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VANCOUVER, May 9 (CNW)-- Calorie counting consumers fighting the battle ofthe bulge may have a new weapon in the fight against fat.Canadian biotechnology company Forbes Medi-Tech Inc. has developed acooking oil, which in a recently completed clinical trial was shown tohelp people lose weight and lower their cholesterol levels.In a clinical study conducted at McGill University in Montreal, 24 healthymen on a controlled diet incorporating Forbes' "designer oil" showed astatistically significant (p less than 0.05) decrease in total body weighttissue volumes in the range of 0.36 to 0.51 kg (0.8 lbs. and 1.1 lbs.) in28 days. Study participants who received olive oil in their diet (controlgroup) did not demonstrate any changes in body compartment volumes. Inaddition, consumption of designer oil resulted in a decrease of LowDensity Lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol concentrations of 16.3 per cent."This is the first statistically significant data demonstrating designeroil's ability to reduce body weight. Generally, fats and oils contributeto body weight gain not reduction. Forbes' designer oil could be used as afat replacement for people trying to manage their weight with the addedbenefit of reducing LDL cholesterol levels, and thus providing aprotective effect against cardiovascular disease, a significant riskfactor for overweight people," said Dr. Jerzy Zawistowski, Vice President,Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods, Forbes Medi-Tech Inc. "The studyfindings also indicate that long-term consumption of designer oil may leadto further body weight reduction than shown in the 28 day study."A large body of scientific evidence has shown that a diet high in fat isassociated with an increased incidence of obesity, coronary heart disease,hypertension, insulin resistance and certain cancers.Obesity continues to be a growing problem in North America and is reachingepidemic proportions. In 1999, an estimated 61 per cent of U.S. adultswere classified as overweight or obese (BMI greater than 25). Some 300,000Americans die each year from illnesses attributed to obesity (compared tomore than 400,000 deaths a year associated with cigarette smoking). Thetotal direct and indirect costs attributed to overweight and obesity inthe U.S. amounted to US$117 billion in the year 2000.Forbes' designer oil (patent pending in the US and worldwide) hasdemonstrated good sensory properties and oxidative stability and issuitable as a cooking oil. Forbes Medi-Tech is currently in discussionswith food companies in both North America and the Far East who have aninterest in marketing its designer oil. Sales of healthy cooking oils inJapan alone reached 20 billion JPY (US$150 million) in 2001.Forbes' designer oil is formulated with medium chain triglycerides (MCT),plant phytosterols, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. "Medium chaintriglycerides are metabolized in the body differently than other types offats," noted Dr. Peter Jones, Professor, School of Dietetics and HumanNutrition, McGill University. "These oils are oxidized very quickly andburned as energy rather than stored as body fat. The inclusion of plantphytosterols into the oil helps block the absorption of cholesterolresulting in a significant reduction in total and LDL cholesterol."The designer oil clinical study involved 24 healthy men aged 26 to 61years with body mass index (BMI) between 25 and 31 kg/m(2). Studyparticipants were placed on a controlled diet of designer oil or olive oilfor 28 days and switched to the alternate diet after a four-week washoutperiod. Blood samples and magnetic resonance imaging scans were taken ondays 1 and 29 of each experimental phase and energy expenditure wasmeasured by respiratory gas exchange on days 2 and 28.This was the second clinical study Forbes conducted on designer oil. In astudy of 17 healthy, overweight women conducted between October 1999 andMay 2000, the designer oil diet reduced LDL cholesterol levels by 14.5 percent with a corresponding increase in energy expenditure. Forbescommissioned the latest study to determine whether the increased energyexpenditure seen in the original study was statistically indicative ofweight loss. The results of the new study confirm this.Results of this new designer oil clinical study were presented at theInternational Society for the Study of Fats and Lipids (MP) AmericanChemical Society Annual Meeting in Montreal, Quebec, May 5 and 6, 2002.Study results will also be presented to the Institute of Food Technologyin Anaheim, California on June 15-19, 2002, and the International OilCongress in Istanbul, Turkey, August 12-15, 2002.Forbes Medi-Tech Inc. is a diversified health sciences company dedicatedto the research, development and commercialization of innovativenutraceutical and pharmaceutical products derived from nature. Byextracting plant sterols from wood pulping by-products, Forbes isdeveloping cholesterol-lowering agents to be used both as functional foodingredients and pharmaceutical therapeutics in the battle against heartdisease. Forbes is also developing innovative fermentation technology thatconverts plant sterols into pharmaceutical fine chemicals, essential inthe production of various pharmaceutical steroids such as contraceptiveagents and anti-inflammatories. Phytrol(TM) is a registered trademark ofForbes Medi-Tech Inc.The NASDAQ National Market and the Toronto Stock Exchange have notreviewed and do not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy ofthe content of this News Release. This Press Release containsforward-looking statements concerning anticipated revenue to be receivedby the Company, and other information in future periods. Forward-lookingstatements are statements about the future and are inherently uncertain,and actual achievements of the Company and other results and occurrencesmay differ materially from those reflected in the forward-lookingstatements due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors,including, without limitation, the Company's need for funding by the thirdquarter of 2002, which funding may not be available to the Company onacceptable terms or at all, uncertainty that the purchaser of the Amquiproperty will make the scheduled payments on time or at all, or that thepurchase and sale transaction will close as anticipated or at all; risksrespecting the completion and outcome of clinical trials; regulatoryrisks; marketing / manufacturing risks; strategic alliance risks;intellectual property risks; risks inherent in functional food andpharmaceutical research and clinical trials which may cause any particularresearch projects and/or clinical trials to be discontinued; the need tocontrol costs and the possibility of unanticipated expenses; uncertaintyas to the Company's ability to successfully increase production quantitiesof AD / ADD on a cost effective basis; risks with respect to foreignoperations including changes in government policies; the need forregulatory approvals to market the Company's sterol-based food ingredient;uncertainty as to market acceptance of the Company's products and theCompany's ability to generate projected sales volumes and product prices;the need for continued cooperation and performance by the Company'sstrategic partners; uncertainty as to the successful conclusion of salesdiscussions currently underway, and of those anticipated, with third partypurchasers. The Company's forward-looking statements are based on thebeliefs, expectations and opinions of management on the date thestatements are made, and the Company does not assume any obligation toupdate forward-looking statements if circumstances or management'sbeliefs, expectations or opinions should change. For the reasons set forthabove, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-lookingstatements./For further information: please contact: Martin Livingston, Director,Investor Relations, Telephone: (604) 681-8976, E-mail:irinfo@forbesmedi.com; RJ (Don) MacDonald, Chief Financial Officer,Telephone: (604) 689-5899, E-mail: dmacdonald@forbesmedi.com/

May 09, 2002 (AFP) - The US passage of a 173.5 billion-dollar farm subsidybill threatens to injure developing countries, aghast activists, officialsand trade analysts said."It is a very sad day for the poor farmers of developing countries,"said asenior World Bank official, speaking on condition of anonymity a day afterthe US Senate passed the measure.The legislation now goes to President George W. Bush, who has said heintends to sign the 10-year, 173.5 billion-dollar bill into law in theteeth of foreign opposition.Activists pointed out that the United States had been a fierce proponentof free agricultural trade in last November's World Trade Organizationmeeting in Doha, Qatar.That meeting resulted in the so-called Doha Development Round,negotiations promising to phase out global farm subsidies that average sixtimes the estimated 50 billion dollars the rich countries provide annuallyin foreign aid to the developing world."This is one gain that would not only help American farmers and ranchersbut would help lift millions out of poverty in the developing world,"USTrade Representative Robert Zoellick had said at the time, when trying topressure the Europeans into an agreement.Zoellick insisted this week that the United States remained committed tofree farm trade, emphasizing that the European Union and Japan both hadhigher levels of subsidies than the United States.The new US farm bill also contained a circuit breaker that would reducefarm support if it reached WTO limits, he said.But the Europeans were hardly convinced."At a time when all developed countries have accepted the direction offarm support away from trade- and production-distorting measures, the USis doing an about turn,"said European Agriculture Commissioner FranzFischler."We cannot negotiate on the basis of 'Do as I say, not as I do.'"Oxfam America, a strong supporter of greater access to rich countries'markets, said the new bill would have a severe impact on developingcountries."We are absolutely appalled,"said Oxfam America policy department directorJo Marie Griesgraber."For poor farmers in developing countries, it means that imported goodsare much cheaper than what they can produce, so the small farmers are putout of business,"she said."Then you have the flood of immigrants into the cities. Then you have massunemployment and you have unrest. It is increasing poverty. It isincreasing urbanization."Jeffrey Schott, trade economist at the Institute for InternationalEconomics, said the subsidies' passage would complicate the task of USnegotiators in the Doha Development Round."We will need to have significant reforms in the Doha Round if it is goingto succeed, and many of those reforms will benefit developing countries'exporters,"he said."If we cannot move forward in that area, it is going to make it much moredifficult to achieve the objectives that the US and EU have in otherareas, including in manufacturing trade."Bill Reinsch, president of the National Foreign Trade Council,agreed."Logically, it would have an adverse impact on most of the rest ofthe world,"he said.It also removed the moral leverage that the United States had enjoyed inthe trade negotiations as it sought to press the Europeans to drop theirattachment to farm subsidies.

JAKARTA, May 13 (Reuters) - The Southeast Asia palm oil market is gettingnervous following more arrivals of soyoil from Argentina, with India, theworld largest edible oils buyer, already showing huge appetite for soyoilbecause of lower prices.Some 200,000 tonnes of soyoil -- a direct competitor of palm oil --from Argentina is expected to arrive in Indian ports every month from Junethrough October, as soybean harvests in the world's third largest growerare set to reach full swing next month."Now most of the problems have stabilised in Argentina and renewedbuying has started from India," a Malaysian trader said."With prices of palm oil at high premiums... June...to October, allthese months, India will take at least 200,000 tonnes of soyoil," headded.The trader said refined bleached deodorised (RBD) palm olein was at$711 a tonne cif India after tax while crude degummed soyoil was at $572 atonne. Even after a refining cost of $25 a tonne, soyoil is still muchcheaper than palm oil.Argentina's financial chaos including default on the national debt anddevaluation of the peso, combined with a slow soybean harvest, halted thecountry's soyoil exports for two months, helping boosting prices of palmoil.Argentina has harvested almost a half its projected 29.5 million-tonnecrop but traders said farmers may continue to retain more merchandise inthe absence of a clear economic plan.India bought around 70,000 tonnes of soy oil from Argentina, Brazil andthe United States in March for April arrivals, traders said."India has bought a little more than 150,000 tonnes of soyoil in May.We may still see some palm oil buying this month but sales will definitelygo down next month," said another Malaysian trader.India is expected to import 450,000 tonnes of palm oil in May from topgrowers Malaysia and Indonesia, traders said.

PENANG Friday, May 10, 2002 (The Star) - It was a smashing success forUniversiti Sains Malaysia (USM), which swept five gold awards and a silveraward for its inventions, at the 30th International Exhibition ofInventions, New Techniques and Products 2002 in Geneva, Switzerland lastweek.USM won for all six inventions submitted at the exhibition, the largest ofits kind in the world, displaying over 1,000 inventions by 645 exhibitorsfrom 38 countries. The exhibition, organised by the World IntellectualProperty Organisation, was held from May 1 to 5.“We are very proud of the achievement by our researchers and their teammembers. We hope this will inspire more researchers to strive forexcellence in their research and development efforts,” USM vice-chancellorProf Datuk Dzulkifli Abdul Razak told a press conference to recognise theaward recipients at USM yesterday.The gold haul is the largest won by USM at an international competition.USM’s gold award winners are Assoc Prof Zulfigar Yassin (for his researchon “Fast growth oyster culture process for the food industry’’), AssocProf Mohd Noor Ahmad (for “AkuaSens – disposable artificial tongue foreasy mineral water verification), Assoc Prof Mas Rosemal Hakim Mas Haris(for “RubberFloc – water soluble rubber’’), Assoc Prof Razip Samian (for “Production of Liquid Bioplastic, PHA from palm oil’’) and Dr Suzina SheikhHamid (for “COROGRAF – sea coral for bone grafting’’).The university’s silver award winner was Assoc Prof Hanafi Ismail for hisresearch on “Palm Oil Fatty Acid (Pofa) – a new and novel multi-functionalrubber additive based on palm oil fatty acid’’.Prof Dzulkifli said the university was also looking for venture-capitalistclients from Malaysia and abroad to help commercialise some of theproducts.Apart from USM, Universiti Putra Malaysia received two gold and threesilver awards, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (2 gold, 2 silver, 1bronze), Universiti Teknologi Mara (2 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze),Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (1 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze) and UniversitiMalaya (1 gold).Earlier, state Education Committee chairman Datuk Dr Toh Kin Woon said thestate government would help USM set up a RM300,000 “resource collaborativecentre” at USM’s Eureka Complex.With USM’s world-class researchers in hand, he said, it was now importantto look at how their products could be further developed to create newproducts for the commercial market.“There must be a proper mechanism to convert these findings into newproducts as we should look at ways of improving our product innovation andinnovation processes,” he added.

KUALA LUMPUR, May 13 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures (MDEX) were upon Monday morning but dealers said the market could dip in the latesession following uninspiring crop data from the government.The official Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) said just as the marketclosed for the morning that production, exports and closing stocks forApril were all down from a month ago.Speculation that MPOB's numbers could be friendlier than the Aprilestimates of private crop forecaster Ivan Wong had kept the market up inthe early session, traders said."But now, we find that the MPOB's numbers are quite different fromIvan Wong's," a dealer said. "At the best, what we have is aneutral-to-bearish picture."MPOB said crude palm oil output fell 3.31 percent to 863,120 tonnes inApril from 892,629 in March.It said end-April palm oil stocks were down 9.68 percent to 1.06million tonnes against 1.17 million tonnes at end-March.Exports stood at 861,537 tonnes against 893,241 tonnes in March, itsaid.Wong last week estimated April production at 858,000 tonnes, exportsat 870,000 and closing stocks at 1.04 million.Palm oil's benchmark third-month July futures in Kuala Lumpur were upnine ringgit at 1,262 ringgit a tonne in Monday's morning session. Volumewas below average at 780 lots.In physical palm oil, the May/June contract for the southern andcentral regions saw bids at 1,265 ringgit a tonne, against sale offers at1,270. No business was reported.

ARGENTINA, May 9, 2002 (USDA) -- Lack of credit and devaluation of theArgentine peso are expected shift area next year to crops which requirelower inputs such as soybeans and sunflower. Soybean production this yearis estimated to increase to 30 million tons (up 500,000 tons from theprevious estimate). Soybean production next year is expected to be 29.5million tons, as lower yields offset higher area.

13 May 2002 (Business Times) - NOVAGREEN Industries Corp of thePhilippines is banking on its proposed collaboration with Malaysia’sINDEXgain Sdn Bhd to expand its oil palm plantation business in Mindanao.Its chief operating officer, Albert Magallanes, said the company and thePhilippines stand to gain from this collaboration, especially withMalaysia’s proven expertise in the oil palm industry.“While we are able to expand our business in the oil palm sector, thiswill be a stepping stone for the development of the industry, which willalso boost the Philippine economy, especially Mindanao’s,” he toldBusiness Times in Kuala Lumpur recently.Magallanes was in Kuala Lumpur to meet the trade counsellor at thePhilippine embassy, Glenn G. Penaranda, to discuss the proposedcollaboration with INDEXgain to develop 10,000ha of oil palm plantation inTalakag, Mindanao.Novagreen, a tuna fish exporter, and INDEXgain, an authorised procuratorof a specialised project funding loan syndicated house, signed amemorandum of agreement (MOA) on December 7 last year to develop a US$60million (US$1 = RM3.80) oil palm plantation in Talakag.“We are in the second stage of negotiations, which is on funding for theproject,” Magallanes said, adding that it will be the largest oil palmplantation in Mindanao if it takes off.At present, the largest oil palm plantation in Mindanao, covering 6,800ha,is being developed by Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd.“We expect no fewer than 6,000 workers, including skilled ones, to work inour oil palm plantation,” Magallanes said.But what is important, he added, is that it will be an integrated estate,which will lead to the development of a township. “All operations,including those of government and non-governmental agencies, will becentralised in one area, equipped with social facilities.”Magallanes said there is increasing interest from growers to offer theirland for consolidation into the oil palm plantation.Novagreen president and chief executive officer Racquel S. Simon said sheis confident that the project will be a success through the joint venturewith a Malaysian group.Furthermore, she said, Magallanes’ nine years of experience as manager ofan oil palm plantation in Kalimantan is a plus point for Novagreen toprosper in this sector.Besides Talakag, Novagreen and INDEXgain plan to develop other areas withoil palm which include Arakan, Agusan, Saranggani and North Davao.Including Talakag, investments for the projects are expected to be withinrange of US$234 million.Novagreen and INDEXgain, which had completed their due diligence on theproject will submit a report to INDEXgain's principal company, based inLienchtenstein, Switzerland for loan approval.INDEXgain executive director Jumahat Subaree said the companies arecurrently fine-tuning the report."We will leave for Lienchtenstein on May 29 to submit the comprehensivereport," he said.He reiterated that INDEXgain is not a joint venture partner withNovagreen, merely facilitating syndicated loan for the project.But the company will provide management skill in handling oil palmplantation."A reserach centre will also be developed in the area to create a pool ofoil palm managers. We hope that the local filipinos will manage the oilpalm in future," he said.Jumahat said its collaboration with Novagreen will provide an opportunityfor other Malaysian companies to invest in Mindanao.For instance, he said the company is bringing along with them a Malaysianarchitect to design affordable houses for the workers, as well asgovernment and public buildings.KACArchitect, INDEXgain's associate company, is helping to help design thehouses and buildings in the area.Its principal, Khairil Anwar Halim said the company is looking at building1,500 units of affordable houses of bungalows and semi-detached houses."Initially, we are looking at between US$7 million and US$8 millioninfrastructure investment," he said.

KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 (Bernama) -- Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd is set to improvethe quality of oil palm plants by investing about RM3 million inbiotechnology research, locally and internationally.Through its wholly owned subsidiary Guthrie Biotech Laboratory Sdn Bhd(GBLSB), today Guthrie has entered into research collaboration agreementswith Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia(UKM).

9 May 2002 (Business Times) - MALAYSIA’S palm oil stock is expected to dipbelow one million tonnes by June, from 1.25 million tonnes at thebeginning of the year, mostly due to lower production amid stable exports.“Predictions by various quarters of an 11.5 million tonne output for thisyear, down from last year’s 11.8 million tonnes, look increasingly likelyto prove accurate,” a trader said.Various people had said the sector would start showing signs of biostressthis year after chalking up strong production growth of 10.55 milliontonnes in 1999, 10.84 million in 2000 and 11.8 million last year.They include Primary Industries Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik,Malaysian Palm Oil Association chief executive M.R. Chandran and a host ofanalysts.Industry watchdog Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) in a posting on itswebsite appears to confirm the prediction saying that national palm oilstock had, from 1.25 million tonnes in January and 1.29 million inFebruary, declined to 1.17 million in March.Private forecaster Ivan Wong puts end-April stock at 1.05 million tonnes,which will fall further to 935,000 in June and 845,000 in July.Official figures for April such as exports, stock and production are dueto be released by MPOB on May 12.Meanwhile, Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd, Guthrie Ropel Bhd and Highlands andLowlands Bhd all reported sharp declines in palm oil production for themonth of March year-on-year.Kumpulan Guthrie produced 20,925 tonnes (down 13 per cent), Guthrie Ropel4,535 tonnes (down 12.6 per cent), and Highlands and Lowlands 12,286tonnes (down 12.9 per cent).IOI Corp Bhd, however, boosted output 8.9 per cent to 193,854 tonnes fromFebruary.

KUALA LUMPUR, May 6 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil traders see apossible payoff from political uncertainty in Argentina, the world's thirdlargest producer of soybeans, a direct competitor of palm oil.Soybean harvests are expected to gain pace in Argentina this month. ButArgentina's financial chaos - including default on the national debt,devaluation of the peso and the threat of insolvency in its banking system- may restrict exports, Kuala Lumpur palm oil traders said on Monday."The peso is still floating against the dollar, which means farmerswill not sell forward. No-one is sending full cargoes from Argentina,"said one trader in Kuala Lumpur.Argentina has harvested a little more than a third of its projected29.5 million tonne crop but traders said farmers may continue to retainmore merchandise in the absence of a clear economic recovery plan.Kuala Lumpur palm oil traders are closely watching progress of soybeanharvests throughout South America.Brazil, the second largest global soy producer after the United States,has nearly completed harvesting its soy crop, forecast by United StatesDepartment of Agriculture (USDA) at a record 43.5 million tonnes.

Tuesday, May 7, 2002 (The Star) - MALAYSIA is aiming at an annualproduction of four tonnes of palm oil for every hectare of oil palmbeginning next year.Primary Industries Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik said the palm oilindustry needed to be serious about achieving the production target, asnot meeting it could mean a big loss for the country.Citing an example, he said the country should have earned RM1.2bil morelast year if the average four tonnes per hectare had been achieved basedon an average price of RM1,000 per tonne of palm oil.Dr Lim said that in the last 10 years (1992–2001), the average annualproduction of palm oil had not changed much from 3.5 tonnes per hectareLast year, the average production was 3.7 tonnes.“Oil palm is the most productive plant, with the capacity to produce eightto 10 tonnes of palm oil annually, beating other oilseed crops.“However, the national productivity level has not changed and indeed ithas not even reached half the capacity of its real potential,’’ he said inhis address at the opening of the “MPOB Transfer of Technology 2002’’ and “On Elevating The National Oil Palm Productivity and Recent Progress in theManagement of Peat and Ganoderma,’’ seminar in Bangi yesterday.And in line with the new production target, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board(MPOB) has been directed to launch a productivity campaign, Four TonnesCampaign, among the production sector throughout the country to increaseawareness as well to encourage and boost production capacity.Dr Lim said the campaign would pay more attention to the smallholdersector.There are 92,000 smallholders working on a total oil palm plantation areaof 380,000ha or 11% of the total oil palm land in the country.According to an MPOB survey, the average production capacity of asmallholder at 14 to 15 tonnes of fresh fruit bunches per hectare was muchsmaller than the 20 tonnes produced by the estate sector. — Bernama(The informations and opinions expressed in this article represent theviews of the author only. They should not be seen as necessarilyreflecting the views of Palm News)

TASEK GELUGOR, May 2 (Bernama) -- The federal government will provideRM130 million allocation this year to help rubber, oil palm and coconutsmallholders nationwide to increase their income, said Deputy AgricultureMinister Datuk Seri Mohd Shariff Omar Thursday.