54th Edition, MAY 26th 2014

HEALTH BENEFITS OF GREEN TEA

Green tea may boost our working memory.
Green tea has been hailed for many health benefits, including its effects against cancer, heart
disease and type 2 diabetes. Now, new research suggests the beverage can enhance our brain's
cognitive functions, particularly the working memory.

The research team - including Prof. Christoph Beglinger and Prof. Stefan Borgwardt of the University
Hospital of Basel in Switzerland - says their findings suggest that green tea could be promising in the
treatment of cognitive impairments associated with neuropsychiatric disorders, such as dementia.
They recently published their findings in the journal Psychopharmacology.
Green tea, native to China and India, is produced from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis bush.
Unlike other teas, green tea is made from unoxidized leaves. This minimal processing means it is rich
in antioxidants.
Past research has associated the beverage with many health benefits. Last year, for example,
Medical News Today reported on a study suggesting that green tea may reduce stroke risk, while
another study found that it could help fight prostate cancer.
Previous studies have also suggested that green tea may have a beneficial impact on the brain's
cognitive functions. However, according to the researchers of this most recent study, the exact
mechanisms behind this claim have been unclear.

Green tea 'boosts connectivity between parietal and frontal cortex of the brain.
To further investigate, the team conducted a study using 12 healthy male volunteers with a mean age
of 24.1 years. Participants were given a milk whey-based soft drink containing 27.5 g of green tea
extract, while others were given a soft drink without the green tea extract. Volunteers were unaware
of which drink they had been given.
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The participants were then required to carry out a series of working memory tasks. During these
tasks, their brain activity was measured using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The researchers
found that the participants who consumed the soft drink with the green tea extract showed increased
connectivity between the right superior parietal lobule and the frontal cortex of the brain. This activity
correlated with improved performance on the working memory tasks.

Commenting on the findings, the researchers say:

"The present study shows that green tea extract enhances functional connectivity from the parietal to
the frontal cortex during working memory processing in healthy controls. Interestingly, this effect on
effective connectivity was related to the green tea induced improvement in cognitive performance.
Our findings provide first insights into the neural effect of green tea on working memory processing at
the neural network level, suggesting a mechanism on short-term plasticity of interregional brain
connections."

Green tea may help in treatment of dementia.

According to the research team, since green tea appears to increase connectivity between frontal
and parietal brain regions during working memory processing, it is worth testing the efficacy of green
tea for the treatment of disorders involving cognitive impairments, such as dementia.
But they note there are some limitations in their study that need to be considered. They point out that,
in contrast to the imaging results, there was no significant effect found between green tea
consumption and task performance. "However, we found a strong trend toward improved
performance," they add, "suggesting that our study sample was too small to achieve differences on
behavioral parameters."
In addition, the researchers note that the participants drank a soft drink containing green tea extract,
not a pure green tea extract. They point out that if the participants drank a pure green tea extract, this
would have avoided effects of other components, such as caffeine, which may have had some impact
on participants' cognitive performance. Our article on the health benefits of green tea reveals some
other ways in which the beverage may be good for you, as well as potential risks from drinking green
tea.
Source : http://www.medicalnewstoday.com//

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54th Edition, MAY 26th 2014

RAMP INCIDENT

Source: http://www.caaf.org.fj/

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54th Edition, MAY 26th 2014

METALLIC CONTAMINANTS IN FOOD

Reported by Arthur YAU, Scientific Officer
Risk Communication Section, Centre for Food Safety

Introduction
Many different types of metals and metal compounds exist naturally in the earths crust. Human activities,
geological activities and other forces of nature may bring metals up to the surface and can increase the
chance of human exposure to metallic contaminants. The history of such exposures goes back to pre-historic
time, when humans were exposed to heavy metals via food and water in areas where the levels of heavy
metals in the environment were naturally high. More recently, humans are exposed to metals as environmental
pollutants from industrial or other human activities via food and water, among other things. This article is the
introduction of a series of five articles on metallic contaminants in food.

Metallic Contaminants that are of Particular Concern in Human Diet

Four metals, namely lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury, are of particular concern in food because of their
toxicity, especially for long term (chronic) intake since they may accumulate in the body and cause organ
damage particularly to susceptible groups such as foetuses and young children. Although acute poisoning
from these metals is possible, it is more likely that it happens through non-food route. Each of these metals
also forms numerous compounds with other elements, which vary in properties and levels of toxicity to humans
when ingested. Other than through exposure in workplace, some of these metal contaminants enter our body
mainly through the food we eat while others mainly enter our body through other means like from the air we
breathe or from direct skin contact. We have reasonably good knowledge of the properties of these metallic
contaminants as they have been evaluated by international authorities and safety reference values have been
established.

Sources of Exposure to Metallic Contaminants

Of these four metals, lead can enter the body via a number of media including air, soil, water and food.
Tobacco smoking, use of leaded petrol in vehicles, lead water pipe and leaded food can solder are reported to
be major sources of lead exposure. Lead can be left on the surface of vegetables and/or absorbed into
vegetables and cereals in areas where lead particles in air are deposited, and it can also bioaccumulate in
aquatic food animals like shellfish and in offal of land animals.
Mercury exposure is also not limited to food. Besides diet, mercury exposure can occur through dental fillings
that contain mercury compounds, occupational exposure and herbal medicines. Most dietary exposure is in
the inorganic form. However, some large predatory fish like swordfish may bioaccumulate the more toxic
organic form, methylmercury, in significant quantity.
Arsenic exposure occurs mainly through consumption of aquatic food, especially shellfish and animals that
feed from the bottom of the sea. Trace amounts of arsenic may also enter food plants through the application
of agricultural chemicals like fertilisers, which may contain arsenic.
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Cadmium exposure occurs mainly through the diet. Food crops that are polluted through contaminated soil or
water may contain high concentrations of the metal. Crustaceans, molluscs and kidneys of food animals are
other possible dietary sources of cadmium, as they are more likely to accumulate the metal.As these metallic
contaminants of food may come from many different sources, it is more efficient to control contamination from
these sources like the farms or factories that produce the pollution.
Illustration: Industrial discharge, exhaust from vehicles, volcanic activities, natural erosion from soil and
agricultural chemicals are sources of metallic contaminants, which can in turn contaminate food crops, fish and
shellfish.

Differences between Food Additives and Metallic Contaminants

The general public are often confused about different chemicals present in food. Food additives and metallic
contaminants are two distinct types of chemicals. The major differences are summarized below.
Food Additives

Metallic Contaminants

Reason
for
its Added, directly or indirectly, on purpose
presence in food

Exist naturally or through contamination and often

cannot be completely removed

Effect on food

Perform functions in food

No or little functions in food

Safety evaluation

Safety often evaluated by international Safety often evaluated by international authorities to

authorities before being allowed to be used in minimise excessive exposure from food and other
food
sources

Allowable
concentration

Sufficient for the technological purpose

As low as reasonably achievable

Risk Reduction Measures

Since metallic contaminants exist in a wide variety of food, maintaining a balanced diet is the most effective way to avoid
excessive exposure to metallic contaminants from a small range of food items.

Source: http://www.cfs.gov.hkl
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