elements. It is essential to collect detailed meteorological and geochemical data and information about farming practices and to compare them with the obtained results. In a majority of cases, the performed identification is confined to species and the determination of the animal breed is very limited. In the case of individual breeds a comparative analysis of SNPs appears to present the highest potential, especially genes affecting the coat color of animals may serve as markers. Experiments confirm that genes responsible for pigmentation underwent mutations in individual breeds. Authentication on the basis of the manufacturing process appears to be easier to realize than tracing geographical origins.     

Is garlic a promising food for benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate cancer?

Prostate cancer is one of the most common male malignancies worldwide, and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a common cause of lower urinary tract symptoms in elderly men. Garlic (Allium sativum) has been known to have anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and antioxidant effects. Owing to these effects, garlic and its preparations have been used for the treatment of prostate cancer and relief of BPH symptoms for decades. It is thought that the mechanism(s) through which garlic may show anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory effects should be investigated further. Several researchers are attempting to demonstrate the useful properties of garlic and its mechanism(s) of action. This review aims to present the current studies related with the effects of garlic in prostate diseases, namely prostate cancer and BPH.     

Acceptance of insects as food in Germany: Is it about sensation seeking,sustainability consciousness,or food disgust?

This study examines the acceptance of insect-based foods by consumers in Germany. The nationwide online survey (N = 516) focused on which factors have the greatest influence on the willingness to consume an insect burger and buffalo worms. In addition to sociodemographic factors, meat consumption and the “classical” variables in the field of entomophagy (familiarity, previous insect consumption, food technology neophobia and food neophobia), the study focuses in particular on the previously unconsidered variables sensation seeking, sustainability consciousness and food disgust. A total of 41.9% of the participants were willing to consume an insect burger. In contrast, only 15.9% of the participants were willing to consume the buffalo worms – a principal ingredient of the insect burger. Hierarchical multiple regressions showed that food disgust was the most important predictor for the acceptance of edible insects, followed by previous insect consumption, food neophobia, gender, sensation seeking and food technology neophobia. The high influence of food disgust shows that not only the explicit disgust for insects is decisive for the consumer readiness of insect-based products, but also the domain specific disgust for food. Despite the strong sustainability awareness of our participants, and contrary to our expectations, sustainability consciousness did not prove to be a significant predictor for the willingness to consume insects. Implications for marketing strategies and educational interventions will be discussed.     

Metabolomics—The new frontier in food safety and quality research

Monitoring of food safety and quality is one of the major concerns now-a-days and consumers all over the world are becoming more aware about this than ever before. Therefore, many studies already have been undertaken to determine the food composition and also to gain knowledge on the metabolism of food spoilage microorganisms. Metabolomics has been successfully applied to food science due to the recent advancement of instrumental techniques and the availability of many metabolite databases that allow the detection and identification of over 1000 metabolites in food products. Metabolomics also has high potential in identification of biomarkers related to food spoilage by food pathogens that may lead to the development of early detection techniques and control of pathogenic microbes. Therefore, here we present metabolomics as the innovative frontier of food safety and quality research by providing insights on how this approach can help to determine microbiological and chemical hazards (e.g. pesticides and contaminants) present in different food products.     

Herbs-are they safe enough? an overview

Drugs based on herbs have become a common form of therapy as well as for prophylaxis because they are often perceived as being natural and therefore harmless. Today they are one of the hottest trends and most sought after in the field of nutrition or herbal therapeutics. As the use of complementary medicine grows, so does the knowledge that many compounds in common use not only have a significant effect on the body but may also interact with pharmaceuticals and also with other alternative products. Concurrent use of herbs with drugs may mimic, magnify, or oppose the effect of drugs leading to herb-drug interactions. Currently, there is very little information published on herb-herb or herb-drug interactions as compared to the use of herbs which is progressively growing across the world. Many reports of herb-drug interactions are sketchy and lack laboratory analysis of suspect preparations. Health-care practitioners should caution patients against mixing herbs and pharmaceutical drugs. The article reviews the recent literature on the adverse effects of herbal remedies including the most widely sold herbal medicinal products, like liquorice, garlic, ginger, green tea, and turmeric, etc., and reinforce the safety aspect of herbal products, which are considered to be relatively safe by common people.     

The relationship between disgust sensitivity and BMI: Is the food disgusting or am I?

Core disgust is a negative emotion, comprised of disgust in response to food, animals, and from the body itself (and its products). Individual differences exist in the level to which people experience the emotion of core disgust. Sensitivity to disgust has been associated negatively with Body Mass Index (BMI) in overweight and obese people, and to eating disorders independently from BMI. This study investigates the relationship between disgust sensitivity and BMI by examining data from the Italian Taste Project (n = 2317). We hypothesized that the relationship between disgust sensitivity and BMI, after accounting for age and gender, may be mediated by other factors, such as 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) sensitivity or eating restraint, and that this relationship might differ in non-obese and obese individuals. Results showed that the relationship between sensitivity to disgust and food behaviors is complex and differs between obese and non-obese people. Two mediation models were considered. In the first case restrained eating acted as a mediator of disgust sensitivity in the prediction of BMI, while in the second one BMI acted only as a partial mediator of disgust sensitivity in the prediction of restrained eating. This suggests that heightened sensitivity to core disgust may be associated with a heightened sensitivity to self-disgust, motivating restrained eating behaviors when BMI is higher, but only in non-obese individuals.     

Is recycled newspaper suitable for food contact materials? Technical grade mineral oils from printing inks

Recycled paper and board used in food packaging materials (boxes, paper bags) often cause migration of mineral oil into food at levels which are unacceptable according to present toxicological assessments. When foods in recycled board are densely packed into larger boxes or onto pallets, most of the hydrocarbons up to n-C₂₀ may migrate into the packed food within a few weeks, those up to n-C₂₈ at a decreasing rate. Unprinted recycled board contained 300–1,000 mg/kg mineral oil <n-C₂₈. The main sources are the inks used for printing newspapers: newspapers contained roughly 3,000 mg/kg mineral oil <n-C₂₈. These mineral oils fall into classes for which JECFA established a tolerable daily intake of 0.01 mg/kg body weight. Using standard assumptions for calculating specific migration limits, a maximum tolerable concentration in food of 0.6 mg/kg is derived. This evaluation assumes highly refined white oils, whereas the oils found in recycled board are of technical quality and contain 15–25% aromatic compounds, predominantly with 1–3 aromatic rings, as shown by comprehensive GC × GC. This finding precipitates authorities into a dilemma: recycling is supported for the sustainable use of materials, but on the basis of present toxicological assessments the migration is often far beyond acceptable.     

More food or better distribution? Reviewing food policy options in developing countries

As most of the undernourished people in the world live in developing countries, achieving food security plays a major role on the daily agenda of policy makers. For achieving food security, there exist various strategies such as supply management, demand management, or better food distribution. This article aims to analyze different scenarios in a developing country context and seeks to provide an overview that could be the most suitable approach to achieve food security. In this context, not only producing more food is considered but also the environmental and social implications that come along with a higher production. Some of the existing options for achieving food security seem not to be appropriate anymore; for instance, cultivation expansion, as this can only be achieved at high social and environmental costs. Other options, such as sustainable intensification or waste management, seem to be more appropriate. The article concludes that there exists no stand-alone solution to the food security problem. Instead, an integrated approach that combines different options might rather be the key to sustainable food security.