NEWS
SCOTS SAY NO TO JUNK FOOD
Scotland agrees that the current levels of
children's exposure to junk food advertising
is unacceptable, with a survey from Obesity
Action Scotland indicating strong support
among Scottish adults for a 9pm watershed
to be applied to TV, online and outdoor
adverts. The polling found that 74% of
respondents would support a ban on junk
food adverts being shown on TV before
9pm. As many as 69% of respondents
support a ban on junk food adverts shown
online before 9pm and 66% of respondents
support a ban on junk food adverts shown
outside of the home before 9pm with
66% of respondents agree that children
seeing adverts for junk food contributes to
childhood obesity. Then there were 67% of
respondents who agreed that seeing fewer
adverts for junk food would help children
have a healthier diet.
Obesity Action Scotland wants to see
a 9pm watershed on junk food adverts
implemented across all media devices
and channels to protect children from the
harmful effects of marketing of foods high
in fat, sugar and salt.
A son has dedicated his university studies
to create an acceptable alternative to
sugar to help his father and millions of
other Mexicans. Javier Larragoiti had just
started a degree in chemical engineering
in Mexico City when his father was
diagnosed with diabetes. He said: "It's
only when you know someone with this
sickness that you realise how common
it is and how sugar intake plays a huge
role," he says. "My dad tried to use stevia
and sucralose, just hated the taste, and
kept cheating on his diet."
Larragoiti then began experimenting
with xylitol but started working on
a cheaper process to make it more
accessible. His business, Xilinat, buys
waste from 13 local farmers, producing 1
tonne of the product a year. His invention
was recently awarded a prestigious
$310,000 Chivas Venture prize award,
which will enable him to industrialise and
scale-up production tenfold.
SON'S SUGAR
SUBSTITUTE