Sept.18: AROUND THE WORLD
USA
Obesity dulls sense of taste   Â
Unhealthy cravings
Apparently, obesity dulls the sense of taste driving people to eat larger quantities of calorie-rich foods high in sugar, salt and fat to satisfy their cravings. A study of rats by Cornell University, published in PLOS Biology, has found that fatty tissue secretes a protein that increases the rate of cell death and decreases cell regeneration in the taste buds.
Previous studies had found that weight gain reduces the number of taste buds on the tongue and that losing weight reverses the reduction, but it was unclear how or why. The results validate the role of taste in obesity and suggest a new direction in obesity treatment, the researchers said.
Dull taste budsÂ
UK
TV advts of juice, cereal and yogurt to be banned
Protecting children
Advertisements for fruit juice, cereals and yogurt could be banned from daytime TV in the UK under plans to tackle obesity, says Daily Mail. Tomato pasta sauce and some vegetable soups could also be affected by the strict rules for being high in sugar. The objective is to prevent children from watching these advts.Â
But the Food and Drink Federation feels that this move would result in preventing a range of healthy foods from being advertised to children. These include pureed vegetable soup, pure fruit juice, or yoghurt with fruit. This would affect the quality of diets as eating more fibre, fruit and vegetables is important.
Curbing obesity
UK
Deposit scheme for bottles and cans planned
Boost for recycling  Â
People in England will soon have to pay a deposit when they buy drinks bottles and cans in a bid to boost recycling and cut waste. The deposit will increase prices but consumers will get the money back if they return the container, according to BBC.
UK consumers use around 13 billion plastic drinks bottles a year but more than three billion are not recycled. Plastic is wreaking havoc with the marine environment. About 40 countries have some kind of deposit return scheme for plastic bottles. Most involve returning bottles to an automated collection point or to the shop from where they were purchased.
Curbing waste
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