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Star rating system for packaged foods announced PACKAGED foods will feature a health star rating to assist consumers make informed, healthier food choices. Minister for Health, Tanya Plibersek and Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing Shayne Neumann made the announcement following the Food Regulation Forum in Sydney. “Front-of-Pack Labelling will support consumers to make healthier food choices by giving them at-aglance information about the food they buy,” Ms Plibersek said. “The star rating system will contribute to alleviating the burden of chronic disease, overweight and obesity issues in Australia. “Overweight translates into chronic diet-related diseases, hospitalisations and a significant rise in long-term care so this is a significant step in assisting consumers make informed choices.” The health star system will apply to packaged, manufactured or processed foods presented ready for sale. The system will consist of a star rating scale of ½ a star to 5 stars, with ½ star increments and a “slider” above the relevant star/half star with the corresponding number to highlight the star rating of the food. Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing, Shayne Neumann said the star rating is under-
pinned by a modified Nutrient Profiling Scoring System. “In short, the more stars, the healthier the food.” The preferred implementation option in Australia is a voluntary system, subject to there being a consistent and widespread uptake of Front of Pack Labelling. If, following evaluation after two years, a voluntary implementation is found to be unsuccessful, a mandatory approach will be required. This would require Food Standards Australia and New Zealand to develop a standard. “The Federal Government commends the development of the health star system as an important preventative health initiative to assist Australian consumers to make healthier food choices.”
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Study reveals marijuana does cause brain damage POT smokers may want to think twice before lighting up their next joint. Australian scientists have proved the long-held suspicion that persistent heavy marijuana use damages the brain’s memory and learning capacity. Researchers also showed for the first time the earlier people developed their cannabis habit, the worse the damage. Scientists from Melbourne’s Murdoch Childrens Research Institute (MCRI), Melbourne University and Wollongong University used Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to scan the brains of 59 people who had been using marijuana for 15 years on average. The images were compared with scans of 33 healthy people who had never used the drug. The scans measured changes to the volume, strength and integrity of white matter, the brain’s complex wiring system. Unlike grey matter, the brain’s thinking areas which peak at age eight, white matter continues developing over a lifetime. Senior researcher Dr Marc Seal of MCRI said the scans showed long-term heavy cannabis users had disruptions in their white matter fibres. There was a reduction in the volume of white matter of more than 80 per cent in the users studied, Dr Seal said. While the average age participants started using marijuana was 16, some began as young as 10 or 11 and were more seriously affected. “This is the first study to demonstrate the age at which regular cannabis use begins is a key factor in determining the severity of the brain damage,” Dr Seal told AAP. Cannabis interferes with naturally occurring cannabinoid receptors in the brain. The significant differences in long-term heavy cannabis users’ white matter was linked to poor memory and learning. “We don’t know if the changes are irreversible but we do know that these changes are quite significant,” Dr Seal said. “These differences are linked to memory impairment and concentration. These people can have trouble learning new things and they are going to have trouble remembering things,” he said. The results could not be explained by other recreational drug use and alcohol. Dr Seal said the participants would be followed up in the next two years to track any further changes. The results added to previous evidence showing the hippocampus, the area of the brain involved in memory, shrank in heavy users. Previous studies investigating white matter among cannabis users had substantially smaller numbers of participants.
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August 2013 - Brisbane Seniors - Page 53