How meat and meat products are potential functional foods

September 17th, 2009 LONDON - An undercover investigation has exposed the scale of gorilla poaching, by finding that up to two gorillas are killed and sold as bushmeat each week in Kouilou, a region of the Republic of Congo. According to report by BBC News, after the apes are killed, their body parts are then taken downriver and passed on to traders who sell them in big-city markets.

September 13th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new study, scientists have found that even a simple road can turn subsistence communities into commercial hunting camps that empty rainforests of their wildlife. The study was carried out by researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the IDEAS-Universidad San Francisco de Quito at Ecuador's Yasuni National Park.

September 5th, 2009 LONDON - Veterinary scientists have said that as the world warms, slabs of meat would lose their juiciness, and become soggier, blander, leaner, darker and more prone to spoilage. According to a report in New Scientist, this is all because the quality of our meat depends on whether or not animals experience heat stress during transport to the abattoir.

August 14th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A University of Arizona (UA) anthropologist has discovered that humans living at a Paleolithic cave site in central Israel between 400,000 and 250,000 years ago were as successful at big-game hunting as were later stone-age hunters at the site, but that the earlier humans shared meat differently. "The Lower Paleolithic (earlier) hunters were skilled hunters of large game animals, as were Upper Paleolithic (later) humans at this site," said UA anthropology professor Mary C.

August 5th, 2009 LONDON - Reports indicate that Australians are being urged to eat camel meat to help tackle the population explosion of the species in the country. According to a report in The Telegraph, Garry Dann, who sells camel sausages, mince and steaks to restaurants across Australia, is at the forefront of a movement that wants to turn a "camel plague" in the outback into a lucrative and environmentally sustainable industry.

July 7th, 2009 Government tightening food safety standardsWASHINGTON — The White House is trying to make Americans' food safer after recent recalls of popular products like peanut butter and cookie dough. A food safety working group established by President Barack Obama said Tuesday that the government will try and boost the safety of some of the nation's most popular foods, announcing stricter rules for the production of eggs, poultry, beef, leafy greens, melons and tomatoes.

June 26th, 2009 Spokane cops arrest alleged meat thief ringleaderSPOKANE, Wash. — Police have arrested a man they contend led an organized ring of thieves who stole meat from area grocery stories.

June 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new study, scientists have warned that a new form of unregulated whaling, called 'bycatch', is becoming a growing threat to whales along the coastlines of Japan and South Korea. According to Scott Baker, associate director of the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University, DNA analysis of whale-meat products sold in Japanese markets suggests that the number of whales actually killed through this "bycatch whaling" may be equal to that killed through Japan's scientific whaling program - about 150 annually from each source.

June 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has determined that necessity compelled Neanderthals to dry hunks of big game meat for easy transport. According to a report in Discovery News, the findings help to explain how Neanderthals could transport meat over long distances without it rotting, as well as how they survived the often chilly conditions of Northern Europe.

May 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US, Mexico and Canada Thursday urged trading partners around the world to lift all restrictions on pork products that were adopted because of the swine flu outbreak, and left open the possibility of court action to remove the barriers. In a joint statement by their top trade officials, the three North American countries said the bans violated international trade rules and pointed to assurances from the World Health Organization (WHO) that swine flu could not be contracted by eating meat.

May 3rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Students from Virginia Tech University have developed an easy-to-use seasoning which adds flavour to meat without the mess of traditional marinade. Made from all natural ingredients, 'Spice N Easy' seasoning does not need to be refrigerated and has a long shelf life.

May 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - People might one day be eating dog food, for a new study has found that it tastes as good as liverwurst or duck liver mousse. The researchers found that people can't differentiate in the flavour of dog foods with that of normal human foods.

April 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Even in forests, sex sells. A new study has found that male chimpanzees that share meat with females double their chances of having sex with them.

March 23rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Sir Paul McCartney's ex-wife Heather Mills has landed a lucrative deal to promote vegetarian food for fast food chain Burger King. According to the UK's The People, the 41-year-old former model has apparently inked a 4.3 million dollars deal to promote Burger King's new meat free burgers at the company's 11,350 outlets throughout the world.

January 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The source of Salmonella outbreak that has sickened 400 and may have claimed a life has been traced to peanut butter. Peanut butter tainted with genetic fingerprint matching the outbreak was tested by the Minnesota Health Department.