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Lancet angers trade group
The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) has slammed the manner in which a meta-analysis investigating antioxidant supplements and gastrointestinal cancers published in The Lancet has been represented by the esteemed medical journal. CRN accused the journal of taking “an incendiary quote from an accompanying commentary out of context and ignores the authors’ conclusion that the findings are exploratory and preliminary.”
“It’s not news to say that we don’t know for sure what might prevent cancer,” said CRN president Annette Dickinson, PhD. “It’s unfortunate that of the 14 studies reviewed in the meta-analysis, only three focused on healthy people. Antioxidant supplements in and of themselves should not be expected to reverse the negative effects created by a lifetime of smoking or poor dietary habits.”
The antioxidants in question were b-carotene; vitamins A, C and E; and selenium.
UK Big Food tackles health
The UK Food and Drink Federation has agreed on seven key areas where food manufacturers, working with the rest of the food chain, will co-ordinate efforts to improve the healthfulness of food. Individual company approaches will deliver according to product portfolios and consumer demand.
The seven areas are: more informative labelling; reducing sugar, fat and salt levels; reducing portion sizes; restricting vending machines in schools and making their contents healthier; regulating advertising to children; industry to lead by example with healthy workplace schemes; and healthy eating and healthy lifestyles public education via government campaigns and on-package messages .
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