The latest figures on Australian private health insurance membership levels show that the private health sector continues to remain remarkably stable. The March quarter data reveals 43.2 per cent of Australians have private health insurance. Memb
CQU graduate and former Rockhampton resident Andrew Stewart is now enjoying a career in Brisbane, Australia as a forensic chemist with the State Government Pathology and Scientific Services.Most of his w
Air bombs will be banned from next month and new strict controls on mini rockets introduced in the latest Government move to crackdown on firework yobs, Consumer Minister Gerry Sutcliffe will announce today. The new laws, that will be laid in par
The 2001 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) enters into force on Monday, May 17, marking the start of an ambitious international effort to rid the world of PCBs, dioxins and furans, and nine highly dangerous pesticides. "The
New figures to be presented at a Royal College of Physicians (RCP) conference today will show that every week in the UK one hospitality industry employee dies from passive smoking at work. The ne
International fast food giant McDonald's is currently facing at least three lawsuits in the United States.The lawsuits follow an admission last week by the company that milk and wheat ingredients are used to flavour its french fries.Some
Today's hospitals are challenged to become better prepared to manage large numbers of patients from mass casualty incidents (MCI), hazardous material incidents (HAZMAT), or in extreme cases, attacks using weapons of mass destruction (WMD). As reported in t
Every year in the United Kingdom, approximately 3, 500 people are diagnosed with oral cancer. About half these people will die of the disease. On average, four people in the UK die every day from oral cancer. In recent years, there has been a marked
CocoaVia the long-awaited chocolate from confectionery giant Mars is about to hit the market.It is the first in a list of products which claim to tackle heart disease and cut the risk of cancer.The confectionary is made from a certain ty
The Australian Medical Association (WA) today slammed proposed changes to Workers Compensation legislation saying they would restrict access to medical care."This arrogant and offensive legislation will mean
Research undertaken in the Food Group at Lincoln University has confirmed that when people buy tomatoes they make their choice based on the colour of the tomatoes. However, choosing a highly coloured tomato does not guarantee that it will also be tasty.
Food researcher, Mrs Janette Busch, asked a group of thirty seven staff and students from the University to evaluate six different varieties of tomatoes and rank them in order of preference for a number of different qualities - firmness, juiciness, sweetness, bitterness, intensity of tomato flavour and colour of the skin and flesh.
What she found was the tomato varieties the panellists preferred when asked about the colour were completely different from the varieties they preferred when asked about the qualities that described the taste of the tomatoes
"I was really excited by the results," said Mrs Busch, "they were just so clear cut.
"Anybody who has bought tomatoes can tell you about being disappointed by the taste of some delicious looking tomatoes but this is the first time in New Zealand that this has been studied.
"However, although we know which varieties of tomatoes the panellists liked best consumers can't just go and ask for these tomatoes by name in their local supermarket. This is because these tomatoes are sold under a number of different trade names throughout New Zealand," said Mrs Busch.
"What I would like to happen is that tomato growers name their tomatoes in much the same way as potato growers do. They need to tell which tomatoes are best for eating raw and which are best for cooking. That would be one way of ensuring customers always get the tomato that best suits the use they want it for."
Australian tomatoes were included as part of the research and did not rate highly with the panellists, except for skin colour and firmness.
"In New Zealand, tomatoes are the second most commonly eaten vegetable after potatoes so they make a valuable contribution to the 5+ a day vegetables we are recommended to eat each day," said Mrs Busch.
Mrs Busch's work is part of on-going research into tomatoes being undertaken in Lincoln University's Food Group. Other research involves the analysis of different tomato cultivars for their antioxidant properties.
Antioxidants are compounds naturally present in fruits and vegetables that are said to have a role in reducing some types of cancer. Tomatoes contain significant amounts a number of different antioxidants, including: lycopene (a carotenoid), phenolic compounds (flavonoids and phenolic acids) and vitamin C (ascorbic acid). As these antioxidants are found mostly in the skin it is important to eat the skin as well as the flesh of the skin.
Further research has also shown that different varieties of tomatoes contain different levels of these protective compounds and also that these levels change, depending on the time of year.
Food research at Lincoln University involves the study of a wide range of different fruits and vegetables including: taro, nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts, etc), marrowfat and chickpeas, wasabi, ulluco (Earth Gems?), pumpkins, Maori potatoes, apples, mushrooms, yams and lentils as well as tomatoes.
http://www.lincoln.ac.nz