Chloé Sharrocks

Unilever, the company responsible for the ice-cream brands Ben & Jerry’s and Wall’s have come up with a new way to help save the planet.

The FMCG giant has decided to make a low-carbon ice creame which will only be frozen when shoppers take the product home.  Instead the ice cream will be transported and sold at room temperature, meaning that Unilever will be reducing their carbon footprint by saving on refrigerated transportation, as well as reducing their energy costs.

Image of Cherry Garcia ice cream, copyright of Don.chulio, published on Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License

The food scientists haven’t yet unveiled how they’re going to produce this ‘ambient’ ice cream whilst still maintaining the fab taste that consumers will expect at a reasonable price

According to Marketing Magazine, the research is part of a wider plan of Unilever’s to reduce the environmental impact of their brands and the product is being undertaken in partnership with academics at Cambridge University.

Anyone in London until 27th August should check out this brand new sci-art exhibition set up in the courtyard outside Burlington House (home of the Royal Academy of Arts and the Royal Society of Chemistry).  Graeme Jones, a chemical ecologist and keen science communicator, has created three wonderful exhibits on the theme of Carbon Rapture.

To read a full account of the exhibition click here, to see my post on London’s Nature Network.

Scientists have found a molecule that intensifies allergic reactions which could mean they can reduce the risk of children suffering serious allergic reactions to food such as peanuts.

The team of researchers from Glasgow University have also created a biological agent which they hope can reduce allergy symptoms.

Their work,published in the Proceedings of the National Association of Sciences of the USA (PNAS) journal, could dramatically reduce the number of fatal cases of anaphylactic shock, or severe allergic reaction, across the world.

Many different things can cause allergic reactions.  Common food which can cause problems include peanuts, tree nuts, sesame, fish, shellfish, dairy products and eggs.  People can also suffer allergies to wasp or bee stings, rubber, penicillin and many other drugs or injections.  The symptoms sufferers may experience include generalised flushing, skin reactions and breathing difficulties.  In severe cases cardiac arrest and death can occur, which is why researchers are battling to learn how to prevent allergies.

In the UK alone 500,000 people are thought to have an acute food allergy and we have the highest prevalence of allergies in Europe.  Allergic reactions are treated with adrenaline and those thought to be at risk of a severe reaction are prescribed pre-loaded adrenaline injection kits, often known as EpiPens.

This latest research is a world-first.  The team, led by Dr Alirio Melendez and Professor Eddy Liew, found that the novel cytokine (immune hormone), IL-33, plays a significant role in the development of anaphylaxis.

By studying patients who had experienced anaphylaxis during surgery they were able to discover that IL-33 was involved in the anaphylactic shock and has allowed the scientists to discover how to intervene to reduce the severity of the reaction.

Dr Melendez said: “An anaphylactic shock prompts a massive inflammatory reaction which often is so severe that it constricts breathing. In our study we found that the severity of the shock is linked to the IL-33 molecule, which acts as an amplifier to the inflammatory reaction. This can lead to a fatal constriction of the airway and, ultimately, death.”

The scientists then went on to develop a mouse model which shows that by blocking the IL-33 molecule reduces the severity of an anaphylactic shock.  They are now continuing their study and are going to be investigating in more depth allergic reactions specific to food, venoms and medicinal drugs.

Photo by Christian Gidlöf, courtesy of Wikipedia

Cola soft drinks may soon carry health warnings on their packaging if doctor’s warnings are listened to.

A report in the International Journal of Clinical Practice suggests that excessive drinking of cola drinks can lead to profound muscle paralysis.  This news comes after an Australian ostrich farmer required emergency treatment for lung paralysis after consuming between 4 and 10 litres of cola a day and a pregnant woman complained of tiredness, appetite loss and persistent vomiting after drinking as much as 3 litres of cola daily for six years.  Tests showed that she was suffering an irregular heartbeat.

Scientists now believe that cola soft drinks cause potassium levels in the blood to fall dangerously low, leading to hypokalaemia.  Caffeine-free cola fans should not rest on their laurels either.  Dr Moses Elisaf from the University of Ioannina in Greece, and author of the research paper, warned that caffeine-free cola products could also cause hypokalaemia because of the fructose they contain can cause diarrhoea.

This news has got me thinking.  In a world where health and safety is a significant issue and people have tried suing McDonald’s for making them obese, will most food and drink products one day have to carry health warnings akin to those on cigarette’s packaging?  Will chocolate one day say: “Warning, may cause tooth decay and obesity”, packets of nuts say warn that they “May cause allergies” and alcohol (in addition to its current advice) be labelled with notices that it “Can cause irresponsible behaviour, crazy dancing, addiction and in some cases death”?

I’m all for pointing out the truely harmful effects that cigarettes can cause, but am worried that the current prevalence of the ’suing culture’ could lead to rather obsessive labelling.  The point regarding cigarettes is that even a limited amount of smoking can cause severe harm, whereas the occaisional can of Coke or chocolate bar (as a treat) is unlikely to kill anyone.