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A data and science journalism investigation on seed control about the interaction between industry and farmers in the global seeds business. Read more [...]
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Our food security may be controlled by a small group, fewer than 10 very large corporations. They decide prices, varieties, conditions of growth. SEEDcontrol is a project born from the partnership between formicablu, an Italian science communication agency, and Oxpeckers, a South African Center for Investigative Environmental Journalism. Specifically, the project has been designed by Elisabetta Tola and Fiona Macleod. Read more [...]
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If the global antritrust authorities and regulatory agencies allow the pending merges to go through, the most likely scenario will be that two of the three top seed companies in the market will now act as one. Or, to put it in other terms, 60% of the seed market will be controlled by only three companies. Read more [...]
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Is it going to be forever difficult for small farmers to enter the market? SEEDcontrol is a project born from the partnership between formicablu, an Italian science communication agency, and Oxpeckers, a South African Center for Investigative Environmental Journalism. Specifically, the project has been designed by Elisabetta Tola and Fiona Macleod. Read more [...]
Sugar is one of the next targets of health policy makers in Europe. It features as one of the ingredients in the latest food reformulation roadmap, just published by the European Commission. This ingredient has crept up in European diets unprecedented levels. As a result it could have serious consequences for the heath of European citizens, reflected in the increase of diseases such as type 2 diabetes. Today, sugar has become very political. And the debate rages on between those concerned for public health and those in favour of preserving consumer choice, avoiding nanny states interventions and protecting the food industry's market share. Read more [...]
Although several European countries, starting with Denmark, have started a battle against trans-fats in process food, the European Commission is dragging its feet to regulate on the matter. As food-related matters are about to take centre stage during Christmas and other end-of-the-year celebrations, EuroScientist looks at what is happening behind the scenes. As more and more stakeholders in the food sector are gradually signing up to reducing the use of partially hydrogenated plant oils in their products, the delays in taking regulatory action appear to be attributable to more than mere bureaucratic inertia. Read more [...]
Europeans certainly love their bread but researchers led by Kaunas University of Technology in Lithuania believe that we are tending to bake our own, or buy it from local bakeries in the search for flavour and texture that is missing in mass-produced bread. Read more [...]
As the last remnants of holiday dinners, lunches, high-teas, suppers and celebratory breakfasts are collated and one last binge with myriad mixed flavors indulged, thoughts turn to taste. Specifically flavor and the combinations thereof. We all know that celebrity chefs are gluttons for an odd mix: sweet and sour is nothing to the TV cook who garnishes peppered okra with crème Anglaise washed down with a curried champagne spritzer with a hint of flint. And there are those who wouldn't think of leaving the supermarket without a good selection of cheese and wine. Read more [...]
A group of volunteers ate half a kilo of strawberries every day for two weeks to demonstrate that eating strawberries improves the antioxidant capacity of blood. The study, carried out by Italian and Spanish researchers, showed that strawberries boost red blood cells' response to oxidative stress, an imbalance that is associated with various diseases. Read more [...]
Pivot Points is a monthly column by EuroScientist writer David Bradley.
The artificial sweetener aspartame is one of the darling molecules of the scaremongering tabloids and blame-seeking activists, there's even a Facebook page aimed at banning it. Read more [...]
In Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) a hive fails to thrive but the bee keepers don't find the carcasses of their yellow and black striped friends. Read more [...]
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