Latest ARS Food & Nutrition Research Briefs Posted

The Agricultural Research Service has posted the April 2001 issue of the Food & Nutrition Research Briefs to its web site at:

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/np/fnrb/fnrb401.htm

The Research Briefs is a quarterly newsletter containing the latest ARS findings in human nutrition, food freshness and safety, and new foods and varieties.

Included in this issue:

• It’s no secret that people need ample calcium and vitamin D to maintain strong bones, even in their twilight years. Now, a study suggests that protein may be important in reducing bone loss in elders.

• Planning a cookout? To be on the safe side, you’d be wise to check the internal temperature of those ground beef burgers with a meat thermometer instead of relying on color.

• Cayenne pepper--a popular spice for flavoring food--contains a compound that kills several noxious fungi and yeasts, including Candida albicans. But it doesn’t hurt human cells, so a company is testing its potential as a candidate drug for treating patients with fungal infections.

• A small dose of sodium chlorate--oxidized table salt--fed to pigs before slaughter could reduce the chance of foodborne illness. The compound selectively kills the pathogens Salmonella typhimurium and E. coli O157:H7.

ARS is the chief scientific agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Contact: Judy McBride, ARS Information Staff, Beltsville, Md., phone (301) 504-1628, fax (301) 504-1641, jmcbride@ars.usda.gov.