Diána Bánáti

Nutrition for the ageing brain: Towards evidence for an optimal diet.

As people age they become increasingly susceptible to chronic and extremely debilitating brain diseases. The precise cause of the neuronal degeneration underlying these disorders, and indeed normal brain ageing remains however elusive. Considering the limits of existing preventive methods, there is a desire to develop effective and safe strategies. Growing preclinical and clinical research in healthy individuals or at the early stage of cognitive decline has demonstrated the beneficial impact of nutrition on cognitive functions. The present review is the most recent in a series produced by the Nutrition and Mental Performance Task Force under the auspice of the International Life Sciences Institute Europe (ILSI Europe). The latest scientific advances specific to how dietary nutrients and non-nutrient may affect cognitive ageing are presented. Furthermore, several key points related to mechanisms contributing to brain ageing, pathological conditions affecting brain function, and brain biomarkers are also discussed. Overall, findings are inconsistent and fragmented and more research is warranted to determine the underlying mechanisms and to establish dose-response relationships for optimal brain maintenance in different population subgroups. Such approaches are likely to provide the necessary evidence to develop research portfolios that will inform about new dietary recommendations on how to prevent cognitive decline.

Consumers’ Perceptions of HPP and PEF Food Products

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine consumer attitudes towards apple juice produced by means of two new processing technologies, high‐pressure processing (HPP) and pulsed electric field processing (PEF).Design/methodology/approach – Means‐end chain approach is used. Laddering interviews are conducted with consumers in Norway, Denmark, Hungary and Slovakia.Findings – Consumers in this study did recognize and appreciate the benefits that HPP and PEF apple juice have to offer over a juice produced by pasteurization. The respondents in all four countries associated positive consequences with product attributes related to the nutritional value and the taste of the products produced by means of these novel technologies. Also the environmental benefits from processing foods by applying these technologies were seen as highly positive characteristics of the technologies. However, many respondents also expressed some scepticism, especially towards the PEF treated juice and were unsure about if there w...

Ethics in Food Safety Management

There were series of food scandals and scares all over the world which staggered consumers’ confidence in food safety and in the food chain. Consumers worried about new technologies, any existing and perceived risks being out of their control. Food production is more complex than ever and several ethical issues are raised in relation to agricultural practices and the food supply chain. Making good ethical decisions requires a trained sensitivity to ethical issues and a practiced method for exploring the ethical aspects of a decision. The more novel and difficult the ethical choice we face, the more we need to rely on discussion and dialogue with others about the dilemma. A dialogue about the ethical implications of food production, processing, policy, supply and consumption may help involved partners making better decisions.

Assessing and reporting uncertainties in dietary exposure analysis – Part II: Application of the uncertainty template to a practical example of exposure assessment

A previous publication described methods for assessing and reporting uncertainty in dietary exposure assessments. This follow-up publication uses a case study to develop proposals for representing and communicating uncertainty to risk managers. The food ingredient aspartame is used as the case study in a simple deterministic model (the EFSA FAIM template) and with more sophisticated probabilistic exposure assessment software (FACET). Parameter and model uncertainties are identified for each modelling approach and tabulated. The relative importance of each source of uncertainty is then evaluated using a semi-quantitative scale and the results expressed using two different forms of graphical summary. The value of this approach in expressing uncertainties in a manner that is relevant to the exposure assessment and useful to risk managers is then discussed. It was observed that the majority of uncertainties are often associated with data sources rather than the model itself. However, differences in modelling methods can have the greatest impact on uncertainties overall, particularly when the underlying data are the same. It was concluded that improved methods for communicating uncertainties for risk management is the research area where the greatest amount of effort is suggested to be placed in future.

Exploration of healthy nutrition attitudes using a questionnaire survey

Bevezetes: Napjainkban a civilizacios betegsegekben szenvedők szama folyamatosan nő, de ezen betegsegek előfordulasanak kockazata jelentősen csokkenthető a helyesen megtervezett, kiegyensulyozott es egeszseges eletvitellel. Celkitűzes: A kutatas fő celja a magyar fogyasztok egeszseges taplalkozassal kapcsolatos attitűdjenek megismerese volt. Modszer: A kerdőives vizsgalatot 473 resztvevővel vegeztek. Eredmenyek: A resztvevők, bevallasuk szerint, nehezen igazodnak el az egeszseges taplalkozassal kapcsolatos informaciok kozott, es leggyakrabban az „internetet” hasznaljak tajekozodasra. Klaszterelemzes segitsegevel a szerzők 3 szignifikansan elkulonulő fogyasztoi csoportot azonositottak: a „torekvőket”, akik pozitiv hozzaallast mutatnak; az „egeszsegtudatosokat”, akik aktivan cselekednek taplalkozasuk egeszsegesse tetelenek erdekeben; valamint a „kozombosoket”, akik kevesbe erdeklődőek es nem tesznek jelentős lepeseket az egeszseges taplalkozas erdekeben. Kovetkeztetesek: A kerdőives felmeres eredmenyei ramu...