Want A Nobel Prize? Eat More Chocolate

Can eating chocolate help land you a Nobel Prize? The answer may be a tasty yes, according to a new paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine that found countries that eat more chocolate produce more Nobel Laureates.

Since chocolate consumption could hypothetically improve cognitive function not only in individuals but also in whole populations, lead researcher Franz Messerili, a Columbia University professor, investigated whether there would be a correlation between a country's level of chocolate consumption and its population's cognitive function.

For the study, he downloaded a list of countries ranked in terms of Nobel laureates per capita from Wikipedia. Because the population of a country is substantially higher than its number of Nobel laureates, the numbers had to be multiplied by 10 million. Thus, the numbers must be read as the number of Nobel laureates for every 10 million persons in a given country.

All Nobel Prizes that were awarded through Oct. 10, 2011, were included. Data on per capita yearly chocolate consumption in 22 countries was obtained from Chocosuisse, Theobroma-cacao, and Caobisco. Data were available from 2011 for one country (Switzerland), from 2010 for 15 countries, from 2004 for five countries, and from 2002 for one country (China).

Switzerland was the top performer in terms of both the number of Nobel laureates and chocolate consumption, followed by Sweden and Denmark. Messerli estimated that every citizen would have to eat 400 grams of chocolate a year to increase the number of Nobel laureates in a given country by one, if the correlation holds true.

Need Label Review for Compliance?

A consulting firm in Maryland has launched five new labeling websites that allow companies with products regulated by the FDA to receive a label review in order to identify compliance issues with their product label.

FDAImports.com says users can upload their label files for free and obtain a label review report within as little as three days, identifying what is and is not compliant and what could be changed in order to avoid problems with the food and drug regulators.

The consulting firm has separate label review websites for the food, drug, supplement, cosmetic and homeopathic industries. Among others, the websites include FoodLabelRight.com and SupplementLabelRight.com.

"Labeling compliance is more important than ever," said Benjamin England, founder and CEO of FDAImports.com. "FDA takes it very seriously and can prevent products from ever coming to market because of a misleading statement, health claim, incorrect Drug or Nutrition Facts panel or wrongly named ingredient."

Study Links Sugar Sweetened Drinks to Obesity

Daily consumption of sucrose-sweetened soft drinks (SSSDs) increases the risk of obesity, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease, compared to drinking milk, diet cola and water, according to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

The association between consumption of sucrose-sweetened beverages and risk of obesity, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease has been long established; however, researchers at Aarhus University Hospital wanted to compare the effects of SSSDs with those of isocaloric milk and a non-caloric soft drink on changes in total fat mass and ectopic fat deposition (in liver and muscle tissue).

For the study, 47 overweight subjects were randomly assigned to drink 1 liter per day for six months of one of four different test drinks—sucrose-sweetened soft drink (regular cola), isocaloric semi skim milk, aspartame-sweetened diet cola, and water. The amount of intrahepatic fat and intramyocellular fat was measured with 1H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Other endpoints were fat mass, fat distribution (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and magnetic resonance imaging), and metabolic risk factors.

Subjects who drank the sucrose-sweetened beverages gained more fat than those who consumed any of other three beverages. Compared to the baseline measurements, drinking the regular soda increased liver fat 132% to 143%, skeletal muscle fat 117% to 221%, visceral fat 24% to 31%, blood triglycerides 32%, and total cholesterol 11%. There was no significant difference in total fat mass among all four groups. Milk and diet cola reduced systolic blood pressure 10% to 15%, compared to regular cola. Diet cola has similar effects to those of water on fat storage.

Global Food Prices Nudge 1.4% Higher in September

Following two months of stability, new statistics released by the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) revealed the FAO Food Price Index rose 1.4%, or 3 points, from its level in August.

The FAO Food Price Index, measuring the monthly change in international prices of a basket of 55 food commodities, climbed to 216 points in September from 213 points in August. The rise reflected strengthening dairy and meat prices and more contained increases for cereals. Prices of sugar and oils, on the other hand, fell. The FAO Index currently stands 22 points below its peak of 238 points in February 2011, and 9 points below its level of 225 points in September 2011.

The Cereal Price Index averaged 263 points in September, up 3 points from August, as gains in wheat and rice offset a decline in maize. At this level, the FAO Cereal Price Index is 7% higher than in the corresponding period last year but still 4% below the peak of 274 points registered in April 2008. While shrinking maize export availabilities and high maize prices have been leading cereal markets in recent months, tightening wheat supplies have also become a concern. Nonetheless, international wheat prices fell toward the second half of the month, following the announcement by the Russian Federation that it would not impose restrictions on exports.

The Dairy Price Index averaged 188 points in September, up 7% from August, representing the sharpest monthly increase since January 2011. All the five dairy products monitored saw prices rise, in particular skim milk powder and casein, which both surged by 12%. World demand for milk products remains firm which, combined with increasing feed costs, is underpinning world quotations.

The Oils/Fats Price Index averaged 225 points in September, down 0.4% from August. While prices for soy, rapeseed and sunflower oil remained firm during most of September, palm oil quotations dropped for the second consecutive month reflecting seasonally high production, which, combined with weak demand, has led to a marked rise in stocks.

The Meat Price Index averaged 175 points in September, up 2.1% from August. The grain-intensive pig and poultry sectors recorded particularly strong gains, increasing by 6% and 2%, respectively. Bovine prices made little headway, while sheep meat values were stable.

The Sugar Price Index averaged 284 points in September, down 4.2% from August, and 25% from September 2011. The decline in sugar quotations reflects improved sugarcane harvest in Brazil, the world’s largest sugar exporter, and improved crop prospects in some key producing regions including India, China and Thailand.