The New Zealand food supply and diet--trends 1961-95 and comparison with other OECD countries. Organisatioin for Economic Co-operation and Development.

AIMS: To compare the New Zealand food supply and trends from 1961 to 1995 with other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, with an emphasis on foods linked with coronary heart disease (CHD). METHOD: Food and Agricultural Organization per capita food supply statistics for 24 OECD countries were converted to nutritional supply values and adjusted for edible portion. RESULTS: In 1995, New Zealand had the highest supply per capita of butter and meat fats among OECD countries, ranking its food supply highest for thrombogenicity and third for atherogenicity. Seafood and alcohol supply were average and vitamin E supply was high compared with other OECD countries. Beneficial trends have occurred with increases in fruit consumption, vegetable consumption and fibre intake between 1961 and 1995. While total fat intake has not changed appreciably, the fatty acid profile has shifted and is now less likely to promote CHD. CONCLUSIONS: The New Zealand diet's tendency to promote CHD has decreased, particularly since 1985. The diet's fatty acid profile, however, remains highly atherogenic and thrombogenic, predisposing to CHD, and the fat content of the food supply remains high, predisposing to obesity. Continued efforts are needed to improve the diet of New Zealanders and to maintain food supply data collection for long term monitoring of these changes.

Mejoramiento de la viabilidad del pollito de mala calidad mediante la suplementación de vitamina E en el agua de bebida / Improved viability of broiler chicks with vitamin E supplementation in the drinking water

Se realizó un experimento, con el objeto de evaluar el efecto de la adicción de la vitamina E, en el agua de bebida durante los primeros 21 días de edad, sobre la viabilidad y productividad del pollito de engorda de mala calidad. Se utilizaron 2800 pollos distribuidos en 4 tratamientos con 7 réplicas de 100 aves cada uno. Los tratamientos consistieron en la adicción de vitamina E en el agua de bebida en dosis de 125 UI/1 de agua, durante los primeros 7, 14 y 21 días de edad, comparados con un grupo testigo que no recibió vitamina E añadida en el agua de bebida. Los resultados de mortalidad en los primeros 21 días de edad, indicaron diferencias significativas (P < 0.05) en favor de los tratamientos en donde se adiccionó la vitamina E, durante los primeros 7, 14 y 21 días en relación al testigo (8.28 por ciento, 8.86 por ciento, 7.71 por ciento y 10.71 por ciento), lo que contribuyó a que los porcentajes de mortalidad a los 53 días de edad, mostraran la misma respuesta (P< 0.05) significativa (13.27, 13.74, 13.85 y 17.08), sin afectar (P> 0.05) la ganancia en el peso corporal (2337, 2369, 2364 y 2362 g), consumo de alimento (4848, 4931, 4922 y 4890 g) y conservasión alimenticia (2.10, 2.11, 2.11 y 2.10 g/g), entre los diferentes tratamientos, a los 53 días de edad. Se concluye que la adicción de 125 UI/l de vitamina E administrada en el agua de bebida durante los primeros 7 días de edad en el pollo de engorda de mas calidad, disminuyó la mortalidad, sin afectar los parámetros productivos

Vitamin E and coronary heart disease: the European paradox.

OBJECTIVE: To relate premature mortality from coronary heart disease (CHD) to national food and nutrient supplies. DESIGN: Descriptive correlational study. SETTING: Nineteen western European and five non-European countries. METHODS: Premature mortality from CHD in men below 65 years was related to recalculated Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) food, antioxidant vitamins and other nutrient supply data in 24 developed countries for 1985-87. Longitudinal analyses of death rates from CHD and supplies between 1970 and 1987 were carried out for all the countries. Correlational analyses of supplies that preceded mortality by up to 10 years were also undertaken. RESULTS: In 17 western European countries the inter-country association of dairy product supply with CHD was of moderate strength (r = 0.5) and the principal saturated fatty acids derived from dairy products: butyric, caproic and myristic acids (C4:0, C6:0 and C14:0) were the most strongly related with CHD (r = 0.5, 0.5 and 0.4 respectively). The phenolic-antioxidant-rich foods, e.g. wine, vegetables and vegetable oils, were inversely related to CHD (r = -0.8, -0.7 and -0.6 respectively). Of the antioxidant vitamins, the alpha-tocopherol component of vitamin E was strongly related to CHD across Europe (r = -0.8). The major determinant of alpha-tocopherol supply was usually sunflowerseed oil. Vitamin C and beta-carotene gave moderate correlations (r = -0.6 and -0.5 respectively). Latency periods of 5 and 10 years between supplies and mortality rates did not markedly change the correlations. Longitudinal analyses of nutrient supplies and death rates within each country from 1970 to 1987 also showed that for the majority of countries there was an inverse association between supply of alpha-tocopherol and CHD. CONCLUSIONS: Dietary alpha-tocopherol may provide at least as good an explanation as does wine for the paradoxically low rates of CHD in several European countries which have a relatively high saturated fatty acid intake.