Berita Arkib

Sunflower oil may contribute to rise in child asthma7/20/2001- Health conscious parents who choose sunflower oils, spreads andmargarines may be contributing to the asthma epidemic among youngchildren, a study suggests.Researchers have found that a diet high in polyunsaturated fats doublesthe risk of the lung disorder in pre-school children. But because a directlink between fat intake and asthma has not been confirmed, the authors ofthe study said parents should not change their children's diets.The same study of 1,000 children aged three to five also found thatbreastfeeding and large families protected against asthma.Asthma has reached epidemic proportions in Britain over the past fewdecades. One in seven children now suffers from the disorder.The rise in asthma since the 1960s has coincided with many changes inlifestyle and diet including the growth of central heating, fitted carpetsand double glazing. During the 1970s and 1980s sales of saturated animalfat such as butter and lard fell as more and more people turned topolyunsaturated spreads, margarines and oils.The team from the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne asked parents tocomplete a questionnaire, which included questions on diet, asthmadiagnosis, their child's medical history and the consumption of fat. Theywere also asked whether their child was breastfed.One in five of the children suffered from asthma. Polyunsaturated fats inmargarine, vegetable and sunflower oils accounted for 17 per cent of thecases studied.Breast-feeding and having three or more older siblings reduced the risk ofasthma. Having a parent with asthma doubled the risk. A seriousrespiratory infection before the age of two increased the risk by 93 percent.Polyunsaturated fats contain two types of fatty acids - omega-3 andomega-6. Omega-6 fatty acids, found in sunflower oil, increase the risk ofinflammation, which could increase the risk of asthma. But omega-3 fattyacids, found in fish, soya bean and flax, have an anti-inflammatoryeffect.Dr Michelle Haby, who reported the findings in the journal Thorax, said:"An increase in omega-6 means less omega-3 fatty acid, which inhibitsinflammation."But at this stage children should not be changing their diet. The studyonly showed an association between polyunsaturated fats and asthma. Wehave not shown that these fats cause asthma, nor do we know whetherchanging the diet will reduce the risk or severity of asthma."Dr Martyn Partridge, chief medical adviser at the National AsthmaCampaign, said more research was needed to establish why asthma wasincreasing."The new evidence in this paper that suggests a reduction inpolyunsaturated fats may also reduce the likelihood of developing asthmais helpful but we are still a long way from being able to say why thisdisease is becoming more common."- by NICOLE MARTIN

CPO price rise brings cheer(Business Times)THURS, 19 July 2001 - The rise in palm oil prices, ifsustainable, is good news for the industry, the smallholders and theMalaysian economy in general.

Jakarta unrest delaying commodity pacts with KL

Napocor to use coconut fuel to run its power plantsBusinessWorld (Philippines) 7/18/2001- DAVAO CITY - The National PowerCorp. (Napocor) will soon be buying fuel from the coconut industry.This was what Napocor president Jesus Alcordo told the Mindanao BusinessCouncil (MBC) through a recent letter.Initial purchase, however, will be limited to a few plants, he said in theletter. The power firm is also assessing the cost efficiency should itincrease the use of coconut products as power plant fuel.Last February, MBC members drafted a resolution submitted to PresidentGloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the state power firm to explore ways to usecoconut oil as fuel.Coconut industry leaders on the island have been complaining of mountinglosses due to the low price of vegetable oil and copra in theinternational markets.Copra prices were tracked at around P13 per kilo in 1999. In February thisyear, copra price dropped to below P5 per kilo at farm gate. Recent futureprices, however, show signs of recovery.Using the port of Rotterdam in Netherlands as reference, coconut oilSeptember deliveries were quoted at $335 per ton inclusive of cost,insurance and freight.Deliveries in January this year at the same port were at $315 per ton.Mr. Alcordo said initial studies done by Napocor show that coconut oil(CNO) and coco methyl ester (CME) could be used as fuel substitutes."However, despite the outcome of our study, we have agreed with theDepartment of Agriculture (DA), to proceed with the demonstration testingon the use of CNO and CME in select power plants," Mr. Alcordo said in theletter.He added that Napocor has proposed to the DA the creation of aninteragency task force that will formulate the methodology in conductingthe tests in selected power plants.Mr. Alcordo pointed out that "using CNO and CME is not yet economicallyviable, at the moment, due to higher prices compared with fuel oil anddiesel."The state power firm is a heavy dollar user because of its bulk purchasesof imported fuel to run its power plants.Based on data from the National Statistics Office, Mindanao has 1.6million hectares planted to coconut. This comprises roughly 51% of thetotal area planted to this commodity. The island also supplies roughly 60%of the 12 million tons of coconut the country produces annually.Due to depressed prices of coconut products in the international marketand low productivity of coconut farms, a section of the island'sagribusiness sector has recently recommended the promotion of oil palmfarming.Oil palm is a direct competitor of coconut in the international market.Based on initial reports, at least 300,000 hectares of lands on the islandare suitable to oil palm trees.

New soybean variety with half the saturated fat is in testingUSA(M2 PRESSWIRE) 7/19/2001 : A new soybean bred by Agricultural ResearchService scientists for the Southeast fulfills two of the food industry'swishes for heart-healthy soy oil.Oil from the new soybean has half the saturated fat of traditionalvarieties -- specifically, the undesirable palmitic acid. And its portionof the highly unstable polyunsaturated fat, linolenic acid, is at least 40percent lower. That should reduce or eliminate the need for hydrogenationin many frying and food-processing applications.Hydrogenation generates most of the trans fats in the food supply, andtrans fats appear to increase risk of cardiovascular disease much the sameas saturated fats do. So the food industry wants to avoid hydrogenationwherever possible.The new soybean is named Satelite -- pronounced "Sat-elite" because it is"elite" for saturated fat content, according to Richard F. Wilson. Hedirects soybean research at ARS' Soybean and Nitrogen Fixation ResearchUnit (www.ars- grin.gov/ars/SoAtlantic/Raleigh/snfr) in Raleigh, N.C.Satelite is the first low-linolenic-, low-palmitic-acid variety releasedfor the Southeast, according to ARS agronomist Joseph W. Burton, whodeveloped the variety by traditional breeding. Its oil also has more ofthe desirable monounsaturated fat, oleic acid, than traditional varieties-- about 40 percent more. But levels still don't meet the industry targetof 50 percent of total fat.Through North Carolina Foundation Seed Producers, ARS is releasing alimited amount of Satelite seed this year to North Carolina StateUniversity and selected local farmers, who will produce around 5,000bushels of beans, enough for oil processors and food companies to test.The United Soybean Board funded part of Satelite's development and isproviding $77,000 toward the seed increase.If the oil performs well in pilot tests, it could help food manufacturersreduce trans fats in their products. Food labels currently don't includetrans fats. But proposed Food and Drug Administration rules would requirethat manufacturers add the amount of trans fat in a serving -- if itexceeds 0.5 gram -- to the amount of saturated fat stated on the NutritionFacts panel. The amount of saturated fat and its percentage of the "dailyvalue" would reflect the sum of the two.ARS is the chief scientific research agency of the U.S. Department ofAgriculture.CONTACT: Judy McBride, ARS News Service Agricultural Research Service,USDA

Brazil To Send Trade Mission To Malaysia In October

Indonesia says still studying palm oil tax hikeJAKARTA, July 18 (Reuters) - Indonesia said on Tuesday it needed more timeto consider raising palm oil export taxes."We are studying the possibility of raising the taxes. But it can't bedecided soon. We need more time to observe whether the rise (in prices) istemporary or stable," Trade and Industry Minister Luhut Pandjaitan told anews conference.He said Indonesia was benefited by a sharp increase in internationalprices because it had boosted exports. But on the other hand the increasehad hit local consumers hard by driving up local prices of cooking oil.Cooking oil or palm olein, made from crude palm oil, is a sensitivecommodity in Indonesia and significant shortages can lead to socialunrest.Indonesia imposes the taxes to control exports, which usually rise sharplywhen the rupiah weakens or international prices increase.Pandjaitan said domestic cooking oil prices had shot up to more than 5,000rupiah ($0.44) this week from 2,700 last month, supported by soaringinternational prices."The government's target is to boost exports but we also have to protectdomestic consumers," Pandjaitan added.Traders said Indonesia was boosting exports to benefit from the risingworld prices.But Pandjaitan said local consumers should not worry about a possibleshortage of cooking oil because local supplies of palm oil are stillabundant and distribution was running smoothly, although the country'soutput was slowing.Indonesia imposes a three percent tax on exports of crude palm oil (CPO)and palm kernels, and a one percent tax on refined bleached deodorised(RBD) palm oil, RBD palm olein and crude olein.Pandjaitan said the recent sharp increase in international prices was dueto optimism on higher import quotas in China and lower duties in India."It's also because of a prediction of decreasing production of soybean oilbecause of an expected long drought in the United States," he added.Indonesian CPO was quoted at $375 a tonne cif Rotterdam on Tuesday from$326 a tonne last Thursday.($1=11,330 rupiah)

MIER Revises Downwards Msia's GDP To 2.2 PCT This Year From 4.0 pct

Three Main Reasons For Malaysia's Economic Resilience

Austral Builds Eco-Friendly CPO Mill

China says 2001 summer grain output seen downSHANGHAI, July 17 (Reuters) - China's worst drought in more than a decadeis expected to cut summer grain output by 4.6 percent from last year to101.9 million tonnes in 2001, the State Statistical Bureau said in astatement on Tuesday.Analysts said that would cause China's total grains output to fall for athird consecutive year in 2001, but the decline would not be as huge aslast year as there were signs the drought might be over.In 2000, grains output fell nine percent year-on-year to 462.5 milliontonnes, the lowest since 1994, due to a drop in planting area andunfavourable weather."It is inevitable that our overall output will drop this year becausewe've seen falls in some rice crops and now summer grains," said analystBu Yibiao at the official State Cereals Information Centre in Beijing.The bureau said the summer output would fall because of a smaller plantedacreage and poor growing weather. It gave no breakdown of the crop.Winter wheat accounts for the majority of the summer grain crop, whichaccounts for more than 20 percent of China's annual grain production.The State Cereals Information Centre said in June China's winter wheatoutput was expected to fall 7.1 percent year on year to only 87 milliontonnes in 2001 due to a severe drought in key growing provinces in thenortheast.WORST DROUGHT OVERThe rest of the summer grains crop includes rapeseed and barley, analystssaid.In the past few months, China has been fighting its worst summer droughtin years, prompting cloud seeding in June."The dry weather did affect the corn and soybeans in its sprouting stage,"said Bu. "Now, the drought is more or less over, which benefits the autumncrops, but we still have to watch other factors like frost later in theyear."Analysts said they expected China's soybean output to to fall to 13-14million tonnes from 15 million tonnes and corn production to rise slightlyfrom last year's 106 million tonnes.Weak prices have dampened enthusiasm for growing grains, reflected in theStatistical Bureau's estimates earlier this year that total grain acreagein 2001 was expected to fall 1.7 percent year on year to 107 millionhectares.Soybean areas have fallen and the only bright spot is corn, which has seenplanting expand due to relatively better prices.The State Cereals centre estimated the soybean acreage in the key growingprovinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, Inner Mongolia and Liaoning woulddecline between 4.5 percent and six percent this year to around 4.27million hectares.

Fuel proposal could boost soybeans