Lipids and Nutraceuticals September 2024 Laurence Eyres Remnant Cholesterol what is it? Research has consistently shown a correlation between conventional lipid parameters, arteriosclerosis, and cardiovascular diseases. Guidelines highlight the importance of targeting low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) for primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular diseases, with reducing LDL-C being still the primary lipid-lowering strategy. However, even when LDL-C is lowered to optimal levels, there is a residual risk of cardiovascular disease. Recent findings have brought attention to remnant cholesterol (RC) as a significant factor contributing to…

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Lipids and Nutraceuticals July 2024 Laurence Eyres Memory of Peter Hawkins Peter sadly passed away in early July at the age of eighty-one. He was such a well-loved character by all in the NZIFST, the general food industry and the staff at Hawkins Watts. We sent out our tribute to Peter as a separate communique to the members of the group. It is on the website. He was a long-term friend, and his loss is extreme. July 2024 | Oils, fats and more (oilsfats.org.nz)  …

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July 2024 Laurence Eyres Peter Hawkins (1942-2024) A very sad job to report on the passing of a dear old friend Peter Hawkins. I first met Peter Hawkins when he was the technical manager for Pfizer NZ, this might have been around 40 years ago. Apparently, he was quite nervous about meeting this grumpy old chemist who ran the laboratory at Abel’s limited in Newmarket, New Zealand and looked after the technical purchasing of chemicals. He had absolutely nothing to worry about and from the…

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Oils and fats news Laurence Eyres FNZIFST AOCS Montreal 2024 May June 2024 A Massey student just won an award for best poster at AOCS in Montreal. Matt Miller and his AAAOCS colleagues facilitated the travel and registration for Youwei (Roy) Wang to attend this annual event, this year held in Canada. The photo shows him exhibiting the winning poster with his US supervisor for his research grant, Professor Selina Wang. The other two supervisors on the avocado project are Professor Marie Wong (Massey) his…

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Lipids and Nutraceuticals March April 2024 Laurence Eyres FNZIFST Sarcopenia for the senior readers. Medicine describes Sarcopenia as: 1) Loss of muscle mass 2) Loss of muscle strength 3) Loss of muscle function When it comes to sarcopenia and nutrition, enough protein and amino acids are needed for muscle synthesis and maintenance. The recommended dietary allowances are: (RDA) is 0.8 grams of protein /Kg of body weight each day, and 2.14. grams/Kg/day of amino acids. However, as we age, we need. more than these values…

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Oils and fats update January 2024 Laurence Eyres FNZIFST Expert scientists visit Massey university NZ (Auckland) Professor Selina Wang (UC Davis) and Dr. Bertrand Matthaus recently visited NZ as guests of Professor Marie Wong at Massey Albany. Professor Wong had obtained funding from a catalyst project to work on avocado oil. Bertrand was one of the original researchers on MCPD analysis and its reduction in processed oils. Selina is the Scientist in USA who exposed the fraudsters selling adulterated avocado (80% of the US market)…

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Fifty years of change to the lipid diets of Australasians-A recap. Laurence Eyres FNZIFST History: The situation 50 years ago In 1972 NZ and Australia were experiencing extremely elevated levels of coronary heart disease much in line with the rest of the Western world. In Australasia cheap dairy and animal fats predominated in most consumer’s diet. Figure 1 (Insert courtesy of Professor Rod Jackson)   Soft unsaturated margarine and olive oil and other vegetable oils were rarely consumed. New Zealand vegetable oils were on import…

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Oils and Fats Update July 2023 Laurence Eyres FNZIFST AAOCS Conference Newcastle The 2023 Australasian section of the American Oil Chemists’ Society (AAOCS) conference is at Noah’s on the Beach in Newcastle Australia Nov 13-15th 2023. The first 50 people to register will receive a receive an Omega-3 Index test kit valued at $59.95 each. Thanks to OmegaQuant, they are suppling 50 kits where you can find out the levels of omega 3 in your blood. Get in quick to get one https://AAOCS2023.eventbrite.co.nz For Students we…

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From Peter Nichols Both Squalene and Shark Liver Oil are health food supplement products that are typically sold in bottles of soft gel capsules to retail consumers (like Omega 3 fish oil etc.) globally. No Standard (or benchmark specification) for marine derived Squalene or the Diacylglycerol Ether/Alkoxyglycerol (DAGE/AKG) containing fraction derived from Shark Liver Oil had existed in Australian or global reference publications such as US Pharmacopoeia, British Pharmacopoeia or other forms.  Retail items presented to consumers as ‘Squalene’ and ‘Shark Liver Oil’ are available in store…

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Laurence Eyres FNZIFST   Food Fraud and Standard Specifications For many people dealing in oils there is come confusion between enforceable legislation/compliance and standards for identity. This was recently illustrated at the World Conference on Avocado Oil where an afternoon session debated the whole issue of standards and adulteration. Professor Selina Wang a keynote speaker has published several articles showing that of 82% of avocado oil in the USA, eighty-two% is adulterated, hence why the bottles are so cheap and are threatening the existence of…

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