Exposure to the Danish Mandatory Vitamin D Fortification Policy in Prenatal Life and the Risk of Developing Coeliac Disease-The Importance of Season: A Semi Ecological Study.

Few studies have examined the role of maternal diet in relation to development of coeliac disease (CD). In Denmark, cancellation of mandatory vitamin D fortification of margarine in June 1985 provided this opportunity. This study examined if season of birth or prenatal exposure to extra vitamin D from food fortification were associated with developing CD later in life. A strength of this study is the distinctly longer follow-up of patients (30 years). This register-based study has a semi-ecological design. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate odds ratios and to calculate 95% confidence intervals. The odds ratio for developing CD was 0.81 (95% CI 0.66; 1.00 p = 0.054), comparing those with fetal exposure to mandatory vitamin D fortification policy of margarine to those without after adjusting for gender and season of birth. There was a statistically significant season effect particularly for children born in autumn (OR 1.6 95% CI 1.16; 2.21) and born in summer (OR 1.5 95% CI 1.1; 2.1) when compared to children born in winter. Although this study did not find evidence to support the premise that prenatal exposure to small extra amounts of vitamin D from a mandatory food fortification policy lowered risk of developing CD, the small number of CD cases and observed association between season of birth and CD suggest that environmental exposure ought to be further explored.

Margarines and Fast-Food French Fries: Low Content of trans Fatty Acids.

The lipid fraction of margarines and fast food French fries, two types of foods traditionally high in trans fatty acids (TFA), is assessed. TFA data reported worldwide during the last 20 years have been gathered and show that some countries still report high TFA amounts in these products. The content of TFA was analysed in margarines (two store and four premium brands) and French-fries from fast-food restaurants (five chains). All samples were collected in Pamplona (Navarra, Spain). The margarines showed mean values of 0.68% and 0.43% (g TFA/100 g fat) for the store and premium brands, respectively. The French fries' values ranged from 0.49% to 0.89%. All samples were lower than the 2% set by some European countries as the maximum legal content of TFA in fats, and contained less than 0.5 g/serving, so they could also be considered "trans free products". This work confirmed that the presence of TFA is not significant in the two analysed products and contributes updated food composition tables, key tools for epidemiological and nutrition studies.

Trans fatty acid content in Serbian margarines: Urgent need for legislative changes and consumer information.

This study examined the fatty acid (FA) composition of 13 (7 soft and 6 hard) Serbian margarines. Significantly higher amounts of trans fatty acids (TFA) were found in hard margarines (up to 28.84% of total FA), than in soft ones (0.17-6.89%). Saturated FA (SFA) were present with 22.76-51.17%. Oleic acid ranged from 26.78% to 43.78%. The proportion of polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) was 22.15-49.29% in soft margarines, but only 8.02-15.28% in hard margarines, probably due to the hydrogenisation process. The atherogenic and thrombogenic indexes (AI and TI, respectively) in soft margarines were relatively low (AI 0.23-0.63 and TI 0.44-0.97), but in hard margarines AI and particularly TI were high (1.03-1.67 and 1.96-3.04, respectively). These findings suggest that FA composition of Serbian margarines should be improved by replacing atherogenic TFA and SFA with beneficial ones, in order to avoid adverse effects on health. Therefore legislative changes and consumer information are urgently needed.

Quality of margarine: fats selection and processing parameters.

Optimum processing conditions on palm oil-based formulations are required to produce the desired quality margarine. As oils and fats contribute to the overall property of the margarine, this paper will review the importance of beta' tending oils and fats in margarine formulation, effects of the processing parameters -- emulsion temperature, flow-rate, product temperature and pin-worker speed -- on palm oil margarines produced and their subsequent behaviour in storage. Palm oil, which contributes the beta' crystal polymorph and the best alternative to hydrogenated liquid fats, and the processing conditions can affect the margarine consistency by influencing the solid fat content (SFC) and the types of crystal polymorph formed during production as well as in storage. Palm oil, or hydrogenated palm oil and olein, in mixture with oils of beta tending, can veer the product to the beta' crystal form. However, merely having beta' crystal tending oils is not sufficient as the processing conditions are also important. The emulsion temperature had no significant effect on the consistency and polymorphic changes of the product during storage, even though differences were observed during processing. The consistency of margarine during storage was high at low emulsion flow-rates and low at high flow rates. The temperature of the scraped-surface tube-cooler is the most important parameter in margarine processing. High temperature will produce a hardened product with formation of beta-crystals during storage. The speed of the pin-worker is responsible for inducing crystallization but, at the same time, destroys the crystal agglomerates, resulting in melting.

[Immunologic analysis of milk, hen egg, and soybean proteins in butter and margarine, and clinical assessment for availability of hypoallergenic margarine (HAM)].

To determine the allergenic proteins in commercially available butter and margarine, protein fractions were extracted and immunologically analyzed against milk, hen egg, and soybean antigens. Butter and 10 kinds of margarine were proved to contain these proteins in various concentrations by ELISA and immunoblotting methods by use of the rabbit antisera developed against each food proteins. However, hypoallergenic margarine was found to contain no such proteins at all. Using sera obtained from atopic dermatitis patients, previously detected high levels of IgE antibodies to milk, hen egg, or soybeans, the extracted protein fraction from butter and margarine was analyzed whether these proteins react with IgG antibodies in patients' sera. The sera with high levels of specific IgE recognized protein antigens in these extracts except those from hypoallergenic margarine, suggesting that proteins in butter and margarine may become allergenic for the patients sensitive to the proteins, and that hypoallergenic margarine will be a reasonable alternative for the allergic patients to milk, hen egg, or soybeans.

[Preservation of margarine in fungicidal paper]. / O sokhrannosti margarina v fungitsidnoi bumage.

The authors studied the effect of a new type of package material, fungicide paper with one side coated with sorbic acid (fungicide) at a rate of 0.08 g per square decimeter of the surface and other side coated with water- and gas-proof polymer film 60 to 80 microns thick, on the quality of margarine of storage. It was established that by the end of storage the surface of margarine samples packed in parchment and fungicide paper did not exhibit any mold. At the same time, however, the processes of oxidation and formation of the stuff layer were most pronounced in margarine packed in parchment. The amount of the stuff layer in margarine increased toward the end of storage, amounting to 6.63% in margarine packed in parchment and to 5.16% in that packed in fungicide paper.