Future benefit of GM food? by Ain

I realized that I forgot to include an interesting issue during my research. Scientists are actually working on the possiblity of edible vaccines and medicines for the future.

Scientists are working on to create edible vaccines and medicines through creating plants that produce medical drugs, also known as plant made pharmaceuticals or PMP for short.  The crops used for release trials are maize, tobacco, rapeoil seed and soybean. Examples of the pharmaceuticals obtained from these are blood and blood coagulation proteins, vaccines, structural substances like collagen, antimicrobial and antiviral substances, growth hormones, various enzymes and antibodies. Therapeutic antibodies such as for treating cancer and infectious diseases are the key focus in the development of PMP. However, these PMPs are still in clinical trials and none have been approved anywhere in the world. An example of PMP in the clinical trial is safflower which has the active substance is insulin, to treat diabetes.

Imagine if we have edible vaccines, it would be cheaper than the traditional vaccines. All we have to do is to eat the foods containing the vaccines, and would not need to go through the pain of having the needles poking through our skin. It would definitely save the trip to the clinics or hospitals for the vaccines, and save ourselves, especially children from emotional distress of going through the injections.

References:
http://www.gmo-safety.eu/basic-info/483.pharma-plants-status-report.html

Good or bad?

Hey guys, recently, there are many reports on fake food. Like fake eggs, fake beef, fake lamb.

Recently in China, there is this "exploding watermelon" as the farms inject some hormones to make it grow faster, sweeter and bigger just like how people inject hormones to make the chickens grow up faster. The watermelon would actually explode like a bomb(but dont know when) which I feel that is quite dangerous as the skin of watermelon is thick and it will cause at least a bruise if injured by the flying skin.

It makes me wonder, all these alterations on food has been done against how things are in in the nature. Just like the issue of geneticaly modified food which we did for our report. The food is almost not the same anymore as we all know that genes kind of alters and also decides how we are. After altering the genes or inserting new genes, the food is not the food that it is supposed to be anymore. That is what I feel. It makes me think if in the future, we might just need to pop a pill and it actually contains all the nutrients that we need and most importantly, the calories we need for survival.

Are we eating food or are we eating products that are man made?

human milk in cow?

hey guys(: here is something i found out while researching.

Scientists are actually trying to inject human genes into cow in order for the cow to produce a more "human" milk that contains higher prebiotics and antibodies! however, animal protectors are strictly against this research as it may harm the future development of the calf.

This research, which is being lead by China said that genetically modified food would not pose a threat to food safety. however, other researches shows that "resulted in 42 transgenic calves being born, just 26 of the animals survived after ten died shortly after birth, most with gastrointestinal disease, and a further six died within six months of birth." 


Not only this, response in the market has been negative about the issue of purchasing this modified product. 


so, what do you guys think? to buy or not to buy?? THAT is a question(:
-FM
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/agriculture/geneticmodification/8423536/Genetically-modified-cows-produce-human-milk.html 

Bacteria does not really cause harm.

Hey girls, do you know that bacteria like yeast and mould, or TPC results does not really causes any discomforts unless at dangerously high limit. Even at 100,000 for TPC and yeast and mould about 3-4 thousands. My company actually had release these products, although it exceeds legal limit, so why do we do micro instead?? reason is simply, by doing micro is to test out the cleaning effectiveness of the productions, thus when it is discovered to have this high amount of bacteria, the next immediate action is to ask the cleaner to wash properly as this relates to how well the cleaner cleans the tanks. Unless in the TPC, pathogens are present, which is isolation through differential agar, it will cause food borne poisoning to the consumers and must be recall back.

Also food allergy has various method to be tested. Like Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISA), AgraStrip Gluten do test on the targeted allergen. -Quanjin

My opinion of GM food

Hello everyone,

I was thinking that I might want to include my personal opinion about GM food after researching and also reading the post that everyone posted. This post is just my opinion and it might be different from other people so I hope that I would not offend anyone of you. :)

Like the research we found on GM food which shows GM food has pros and cons, I support and also object to the presence of GM food.

I have been introduced to GM food when I am 10 years old(Primary 4) as my school sent me to some workshop which teaches us about GM corn(which kernals are of multi-coloured) and I have also been given a chance to plant the corn from the kernal(but the plant never germinated. haha). I am surprised that after so many years, the issue about GM food is still being debated.

I agree to the presence of GM food as we all know that GM food most likely would be pest resistant, herbicide resistant, or the food will ripen slower. As the earth's population keeps increasing, there is a serious increasing trend of proverty in hunger all over the world. According to what I know, if humans use the most natural way of farming, the yield of the crops might not be able to feed the population. To a certain extent, I feel that GM food shows the natural instinct of fighting for survival as food is the most basic need in the Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

I object to the presence of GM food because being a nature lover, I feel that GM food do protect the human kind but does an imbalance in the eco system. Cross pollination has occurred in between GM modified crops and non GM modified crops in some of the countries. This made me wonder if will we see some giant plant walking around(like those mutated organisms I have watched in some sci-fi movie when I was young). At the same time, it made me think if it is right to actually make all these changes to the natural world when the we belong to the Earth and not the Earth belonging to us. 

Another thing I realised is that many people buy organic food now because they feel that organic food is healthier and also more beneficial to their health but only little people buy organic food because they feel that it is better to the natural environment.

I have spent many days asking myself which side would I want to take; Support or object GM food and I realised I could not come up with an answer.

Chui Ying(Yvonne)

Belive it or not!!

Hey girls! i was reading up some artical on GM foods and it says that according to FDA, the companies that uses gm foods are not required to disclose the information, meaning they do not have to tell us if the ingredients are being Genetic modified, in addition, it was estimated that about 80% of our processed food are genetically modified, so how do we know if the food we purchased are gm or not??

One "the most common GMO ingredients are non-organic soy, canola, corn and now beet sugar, including all of their derivatives like corn oil, corn syrup, soy protein, soy sauce and canola oil. Avoid products that contain these ingredients unless they are certified organic, as it is highly probable they are GMO." (

GMO 101: What you need to know about genetically modified foods, july 10th 2011)

 So basically these few ingredients are needed in abundant amount to feed the growing population, thus genetic engineering may be necessary to support it, in terms of resistance and bulk. Many people, especially developed countries, demands transparency in their food, yes if you buy a fan, they can say made in india, then low quality plastic but its cheap. You may still buy it right? However, if the food contains Genetically modified ingredient, high chance that we may be afraid and rather chooses not to buy, and these companies would suffer huge loss.  so it is either man kind reduce reproduction rate or choose gm food for help.


Resource : http://www.lodinews.com/online_features/how_to/article_52b5f7d0-cdb6-5f0a-b18a-773898d77808.html
 -Quanjin

Are we consuming GM foods? -Maryann Rolands

Guys, Singapore is importing 90% of food products. This is because we dont have much primary producers due to lack of land. Soybean,maize,cotton and canola are the main four GM crops that are exported. This is based on assumption, Singaporeans love soybean milk? I know i love it. Do you think that we are consuming GM soy all the time? and how do we tell? From research, They say that currently there is no legislations in place for labelling in Singapore. So, how would we know? Currently, according to AVA they just have to go through tracing requirements and have a proper ingredient list. labelling of GM foods is a complicated issue in Singapore. GMAC says that there are alot of factors that may implicate such as tax, pricing, imports etc.

The government website states the the GM foods we consume is safe for consumption as stated by AVA. My question to all this is don't consumers have the right to know what is going into our foods? what if i am anti-GM due to personal reasons? what if I believe there may be health complications involved? is it fair for consumers if the GM food is not labelled? especially after knowing most of our foods are actually imported from other countries. Does it take a food crisis to spark people to talk about this issue. I feel this to be a serious issue. and to be honest I did not know of this until i did this research on consumer rights and labels on GM foods. Hopefully, this will help Fangmin and Ain in writing about the controversial issues in the report.

References
http://www.gmac.gov.sg/Index_FAQs_Genetically_Modified_Foods.html
http://www.ava.gov.sg/

Disease-Curing Eggs! - Ain

British scientists have actually created a breed of genetically modified hens that produce cancer-fighting medicine in their eggs. These hens have been genetically modified to lay eggs that contain medicinal protein similar to medicine used to treat  multiple sclerosis, skin cancer and arthritis.

To achieve this, human genes are added to the hen's DNA, and human proteins are secreted into the egg whites. The gene in the hens which produces ovalbumin is modified so that it will produce specific medicinal proteins. In the flock of the genetically modified hens, it was discovered that all the egg whites from the hens contain a monoclonal antibody that has the potential for treating arthritis and malignant melanoma; and an antiviral drug that resembles modern treatments for multiple sclerosis.

It was discovered that using farm animals to produce drugs is much faster, cheaper and more efficient than the current industrial methods. An example would be the hens used for the genetic modification, are from a common breed and are able to produce 300 eggs a year.

The production of pharmaceutical proteins has been shown previously in genetically modified mammals such as sheep, goats, cattle and rabbit. However, the proteins have been difficult to extract and the ability to produce useful proteins vanishes after a few generations. But, in this latest research, five generations of hens were bred and each produced good concentration of drugs. In theory, the technique can be used with a wide range of genes so that hens could produce many different drugs for a range of diseases.

Imagine, if it really happens in the future, and we are diagnosed with any type of diseases, all that we have to do is to consume the eggs of hens which contains the proteins to cure the disease, and we would be cured after that. Amazing isn't it. We would be able to save the costs of our medical fees. But then again, we would be exploiting the hens, and disturbing their natural being. Would that cause any negative effects?

References:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/jan/15/medicalresearch.drugs

How Safe Is GM Food?

http://www.biotech-info.net/how_safe.html

while researching, i came across this information about how exactly is GM food safe??

According to the article, "In southern Africa, hunger now affects some 14 million people. The USA has donated GM maize to help alleviate the crisis, but in Zambia the food rots in warehouses because the government believes it unsafe. President Levy Mwanawasa has even called GM maize "poison", saying he is not prepared to "use our people as guinea pigs". In some areas, citizens have rioted and looted to get to the food." 


But, what made them think that way?? Was it the lack of safety?? This reason was used as an excuse according to officials in USA as the donated food was they type of food the Americans have been eating for years, however, there are debates over this fact that the US, which is promoting biotechnology building is now using the UN to do its protectionist bidding.


Again, the topic of the safety of GM brings back to its advantages and disadvantages that most consumer worries. "The advantages, achieved through improved crop protection, include insect and virus resistance, and herbicide tolerance. Public health might be improved through a greater supply of hardier strains or through products that have been enriched with vitamins and minerals, such as "golden rice", to which vitamin A has been added.
Disadvantages, though, are that GM crops may threaten biodiversity, decrease the richness and variety of foods, and make farmers dependent on chemical and biotech companies, through the use of sterile seed or chemical products that would have to be purchased yearly. Health concerns include: allergenicity; gene transfer, especially of antibiotic-resistant genes, from GM foods to cells or bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract; and "out-crossing", or the movement of genes from GM plants into conventional crops, posing indirect threats to food safety and security."


However, is it really the disadvantages that stops the consumer from consuming GM food, or is it the politics behind that restricted most GM food being imported thus causing a misunderstanding in consumers that the government thinks that GM food is unsafe??

-FM

Pang Kar Min TA04

While researching,
(http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview.php%20)
environmental organizations and public groups are protesting strongly against GM food.
there's alot of issues on people against GM food and for GM food.
To debate among the pros and cons is really to difficult to decide whether its good to go for GM food or not.

Since population is growing abundantly now, isn't it good enough that GM is "curing" hunger.
people go against GM food due to environment factor, but then come to think again, can the world's environment be saved if we totally banned GM food? and what about the large population's hunger and the malnutrition problem faced? If people are so against GM food and wanting to stop it..but those people who go againsr it can they find alternatives way to 'cure' these hunger and malnutrition in time? is there sufficient? I think at this point of time we can only have both GM food and organic food's existence but we have no say to totally go against it or totally stop the manufacturing of GM food.
all we can do is to label and if people who are against can go alll the way for organic food.
however, there should be great demand in safety caution on GM food to reduce unintended harm to human health.

Even animals can are genetically modified for humans.

In order to produce a better nutritive milk, Scientist have induced human genes to around 300 cows.
Thus by doing so, cows are producing a so called " human milk" which helps to boost the immune system of a human child, or maybe the calf too.

It was argued it is not dangerous if done correctly, afterall, why would they induce genes that will harm the food source in which we consumes. Although many people are resistance to GM food, like ethical issue, or afraid of side-effects, these modified food can proven to be useful once proven to be safe, but it usually takes 10-20 years of experiment, even on humans, to see the side-effects as all these are accumulated in small amount.

However when consumed in small amount, won't it be passed out of the body if the body does not recognise it as a source of energy or nutrients?? if it recognise it as a source of nutrients or energy, wont it be the same, being absorbed normally? Having said that, unless it is in microbial secretion, may cause allergic reactions or hazards which is not yet discovered as things mutates over generation.


Reference Richard gray, science correspondent, retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/agriculture/geneticmodification/8423536/Genetically-modified-cows-produce-human-milk.html on 28th june 2011.

By Quan Jin

Labelling of GM food . :)

As I was reading a post on the labelling of GM food posted by Fang Min and found it very interested and decided to research a little more about it.

As we all know that GM food have been incoroperated in our lives in such a wide area, we might be eating GM food daily without ourselves knowing as many GM food are not stated on their labelling. In different countries, there are different standards set in regards with the labelling of GM food.

Firstly, there are two diffeent types of labelling; voluntary labelling and mantory labelling(yes just like what we have for the labbeling of food packaging in singapore. :) ) of course many health organisations wishes that GM food would be labelled on food packaging in a mantory manner so as to the consumers know what they are eating but I believe this would result in extra cost for the company but if it is voluntery labelling, many companies would not even care to do any labelling for GM food.

Below is a list of how are the labelling system for GM food is like in different countries.

United States
Compulsary to label that it is GM food only when the food is very different in terms of nutritional values, composition and also the allergies present in them. If it does not fall under any of the stated terms, then the labelling is voluntary.

Countries from the European Union
All GM food has to be labelled since November 2003. In addition of that, processed food that contains more than 0.9% GM food has to be labelled too.

Australia and New zealand
All GM food that has be produced or imported must be labelled.

Japan
All GM food must be labelled. If in terms of processed food, the Gm food has to be labelled if the total weight of GM food used is more than 5% or the total weight.

Korea
GM food containing more than 3%GM materials have to be labelled. Processed food which contain any of the GM food containing more than 3%GM materials as the main 5 ingredients has to be labelled too.

China
All GM food should be properly labelled.

Reference
Centre for Food Safety, (2011). International development in labelling of GM foods. Retrieved on June 27,2011 from http://www.cfs.gov.hk/english/programme/programme_gmf/programme_gmf_gi_info4.html

Chuiying (Yvonne)

Contradiction of the benefits? by Ain

In contrary to what I've researched on earlier, GM crops may not actually have the benefits stated from my previous post. An article released on January 2006 by Friends of the Earth International showed to be otherwise.

GM crops are said to be the solution of hunger and poverty, the crops can be grown in alrge quantities in a smaller time frame, thus being able to meet the world's demands. However, the article stated that GM crops are used for animal feeds and not for food. The GM crops grown at developing countries are meant for 'export cash crops', which means crops that are grown for profit, just for exportation. In an example shown in the article, in Argentina only 2% of the GM soy grown is for the local usage.

GM crops are thought to be environmentally friendly, due to the decreased usage of pesticides. However, Monsanto's Roundup Ready soybeans have caused  the increase of the usage of pesticides to 55 million kilogram.

GM crops are assumed to be cheaper as it is said to lower production costs. But it has been revealed that the GM crops are not cheaper, not better in quality and apparently, do not priovide any benefits to consumers. Only two modifications are grown commercially, which is herbicide tolerance and  insect resistance.

It was said that by growing GM crops, the farmers would gain mutiple profits and be able to own luxurious items, but, developing countries such as India and Indonesia, where GM crops are grown, have encountered problems with Monsanto's Gm crops, and are leaving the farmers with debts. However, Monsanto continues to introduce aggresive royalty initiatives in South America to gain more profits.


Reference:
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefing_notes/monsanto_key_facts.pdf

Benefits of GM crops - 'Ain

Hey guys, I've been doing the research on the benefits of GM foods and it was stated that growing GM crops would produce large amounts of profits, thus allowing farmers to be able to own luxurious items that they couldn't afford before. The reason why GM crops are said to be economically viable is due to the fact that they are pest resistant, herbicide tolerant, disease resistant, cold tolerant and drought/salinity tolerant.

Non-GM crops are commonly infected by pests, thus resulting in crops losses and financial loss for the farmers. By cultivating GM crops that are resistant to pests, the cost of bringing crops to the market would decrease, and farmers would not have to splurge on pesticides, which may in return cause health hazards and harm to the environment.

Besides that, weeds are often seen growing amongst crops, feeding on the crops nutrients from the soil. Also, weeds have a faster growth rate than most crops, and would block the sunlight from the crops when they have grown taller than  the crops. Farmers would then have to use herbicide to destroy the weeds. At the same time, the farmers have to be aware that the herbicides would not harm the crops and the environment. By having crops that are resistant to herbicides, the usage of herbicides to destroy the weeds would be reduced greatly, thus preventing anymore damage done to the environment and reducing production costs.

Crops are prone to be infected by parasities, fungi, viruses and bacteria, causing plant diseases. This would cause crop losses and financial loss to the farmers. Crops that are gentically engineered to to be resistant to the diseases would reduce the production costs.

The cold, drought or high salt content can affect the growth of crops. For example, frost can destroy seedlings. By having crops that are tolerant of the cold, they will be able to grow throughout the cold season and would ensure a stable income for the farmers. The amount of land suitable for growing crops is diminishing, and farmers have limited land to grow their crops, unabling them to meet the population's demands. By cultivating crops that can withstand drought and high salt content in the soil, farmers would be able to grow their crops on lands that were previously designated as unsuitable for farming.

To add on, GM crops play a part in pharmaceuticals too. Medicines and vaccines are expensive to reproduce and may need special storage conditions that are not available in developing countries. Researchers are working on to create edible vaccines and medicines in vegetables, such as tomatoes. These edible vaccines would be easier to be transported, stored and administered than the injectable vaccines.

Lastly, GM crops are said to be more nutritious, thus being able to prevent malnutrition in developing countries. For example, rice does not contain the adequate amount of nutrients to prevent malnutrition. If the rice is genetically modified to contain all the necessary nutrients, the chances of having malnutrition of these nutrients would reduce greatly.

References:

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2005/pr29/en/index.html
http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview.php

which should we label? Organic or GM???

Just a thought when i was reading an article about labeling GM food.
In the past, the food we ate are mostly organic, however, as the year passes by, in order to have a higher profit within a shorter time, genetic engineering was introduced shortly after pesticides was being used. Now, the problem is that these genetically modified food, also known as GM food, are not being labelled as there is no strict regulations or requirements. However, organic food are needed to be labelled.

Why couldn't it be the other way round instead? Or, perhaps both?

Some religious may need to be aware of GM food as some may contain traces of certain animal's gene which they could not consume. Without the labeling, the different religious may consume the food without knowing what is in the food. If the food was being labelled with a label saying GM food or traces of animal genes found, wouldn't it be much better? The different religious and vegetarians would have a better idea of what are the types of food they are buying and could avoid the food they need to avoid.

-FM

RE: GM corn a hazard or not? -Maryann Rolands

I thought this was an interesting article to write about! Well, there's a scientist in America who is skeptical about GM corn. Since 2/3 of the crops grown in the US is gentically modified and they one of the largest produces of GM corn in the world. Morever, Corn has become an essential food item to many therefore as USUAL the US will take the opportunity to make money out of it. well guess what? here are the loopholes in the beautiful painted story. In 2009, Germany banned this GM maize plant MON810 and so did Austria, hungary,greece,luxembourg and france.As of recently in 2011, bulgaria also banned this maize plant.  Everyone was worried as to what is the issue with this corn and why was there no research being revealed about it.It was found out that  it causes serious damage to animals and  it may also destroy the endangered plant and insect species. Have you heard of genetic pollution? well this article also explains about natural winds and storms blowing the seeds of these GM plants onto other crops and causing more chaos to the current situation! As my previous blog post mentioned that there is a need for GM foods, I also feel that further research should be carried out on this field, some research have already shown that some GM foods can cause damage to the liver and kidneys. Unless the side effects takes a 100 years before it occurs(we prob wont live that long to feel it), scientists should be sure of what they are doing and what is being approved for consumption.



What do you guys think about GM foods in itself? Do you think that it is a possible hazard or not?

References
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/01/09/gm-corn-poses-health-hazard.aspx
http://naturalsociety.com/study-proves-three-monsanto-gm-corn-varieties-pose-health-hazard/
http://www.digitaljournal.com/img/8/3/6/0/2/7/i/5/2/0/o/corn_diversity.jpg

E.Coli Outbreak in Germany-Maryann Rolands

I know you guys are all busy with SIP but I cant help but write about the latest food safety issue that has plagued Germany with a death toll of 22. Yes, the main culprit is the rare strain of toxic E.coli bacteria. The food it was found in was unknown to everyone until yesterday. It was found in beansprouts, Germans were told to completely stop consumption of beansprouts and to be extra careful to stop the consumption of tomatoes,cucumbers and lettuce until it has been confirmed by the labs. A few days ago, I read the news in Singapore that you were warned not to consume these vegetables raw, well guess what? I took that literally and totally stopped my consumption of raw vegetables until this issue simmers down. I trust Singapore's food safety system therefore I followed the warning accordingly. Since I am talking about this unfortunate issue, I wish to bring up that days ago when I was buying Bubble tea at a taiwanese stall, an Australian Asian came up to me and told me to make this my last tea consumption at that stall. I was surprised! Than he reminded me of the Jin guo wan and sunlight brand fruit juice concentrates containing high amounts of DEHP which is a type of toxic plasticiser. Japan"s green tea is also banned in Singapore due to radioactive substance contamination. I was so afraid because i was told of dodgy systems overseas, I seriously wish I were home where I am sure of what I am consuming. As for now, I got to leave things be and hope everything I am consuming has been checked. Hope you guys are extra careful with what you consume and will realise that food scares out of Singapore is uncontrollable sometimes, we should appreciate the AVA for their vigilance in continueing to protect the population by carrying out stringent checks.

Let me know what you think:)


      
References

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/06/world/europe/06germany.html
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1132965/1/.html

GM medicine

-Jiamin

I have never came across to realise that actually medicine is genetically engineered.
Because medicine have simple genetics therefore, they are bacteria are the first to be modified.

First experiment was done in 1978 by where human insulin genes in insert into E.Coli to produce synthetic insulin.

and also, I just found out combines strawberries,

hey guys! since you guys are sharing so much regarding about your SIP stuffs, guess i should not be too stingy with mine too! Just the other day i was in the lab performing carbohydrate analysis, i realized that alpha-amylase is actually an endoenzyme that cleaves both amylose and amylopectin molecules internally and it acts on the (1-> 4) linkages of the starch and attacks the uncooked and undamaged starch granules.

In addition, in order to get the analysis started, we must first ensure that all the equipment are in place and that the sample that we are working on retains as much moisture as possible in order to ensure the results to be as close as the outside analysis as possible. In order to make the sample dry, we put the sample into a vacuum oven overnight. however, i cant  take down the picture cause im not too sure if it will affect TP. after which, we grind the sample into less than 50mm, after which, we put the sample into a duran bottle together with a buffer by the name of MES-TRIS. during this step, the measurement of the sample must be very accurate. after this step, we added in a magnetic stirrer and place it on a magnetic plate and put in 50 microlitre of the alpha amylase that i have mentioned earlier. after which, we placed all the bottles in to a water bath at 80 degrees with an incubation with continuous agitation. after which, we will cool the bottles by replacing the hot water in the water bath to cool water at about 60 degree before adding 100 microlitre of protease. after adding the protease, the bottles are being placed in the water bath to incubate for 30 minutes with continuous agitation.

the next step will be the pH adjustment. as we take the samples out, we added in 5mL of 3M acetic acid into the bottles one at a time to prevent evaporation loss. be adding drop by drop, all the results are being very precise. if the pH is more than 8.0, we would have to do the entire experiment aain. immediately, we added 200 microlitre of amyloglucosidase solution and incubate it again for 30 minutes at 60 degrees with continuous agitation. after which, we transferred the sample into a cuvette that is later being put into a UV spectrophotometer for checking for the absorbance of the product. after the first test, solution A1 is added and we waited for awhile before the second reading. after the second reading, solution A2 was added and we waited for awhile before the readings start. lastly, we put in solution A3 and waited for awhile before the last reading was being read.

this was what i have done in the past week(: hope you guys have a better understanding at carbohydrate analysis(:
-FM(:

YES to Genetic Engineering! -Maryann:)

 I was just thinking of what I could post that would interest you guys. The idea on genetic engineering cropped up when I was reading about GM foods and arguments. Genetic Engineering is the future of this world. However, with so many people disagreeing with it strongly because of health reasons it is really difficult to fully allow it to take place. Well let me start of by stating the NEED for GM foods. Although we would love to argue on the negative aspects of GM foods we should agree that when there is a need that may question our survival than we should take it. With natural disasters occuring and destroying of the crops and nuclear radiation seeping into foods I feel it to be a contamination on its own and definitely a risk to our health already.

Well to do countries have been buying foods from affected countries because prices fall so low when the country's currency falls due to the disasters(natural or human inflicted). Do we even know whats really in our foods? Its all out of desperation. So having mentioned the current status quo, GM foods seems like a safer bet doesnt it?  Lets look at the benefits of GM foods that could support what I am saying.

-Pest Resistance (reduce use of chemical pesticides and to yield stronger crops)
-Herbicide Tolerance (to have stronger crops)
-Disease Resistance (plants that are eaten to have resistance from diseases caused by fungi)
-Cold tolerance (to have stronger crops)
-Drought/Salinity tolerance (to have stronger crops)
-Nutrition(malnutrition)
-Pharmaceuticals(medicinal contents in common foods)
-Phytoremediation (to clean up pollution using plants)




Would love to hear your thoughts:)
References
http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview.php
http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/consumerinformation/gmfoods/

Pandan Cake - 'Ain

Hey guys, since we are doing on pandan cake for our Package 1, I would like to share with you what I've found out while doing some research on the product. 


Pandan cake is actually Asian's Angel Cake, and is popular in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.


It is usually baked with these ingredients; eggs, sugar, pandan leaves juice, oil and flour. However, in the recipe given by the company, fresh milk, pandan paste and sponge gel is added into the ingredients list of making the pandan cake.


Instead of using pandan leave juice, pandan paste is used instead. This is to ensure consistency in flavour of the pandan cakes, as different pandan leave juice would produce different taste due to factors such as the season. Sponge gel, also known as ovalette,  is a stabiliser used in baking sponge cakes. It helps the eggs to rise rapidly and stiffly. It's acidic nature also helps the beaten eggs to remain stable and not lose the airy and voluminous texture, thus making the sponge cake softer and smoother. Also, the addition of milk in the pandan cake will actually enhance the pandan cake's flavour. Thus, it can be said that the additional ingredients are added for a purpose, which is to boost the pandan cake's quality.

References:
http://nyonyafood.rasamalaysia.com/pandan-chiffon-cake/
http://www.dianasdesserts.com/website/forum/printthread.cfm?Forum=9&Topic=78
http://pickyin.blogspot.com/2011/03/pandan-chiffon-cake.html

Microbial experience!!

Haha cultivating microbes is what i have been doing since last month, The following pictures are some air vents, and also a surprising microbial growth!! enjoy :)

SOBA SAUCE- Quanjin

Hey girls, I was doing shelf-life testing on Soba sauce, although it is very high in salt, there were 43000 counts for TPC in it, many microbes are able to surivive inside the sauce. Probably are salt-tolerant type microbes.

Also the company decided not to pasteurise the sauce as they are filling into a plastic cup with seal, they decided to freeze it and see how long it can last without pasteurise. However there isn't any yeast and mould in it. One reason the QA manager told me is that when the product is stored in temperature less then 4 or lower, the yeast and mount count will keep dropping.

Also QA audits came to the company, finally saw a real procedures, a lot of Caucasian, QA manager told be when replying them, you have to be confident, this way will create a trust between them. :)

Meal carts & AGV.

Hello (:

Just thought of posting a picture of a PMDC (patient Meal Delivery Cart) with a automated guided vehicles. (:

I used to think that the meal carts are pushed by labourer. but NO!This is how they sent their meals to patient. The AGV (automated guided vehicles) will transport the Cart up to the wards. Only when the carts are up to the level, then there will be people who push the carts down.

The AGV, instead of reading to a satellite, it is reading to reflectors in a warehouse. They have computers to configure the paths of AGVs.

When I first saw this is really awesome to me! AGVs also have their own lift to send the carts up.they don't use lifts whereby staffs are using.

Thanks for reading. (:
-Jiamin (karmin)

Credits: Fork Lift Action http://www.forkliftaction.com/news/forklifts_news_international/Rocla__Egemin__Danaher__Swisslog__Seegrid__FMC__LiftOne__Robotic_Automation___CD_Skilled_Robotics__Sky_Trax__Savant_6610.aspx
Extracted on : 30/4/11

"Fake" meat! :o

Hello everyone,

I saw the blog post which Maryann uploaded and found that malaysia is not the only country selling "fake" stuff. The news has been reporting that people in china has been selling pork as beef. They flavour the pork using a type of food additive which is some beef flavouring to make the colour and the taste of the pork become like beef. This method is used by many butchers because the cost of pork is much lesser than the cost of beef. So by doing so, they are making a larger profit.

When I was listening the news yesterday, there was one more shocking news. A one year old girl died after eating posonous fried chicken which her parents bought at some roadside stall in China. The parents had signs of poisoning too but survived the ordeal. According to the news, the stall holder used some food preservative in too large quantity which resulted in this incident.
Chui Ying. :)

Kangaroo MEAT:( by Maryann Rolands.

Hey guys.
Check this out. i nearly fainted, i thought australians loved kangaroos didnt think theyll eat them. Food for thought. would we actually eat a lion? Singapore's national animal? hmm.

Cheers,

Maryann

"Fake" eggs in Malaysia by Maryann Rolands:)

Hey guys, SERIOUSLY! check this out. whilst im far away in australia i found out that close to you there is a food safety crisis!

There are fake eggs being made and sold in penang and people dont know! can you imagine that? these eggs are made out of chemicals. people all over are upset because they are wondering how such scandals arrived to malaysia. some argue that profit is more important then one's health? because if you look at it, profit making food companies seem to be substituting the health of humans just for money. seriously, what has the world come to? Though I am so far away, there are also food scares here. meat has to be sold without hormones and all other chemicals. people in australia are really particular about what they eat now because of all the food scares. guys, think about this! how long more before the food crisis hits us? with japan and the radioactivity crisis affecting vegetables I am so afraid for our health. please make sure you wash your veges and when you buy meat check them carefully! because my landlady told me some food companies use glue on their meat. hmm. think about it!

cheers.
maryann

reference
http://www.malaysia.com/news/2011/04/fake-egg-alert/

this is what i mean when australians are PARTICULAR about hormones, steroids and antibiotics being in meat.
so take care guys.

Food Allergens by Nur 'Ain

When I read about Maryann's post on allergens, I just remembered on what I researched earlier.

Soy allergy is a major allergy and one of the more common allergies. Approximately 60% of processed foods include soy as part of their ingredients list. Most people who are allergic to soy are also allergic to legumes such as peas, peanuts and lentils.

Name and examples of products containing soy bean are; Edamame, miso, natto, shoyu sauce, soy, soya, soybean, soybean butter, soy protein, soysauce, tempeh, tofu and textured vegetable protein (TVP)

The following food additives may also contain soy; hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP), flavouring, canned chicken broth, bouillon cubes, vegetable broth, gum and starch.

Besides that, there is fish allergy as well. People who are allergic to one type of fish are generally recommended to avoid consuming all types of fish. Fish allergy is considered to be lifelong; once a person develops the allergy, it is very unlikely that they will lose it.

To avoid reaction, strict avoidance of seafood and seafood products is essential. This includes avoiding touching fish, going to the fish market and being in an area where fish is being cooked as the protein in the steam may present a risk.

Examples of food containing sources of fish are; salad dressing, Worcestershire sauce, bouillabaisse, imitation fish or shellfish, meat loaf and barbecue sauce which are made from Worcestershire.

References:
Allergic Child. Soy Allergy. Retreiveed April 1, 2011 from http://www.allergicchild.com/soy_allergies.htm

The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network. Fish Allergy. Retrieved from April 1, 2011 from http://www.foodallergy.org/page/fish-allergy

All about Sodium erythrobate - Pang KarMin

Hi guys, just want to post about something I have learn while doing research.

Sodium erythrobate (salt of erythorbic acisd) is a white crystalline powder, with a little salty taste. The end product of fermentation of liquid corn, sugar cane or even beets is sodium erythrobate. They are actually food preervatives used in meat, like beef. Their functions is whereby they act as an antioxidant which inhibit effects of oxygen on food just like how Vitamin C functions and also it helps to improve food stability, appearance and lengthen/strengthen shelf life as they prevent the deteoriation of beef.

In the meat processing, both sodium nitrite and sodium erythrobate works together. the erythrobate actually reduces the nitrite to nitric acid this will form the pink meat colour of beef. Not only these, they also help to prevent cancer-causing nitroamines.

However there is a limit to the usage of this food preservatives. For meat sources is around 0.5-1.0gram/kg.
Next I found out that sodium erythrobate is actually safe however, there is a side effect for the use of sodium erythrobate only for people who are (sentitive) it.
They causes a adverse effect on human health such as headache, dizziness and hemolysis which will lead to anaemia.

credits :
http://www.livestrong.com/article/340989-sodium-erythorbate-side-effects/
http://www.chemopharma.com/Erythorbat.htm

-Pang KarMin

food preservatives by fang min

hey guys! i found out some stuffs about food preservatives and the harmful things it can do to our body!

I have always knew that food preservatives could cause cancer. but what i never knew was how. after reading this article, i know that sodium nitrite is extremely carcinogenic. Even though it is commonly known as salt to others.  When combined with your saliva and digestive enzymes, sodium nitrite creates cancer-causing compounds known as nitrosamines. This nitrosamines actually gave lab rats cancer when it was tried out in the lab as it is too hazardous for the biological system!!!!!


In humans, the consumption of sodium nitrite has been strongly correlated with brain tumors, leukemia, and cancers of the digestive tract. Yet this ingredient carries absolutely no warning on food labels, and in fact, seems to sound like a perfectly safe ingredient, like sodium.


The reason why manufacturers still chose this dangerous food preservatives is because it gives a vibrant red colour to the meat product or the otherwise dull grey colour without the help of the preservatives, making them look appetising and fresh when they may have already passed their expiry dates, also known as the shelf life period. 
Therefore my dear group mates.... watch out of the food labels when you buy food that contains food preservatives!

Learn more:http://www.naturalnews.com/001529.html#ixzz1IC3vhlCa

Food Allergy in relation to MSG by MARYANN ROLANDS:)

hey guys, i found something i never knew and thought i could share this with you. MSG is NOT an allergen, however there are people who are sensitive towards MSG and there start having an allergy. what makes it worse is that the allergy in MSG could work together with allergy found in meat and be fatal.

MSG Sensitivity
Unlike food allergies which affect only certain individuals (only 2% - 5% of the population), and involve an antibody response of the immune system, food sensitivities affect many more people. You can be allergic to carrots and have an immune response to them, and someone else may have absolutely no immune response at all. Sensitivities are a different matter.  There are no antibodies involved and in the case of MSG, the free glutamic acid in it acts in us all in the same way. It is a neurotransmitter - it causes nerve cells to fire. The reason MSG is used by food companies is because in the average human it stimulates the nerve cells in your mouth, as well as the brain. It targets the centers of hunger and taste and smell. If it only worked in 2% of the population, there wouldn't be any money in it. It is basically a drug like alcohol or caffeine. However, the sensitivity response of any individual is simply a matter of degree.

One has to conclude that if MSG exacerbates an already-occurring allergic reaction, then it would appear to be an extremely dangerous unnecessary food additive to place in restaurant meal.

MAD COW DISEASE! :) by chuiying (Yvonne)

Hello there, I was doing a research on mad cow disease while doing the introduction for the report so i intend to blog about mad cow disease? . :) the information is this post is based on my understanding for mad cow disease and it might be wrong alright. :)

Mad cow disease is also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy in scientific terms. In 1997, Professor Stanley Prusiner, M.D, a Professor from the University of California won the Nobel Prize by discovering prions and also the harm that deformation of prions will bring. According to his research, mad cow disease is due to the deformation of the protein which is prion which will destroy the cow's brain by eating it away. 


Mad cow disease is not contagious like the common flu but we can get infected if we consume beef from cows that were infected with mad cow disease. :( . Sadly but true, mad cow disease could not be eliminated by cooking, chemical disinfection or radiation. The only way to prevent humans from getting mad cow disease is to check every cow before slaughtering them to see if they have been affected with mad cow disease. 


While doing the research for mad cow disease, i came across something which i found it unbelievable. One of the reasons why did mad cow disease spread is that in order for the cows to get a source of protein in their diet, they are fed remains of another cow(like slaughterhouse waste) to the living cows. This surprised me a lot as i thought the cows would reject what is fed to them as they might be able to detect that the feed is not "vegetarian" anymore but they still ate the feed. The cows were made to act against the will of nature by consuming flesh when they are supposed to be herbivores!


Humans that are infected with mad cow disease will react strongly to everything around them even it is just a gentle touch. Most of the people infected with mad cow disease will die.  


Thats all for my post. :)


-Chuiying 


References :
Organic Consumers Association, (n.d). Mad Cow Disease: Stop the Madness. Retrieved March 27, 2011, from http://www.organicconsumers.org/madcow.cfm
Sustainable.Org, (n.d). MAD COW DISEASE. Retrieved March 27, 2011, from http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/docs/mad-cow-disease-handout-0405.pdf
World Health Organization, (2011). Eight questions consumers should ask on the threat of mad cow diesease. Retrieved March 27, 2011, from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2003/pr5/en/

Hello my fellow groupmates :) this is our blog & we will be posting our progress here :)

we have been assigned by quanjin of work to do by today through sms & our next discussion(also the first one on olive) will be at 8 pm tomorrow(Sunday, 27/02/2011), Hope to see you guys there :)

-chuiying