Plastic toys are everywhere and with good reason: plastic is great for making toys. It is cheap and durable, and can be moulded into pretty much any shape.

The importance of healthy eating for our well-being is scientifically proven and having a varied diet goes without saying.

In our fast-moving world, biotech is at the forefront of developments – but, by its very nature, it can provoke ethical and moral concerns .

Over recent decades, research on innovative food processing technologies has been carried out to identify ways to combat pathogens while reducing the need for chemical preservatives and improving the nutritional properties of the food at the same time.

European sea product consumption is on the rise. With overfishing being a threat to the natural balance of the ocean, the alternative is to turn to aquaculture, the industrial production of fish and seafood.

Type-2 diabetes, which has dramatically spread in the last decade, is most often associated with being overweight and suffering from obesity.

Until now, we have had very little understanding of the extent of malnutrition in Europe, especially in populations at risk of poverty. Now, an EU-funded project called CHANCE , aims to address the dietary habits in people with inadequate nutrition.

Livestock produces a lot of waste. One solution is to turn such agricultural waste into biogas to generate energy .  It requires using so-called anaerobic digestion, which consists in breaking down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen.

Seaweeds are not only tasty, but they are a source of nutrients that could be beneficial for health and wellbeing. And like terrestrial plants, seaweeds also contain significant portions of fibre that reach the colon undigested.

Lars Ove Dragsted, professor in preventive nutrition at the University of Copenhagen , Denmark, took part in a wide ranging EU funded project, called ISAFRUIT , designed to boost Europeans’ consumption of fruits and ultimately improve their health.

youris.com talks to Clare Hall, social science researcher at the Scottish Agricultural College in Edinburgh, UK, about the best ways to effectively inform the public about food safety in relation to pathogens responsible for foodborne diseases.

It all started when the  Irish Food Standard Authority  realised, mid-January, that some of the burgers sold in the country (and in the UK) contained about 29% of equine DNA, upon testing.

Several hundred thousands of Europeans are affected by food borne diseases every year . Only a shift in perception of how food safety should be achieved could help avoid these illnesses.

The level of interest for the US standard Smart Logging , designed to ensure the sustainable use of the forests, has now been tested in Europe.

Pork factories now rely on a new kit to examine suspect meat . The technique was developed in an EU funded project called Biotracer . It relies on maths algorithms to pinpoint the most likely origin of harmful bacteria on meat , such as salmonella.

One way communication does not work. No better proof is that previous attempts to increase public awareness of healthily eating have failed. Despite numerous campaigns, no significant change occurred in patterns of food purchase and consumption.

“The key factors we are interested in are food choice and physical activity ,” Wolfgang Ahrens, an epidemiologist from the University of Bremen , Germany tells youris.com.

We know nutrients interact with gut cells , which dispatch chemical messengers – hormones– to the brain to signal “stomach full.” This messaging from our food to gut to brain is now being decoded to fight obesity.