AGM
This year’s AGM and dinner will be held at the Northern Club on July 23rd. Those wanting to attend should just email the secretary and the official notice with payment details will go out in mid June. The price will be $50.00 including wine.
More on Toxic Oil book
Recently Reviewed by Dr. Peter Clifton, University of South Australia and Bill Shrapnel talking about the best-selling book on lipid nutrition in which they say the book has the power to influence the national diet in a way that many health professionals can only dream about. If David Gillespie’s success is anything to go by, being a layman author is an advantage.
Freed of the constraints and caveats of scientific precision, the layman can use overstatement and simplistic messages to craft a story that resonates with the man or woman in the street.
In Gillespie’s earlier book Sweet Poison, he took the familiar dietary message to limit sugar intake, greatly elevated its health significance and broadcast it. Although the experts pooh-poohed his science, it could be argued that the whole exercise was positive for public health.
The same cannot be said for Gillespie’s latest book Toxic Oil, which carries the subtitle “Why vegetable oil will kill you and how to save yourself”. Here, the author’s key message is diametrically opposed to that of just about every reputable nutrition authority in the world.
At a time when a consensus has emerged that polyunsaturated fats are the preferred replacement for dietary saturated fats for the prevention of coronary heart disease, Gillespie declares that polyunsaturated fats actually increase coronary risk. And, for good measure, they increase the risk for cancer and macular degeneration too. Saturated animal fat is recommended as a healthier choice.
Despite claiming to be “Australia’s No. 1 Health Crusader”, Gillespie has no qualifications in nutrition or any other health science but argues that, as a lawyer, he knows how to assess evidence.
Over the last four years, there has been a lively debate in the scientific literature about saturated fat and its preferred replacement in the diet. Two meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials with clinical end points have been published as well as a pooled analysis of prospective cohort studies, not to mention the scores of studies of the effects of dietary fats on blood lipids in the literature.
Yet none of this found its way into Toxic Oil. Instead, the author re-visits some of the earliest studies into dietary fats and heart disease and revives the cholesterol controversy that those early studies generated 40 years ago.
The arguments presented are not original. Rather, like so many articles found on the internet, they flow from the familiar script of the cholesterol sceptics – Ancel Keys (an early research in the field) fiddled his figures; saturated fat and cholesterol have nothing to do with heart disease; it’s all been a con; and the truth can now be revealed.
The prevarication continues in the section headed Polyunsaturated fats cause cancer, which is supported by minimal evidence – a non-significant finding in a trial commenced
AAOCS meeting in Newcastle
The AAOCS (Australian Section of the American oil chemists’ society) is holding their biannual meeting at Noah’s on the Beach Newcastle Australia on the 6-8th of November. This year’s theme will be on the Food vs. Fuels debate examining how best we can use your edible oils moving into the future. Highlights of the meeting include;
· Omega 3 symposium day in collaboration with the Omega 3 Centre (http://www.omega-3centre.com/). This will be a full day focused on dispelling popular myths and highlighting new research on omega 3 oils.
· Whole day Deep Frying workshop (6th Nov). This workshop led by industry and scientific leaders will cover all science, regulations and new technology associated with deep frying of foods.
· Inaugural winner of the AAOCS Award for Scientific Excellence in Lipid Research – The first award by the AAOCS to a scientist from within the Australasian region that has made a significant research contribution towards fats and oils research and/or industry. (Nominations are still open here http://www.aocs.org/Membership/content.cfm?ItemNumber=18316
The program is still in formulation. More information can be found below
· Flyer http://aocs.files.cms-plus.com/Meetings/AAOCS%20Biennial%20Mtg%20Nov%202013%20Flyer.pdf
· Abstract submission http://aocs.files.cms-plus.com/Meetings/Affliated/AAOCS%202013%20Abstract%20outline%20%282%29.pdf
· Registration www.regonline.com/AAOCS2013
Extracting boutique oils at the FoodBowl
The FoodBowl has a new addition to its equipment list – a Turkish made cold oil seed press!
This single screw press is capable of extracting the oil out of nuts and seeds at lower temperatures then usual – this keeps the integrity of the delicate “good things” and can do perfect samples for proof of concept before scaling up to a larger press the New Zealand Food Innovation Network has available in the South Island. This “dry” expelling complements the technique of aqueous processing of oils developed and published by Massey University at Albany. The Foodbowl has already completed work for two companies on two fruit seed products with this press.
Other equipment suitable for oilseed development includes a freeze dryer and a Clextral extruder which can grind and cook oilseeds facilitating extraction.
For more information on the press please contact Business Development Manager Angus Brown on 0274555251 or angus.brown@foodinnovationnetwork.co.n
Oils and Fats section at the Conference
There will be 2 sessions at the conference in July. There will be two overseas speakers and several local . The talk by Associate professor Marie Wong on aqueous extraction of coconut oil to produce Extra Virgin Coconut oil should prove of interest to anyone rubbing this stuff on themselves and believing all the hyperbole on the internet. Information about science and nutrition on popular sites in the ether is a joke but unfortunately so many of the public and our students believe everything they read.
Laurence Eyres FNZIFST