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High sodium intake contributes to hypertension, a leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Over 50% of Canadians regularly consume prepackaged and restaurant foods, which account for more than 70% of dietary sodium. Canada currently lacks public health strategies to address sodium levels in restaurant menu items, while the UK’s voluntary sodium reduction program (with targets set through the National Salt Reduction Initiative [NSRI]) led to significant reductions in sodium. The objectives were to compare sodium levels in Canadian restaurant menu items in 2020 to the UK NSRI 2024 targets and analyze changes between 2016 and 2020. Data were obtained from the University of Toronto Menu-FLIP (Food Label Information and Price) database, which includes over 20,000 items from 141 Canadian chain restaurants. A total of 3,616 menu items from the top 20 Canadian chains were assessed, of which 1,914 items in categories with UK NSRI 2024 targets were identified and compared to those targets, and 607 items were matched between 2016 and 2020 and analyzed for sodium changes. More than half (56.6%, n  = 1,083/1,914) of items exceeded UK NSRI targets. Sodium (mg/100 g) showed a large decrease in 39.5% ( n  = 100/607) of items, a medium decrease in 15.8% ( n  = 63/607), little change in 28.9% ( n  = 182/607), a medium increase in 5.3% ( n  = 68/607), and a large increase in 10.5% ( n  = 194/607) from 2016 to 2020. The prevalence and magnitude of sodium changes varied by food category. Overall, there was a statistically significant but nutritionally insignificant reduction in sodium per serving from 2016 to 2020 (−24 ± 819 mg, p  < 0.01). Canadian restaurant menu items were high in sodium, with more than half surpassing the UK NSRI targets. The observed increases and decreases in sodium highlight the need for Health Canada to set and for industry to adopt sodium reduction targets for restaurant menu items, similar to those in the UK.

Background Many residents in long-term care (LTC) homes face the risk of malnutrition and non-communicable diseases like diabetes, underscoring the crucial role of menu planning. In most provinces, menu items offered in LTC homes must adhere to Canada’s food guide (CFG). Other dietary guidelines, like those in Diabetes Canada Clinical Practice Guidelines (DCCP), provide recommendations for managing chronic disease; however, the alignment of individual menu items with CFG and DCCP is unknown. The objective was to assess the alignment of menu items offered in LTC homes with CFG and DCCP. Methods Using a four-week menu cycle designed for LTC, menu items ( n  = 1,365) were assessed using two nutrient profile models based on CFG and the DCCP. The Canadian Foods Scoring System (CFSS) categorized items as “very poor” to “excellent” choices according to CFG, and the DCCP nutrient profile model classified items as “least” to “mostly aligned” with DCCP. Descriptive statistics summarized menu items by CFSS and DCCP nutrient profile model categories across meal occasions and food categories. Results Overall, 52.8% of menu items served in LTC homes were rated “good” or “excellent” choices by CFSS, and 50.8% were classified as “most aligned” with the DCCP nutrient profile model. Afternoon Snacks had the highest proportion of the least healthy items. Legumes and Vegetables were the healthiest categories, and Sugars & Sweets , along with Combination Dishes , ranked as the least healthy. Conclusions While about one-half of LTC menu items align with CFG and DCCP, opportunities remain to enhance their nutritional quality. Developing a translational tool based on nutrient profile models could simplify the application of food-based dietary guidelines, supporting more effective and aligned LTC menu planning.

This paper explores the explanations for, and consequences of, the early appearance of food production outside the Fertile Crescent of Southwest Asia, where it originated in the 10th/9th millennia cal BC. We present evidence that cultivation appeared in Central Anatolia through adoption by indigenous foragers in the mid ninth millennium cal BC, but also demonstrate that uptake was not uniform, and that some communities chose to actively disregard cultivation. Adoption of cultivation was accompanied by experimentation with sheep/goat herding in a system of low-level food production that was integrated into foraging practices rather than used to replace them. Furthermore, rather than being a short-lived transitional state, low-level food production formed part of a subsistence strategy that lasted for several centuries, although its adoption had significant long-term social consequences for the adopting community at Boncuklu. Material continuities suggest that Boncuklu’s community was ancestral to that seen at the much larger settlement of Çatalhöyük East from 7100 cal BC, by which time a modest involvement with food production had been transformed into a major commitment to mixed farming, allowing the sustenance of a very large sedentary community. This evidence from Central Anatolia illustrates that polarized positions explaining the early spread of farming, opposing indigenous adoption to farmer colonization, are unsuited to understanding local sequences of subsistence and related social change. We go beyond identifying the mechanisms for the spread of farming by investigating the shorter- and longer-term implications of rejecting or adopting farming practices.

Little is known about the initial appearance of herding in central Anatolia. Although morphologically domestic caprines are present from the foundation of Çatalhöyük East, ca 7,100 cal. BC, how and when domestic caprines became an integral part of the central Anatolian economy, and their Status and relationship with earlier communities, is unclear. This article reports the results of a study in which carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes were used to provide signatures of caprine diet and thus pasturing practices; as an animal's movements are affected by human Intervention, changes in animal diets should be visible through changes in δ15N and δ13C levels. A sequence of seven sites on the Konya piain, covering the period ca 9,000–4,500 cal. BC, provided bone samples for carbon and nitrogen analysis. An unaffected local dietary signature for caprines was created using the fauna from Epipalaeolithic Pınarbaşı and a C3/C4 plant baseline. This dietary signature, along with dietary information from the domesticated caprines at later sites, allowed changes in diet resulting from human Intervention to be mapped. Changes in diet are found to have occurred at sites where there is no morphometric or demographic data suggestive of early herding or domesticates. This new dietary data extends our knowledge and under-standing of how and when caprines and cattle came under human control on the Konya piain, central Anatolia.

Residents in Canadian long-term care (LTC) homes are nutritionally vulnerable due to advanced age, frailty, chronic conditions, and limited food intake. Ensuring menus meet both nutrient- and food-based requirements is challenging, as few practical tools exist to support compliance with the Dietary Reference Intakes and Canada’s food guide 2019. This thesis evaluated the healthfulness of individual menu items offered in LTC and assessed menu compliance with nutrient- and food-based standards to characterize compliant menus that can inform menu planning. Study 1 analyzed a four-week LTC menu using the Canadian Food Scoring System (CFSS) and Diabetes Canada Clinical Practice Guidelines (DCCP) nutrient profile models. Just over half of the items were rated “Good & Excellent” (52.8%, CFSS) or “Most aligned” (50.8%, DCCP). Study 2 identified major gaps in menu compliance and developed two practical tools to strengthen menu planning. These findings help identify gaps, guide substitutions, and support LTC in meeting standards to improve menu quality and resident health.

There is an air of depression amongst the young companies I talk to - either because they know they should be investing in PR and cannot afford to or because they have cut expenditure to the bone and are aware that reducing the PR budget is a short-sighted move which will hamper their development. Many company directors don't understand how PR works. To get the most out of PR agencies you have to communicate with them effectively and tell them everything - no matter how trivial. I am not alone in this admiration - Innocent is currently the fastest growing food and drinks company in the UK and is now sold in over 2,500 outlets, from a starting point of zero in 1999. When the company numbered only three people and was entirely funded by its own cash, it still recruited a PR agency and assigned a respectable portion of its budget to marketing.

THE wagonette, which had been sent to the station to meet the guests, had just deposited six of them, with their host, at the hall door. The cart containing their baggage was already lumbering up the avenue, followed by the station cab, which had been impressed into the...

Babies born preterm are at an increased risk of dying in the first weeks of life, and those who survive have a higher rate of cerebral palsy (CP) compared with babies born at term. The aim of this individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis (MA) was to assess the effects of antenatal magnesium sulphate, compared with no magnesium treatment, given to women at risk of preterm birth on important maternal and fetal outcomes, including survival free of CP, and whether effects differed by participant or treatment characteristics such as the reason the woman was at risk of preterm birth, why treatment was given, the gestational age at which magnesium sulphate treatment was received, or the dose and timing of the administration of magnesium sulphate. Trials in which women considered at risk of preterm birth (<37 weeks' gestation) were randomised to magnesium sulphate or control treatment and where neurologic outcomes for the baby were reported were eligible for inclusion. The primary outcomes were infant death or CP and severe maternal outcome potentially related to treatment. Studies were identified based on the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth search strategy using the terms [antenatal or prenatal] and [magnesium] and [preterm or premature or neuroprotection or 'cerebral palsy']. The date of the last search was 28 February 2017. IPD were sought from investigators with eligible trials. Risk of bias was assessed using criteria from the Cochrane Collaboration. For each prespecified outcome, IPD were analysed using a 1-stage approach. All 5 trials identified were included, with 5,493 women and 6,131 babies. Overall, there was no clear effect of magnesium sulphate treatment compared with no treatment on the primary infant composite outcome of death or CP (relative risk [RR] 0.94, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.85 to 1.05, 6,131 babies, 5 trials, p = 0.07 for heterogeneity of treatment effect across trials). In the prespecified sensitivity analysis restricted to data from the 4 trials in which the intent of treatment was fetal neuroprotection, there was a significant reduction in the risk of death or CP with magnesium sulphate treatment compared with no treatment (RR 0.86, 95% CI 0.75 to 0.99, 4,448 babies, 4 trials), with no significant heterogeneity (p = 0.28). The number needed to treat (NNT) to benefit was 41 women/babies to prevent 1 baby from either dying or having CP. For the primary outcome of severe maternal outcome potentially related to magnesium sulphate treatment, no events were recorded from the 2 trials providing data. When the individual components of the composite infant outcome were assessed, no effect was seen for death overall (RR 1.03, 95% CI 0.91 to 1.17, 6,131 babies, 5 trials) or in the analysis of death using only data from trials with the intent of fetal neuroprotection (RR 0.95, 95% CI 0.80 to 1.13, 4,448 babies, 4 trials). For cerebral palsy in survivors, magnesium sulphate treatment had a strong protective effect in both the overall analysis (RR 0.68, 95% CI 0.54 to 0.87, 4,601 babies, 5 trials, NNT to benefit 46) and the neuroprotective intent analysis (RR 0.68, 95% CI 0.53 to 0.87, 3,988 babies, 4 trials, NNT to benefit 42). No statistically significant differences were seen for any of the other secondary outcomes. The treatment effect varied little by the reason the woman was at risk of preterm birth, the gestational age at which magnesium sulphate treatment was given, the total dose received, or whether maintenance therapy was used. A limitation of the study was that not all trials could provide the data required for the planned analyses so that combined with low event rates for some important clinical events, the power to find a difference was limited. Antenatal magnesium sulphate given prior to preterm birth for fetal neuroprotection prevents CP and reduces the combined risk of fetal/infant death or CP. Benefit is seen regardless of the reason for preterm birth, with similar effects across a range of preterm gestational ages and different treatment regimens. Widespread adoption worldwide of this relatively inexpensive, easy-to-administer treatment would lead to important global health benefits for infants born preterm.

The DDD study recruited more than 13,500 families with probands with severe, probably monogenic disorders in the United Kingdom and Ireland and obtained a genetic diagnosis in approximately 41% of probands.