Advertisements are playing an important role today as more and more companies are coming up with new products to meet growing demands of consumers. But in the process, they tend to deviate from ethics and fall under the “misleading ads” category, which has shaken the industry.

Archana Aroor, in conversation with Allan Collaco, secretary-general, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), a self-regulation mechanism body, explores more on the topic

The Union government is looking to set up a separate inter-ministerial committee for checking misleading ads? As a council member what would you suggest?
Yes, ASCI’s suggestion is that we have been self-regulating on ads, since 26 years. We are willing to work with the government to ensure that consumers’ interests are protected completely. For this, we have held a conference in New Delhi on Nov 17, 2011, to discuss the various issues and to look at the major challenges faced. What is being conveyed to us from the conference was that ASCI needed to look into the speed that it takes for checking misleading ads.

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The Expert’s Thought: Advertisements are everywhere. Consumers have a need and advertisements direct the consumer to the company that has a solution for their need.They cater to your physical senses and bend your mind to what is possible.

Moving the body demands a lot from the brain. Exercise activates countless neurons, which generate, receive and interpret repeated, rapid-fire messages from the nervous system, coordinating muscle contractions, vision, balance, organ function and all of the complex interactions of bodily systems that allow you to take one step, then another.

This increase in brain activity naturally increases the brain’s need for nutrients, but until recently, scientists hadn’t fully understood how neurons fuel themselves during exercise. Now a series of animal studies from Japan suggest that the exercising brain has unique methods of keeping itself fueled. What’s more, the finely honed energy balance that occurs in the brain appears to have implications not only for how well the brain functions during exercise, but also for how well our thinking and memory work the rest of the time.

For many years, scientists had believed that the brain, which is a very hungry organ, subsisted only on glucose, or blood sugar, which it absorbed from the passing bloodstream. But about 10 years ago, some neuroscientists found that specialized cells in the brain, known as astrocytes, that act as support cells for neurons actually contained small stores of glycogen, or stored carbohydrates. And glycogen, as it turns out, is critical for the health of cells throughout the brain.

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The Expert’s Thought: Exercise is one of those rare things where the hype actually meets reality. It lowers the risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, and certain cancers, and also can help control stress and boost mood.

What foods can help me control my cholesterol levels and maintain heart health?

Just a few simple tweaks to your daily diet can help you get your cholesterol levels under control:

1. Olive oil: Switch to olive oil for cooking. Research has shown that the Mediterranean people consume olive oil and have very low incidence of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. Olive oil contains a mix of various anti-oxidants which lower your bad cholesterol (LDL). Use it for your tadka or add it as a dressing to salads. Extra virgin olive oils are even more beneficial as they are less-processed and retain more anti-oxidants than the other varieties.

2. Nuts: Walnuts and almonds are rich in omega three fatty acids and PUFA (poly unsaturated fatty acids) which help reduce LDL cholesterol and keep the blood vessels healthy. A handful of these nuts (unsalted, unfried) should help.

3. Oats: Being high in soluble fibre, oats reduce the absorption of cholesterol (Total & LDL) in your blood. Eating 1 ½ cups of cooked oats with milk and bananas or apples gives you your daily requirement of soluble fibre.

4. Fish: High in omega 3 fatty acids, it helps increase the levels of the good (or HDL) cholesterol.

It is recommended that you have atleast two servings of Salmon (rawas fish), herring (bhing) or mackerel (bangda) per week. For restricting calories, they are best eaten grilled, shallow fried with very little oil or baked.

If you do not eat fish or do not have access to good fish, add ground flax seeds (alsi), pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds (til), soyabean oil, canola oil to your diet. Omega 3 fatty acid supplements are also available.

5. Garlic: Though the cholesterol lowering effects of garlic has been debated in recent times, it has been shown that allicin in the garlic does help.

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The Expert’s Thought: Just like the fat you have in your body, cholesterol is also a fat/ lipid that is produced in the liver and its normal levels are necessary for the proper functioning of the body.

” Every job is a self-portrait of the one who did it. Autograph your work with excellence  ”

Physical activity and exercise can help you stay healthy, energetic and independent as you get older.

Adults aged 65 and over spend on average 10 hours or more each day sitting or lying down. This makes them the most sedentary age group.

They’re paying a high price for their inactivity, with higher rates of falls, obesity, heart disease and early death compared with the general population.

As you get older, it’s even more important that you remain active if you want to stay healthy and maintain your independence.

If you stop moving, all the things you’ve always enjoyed doing and taken for granted start to become that little bit harder.

You may struggle to pursue simple pleasures, such as playing with the grandchildren, walking to the shops, leisure activities and meeting up with friends.

You might start to get aches and pains that you never had before, and have less energy to go out. You may also be more vulnerable to falling.

This can all lead to being less able to look after yourself and do the things you enjoy.

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The Expert’s Thought: Physical exercise is any bodily activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness.The key is to find the right exercise for you. If it is fun, you are more likely to stay motivated.

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The Expert’s Thought: We encourage such Summits. The summit can be a one contact point for Traders, Investors and Farmers.

” Being the best is great, I’m number one. But being unique is greater, I’m the only one “

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The Expert’s Thought: I wish that the new law would make up the flaws in the Indian Food Industry.

The condition of over 70 poor people, including 32 women and children, in Chhattisgarh is reported to be stable hours after they were hospitalised for food poisoning, a health official said on Tuesday.

The patients, mainly tribals, were rushed to Dantewada district government hospital on Monday when they began vomiting soon after eating at a famous Shiv temple at village Teknar on Mahashivratri. The temple is 5km away from district headquarters in Dantewada town and about 380km from capital Raipur.

“About a hundred people were brought to hospital in phases till last night, they are clearly victims of food poisoning. A few of them were discharged early Tuesday, but still 70 people, mostly impoverished tribals, are still in hospital,” Anand Gota, the doctor attending to patients at the district hospital, told reporters in Dantewada.

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The Expert’s Thought: Sad Incident. The officials should be more vigilant and active during such cases and nevertheless the food handlers should be taught the aspects of Proper Handling and Poisoning.

Is anything worse than being bogged down byfood poisoning just because you ate at a restaurant? We think not!
Turning your eating out spree from marvelous to miserable, food poisoning is caused by eating contaminated foods or liquids and can be because of four major culprits – chemicals, toxins, bacteria and virus. Today, Bangalore-based, registered dietitian and Wellness Consultant, Sheela Krishnaswamy advises us on how to keep food poisoning at bay. Here’s a look at food poisoning – prevention and cure.

Understanding food poisoning: It’s an illness, which occurs when a person eats contaminated food. Its typical symptoms include, vomiting, nausea, extreme stomach ache and often diarrhea. Other than this, in a few unfortunate cases a person may also suffer from dehydration, nervous system damage, stools and at times, all this can be accompanied with a viral.

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The Expert’s Thought: Food poisoning comes from eating foods that contain germs Bacteria are all around us, so mild cases of food poisoning are common. You may have had mild food poisoning — with diarrhea and an upset stomach.

Take extra precaution on the health of children and teach them to practise personal hygiene at all times to prevent outbreak of diseases such as Hand foot and mouth disease (HFMD).

Speaking at the opening of Krista Stampin at Jalan Stampin Timur, Stampin MP Datuk Yong Khoon Seng advised all kindergarten operators and teachers to report any occurrences to the authority concerned.

“If there is a directive to stop classes temporarily, please follow it for the safety of the children,” he said.

Krista Stampin is the sixth Krista Kindergarten in Kuching. It is the largest kindergarten franchise in Malaysia which provides early childhood education.

Yong added that kindergartens should carry out different teaching approaches from time to time.

“While teaching the children to write, read and count, kindergartens should also focus on the mental development of these young children and enhance their communication skills to be more independent,” he said.

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The Expert’s Thought: Personal hygiene is the basic concept of cleaning, grooming and caring for our bodies. While it is an important part of our daily lives at home, personal hygiene becomes very important.

” Out of clutter, find Simplicity. From discord,find Harmony.In the middle of difficulty lies Opportunity “

There’s the number of days a month that she spends away from her new home in Ottawa as a shining star on the international opera circuit, and as a judge on Citytv’s Canada’s Got Talent: 18.

Then there’s 180: the number of pounds she lost a few years ago to build stamina for her gruelling tour dates. She also remembers 260/180, her out-of-control blood pressure reading in 2009 – when she was just 31.

And her favourite number of all? That would be 13, or the percentage of people who actually survive what she experienced on a June day three years ago, when her blood pressure grew so intense it actually ripped a hole through the wall of her aorta, the heart’s main artery.

“Usually they find that you’ve had an aortic tear in the autopsy; it has an 87-per-cent mortality rate,” says Brueggergosman, now 34. “So I’m in the lucky 13 per cent.”

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The Expert’s Thought: A heart attack occurs if the flow of oxygen-rich blood to a section of heart muscle suddenly becomes blocked.Heart attacks are the leading cause of death for both men and women worldwide.

The Indian Spices Board and World Spice Organization (WSO) are jointly organizing a a workshop on ‘Food safety’ with special reference to spices on Feb 29 here. The workshop will highlight the concept of food safety, an issue of concern in the present context and the need to comply with the terms and conditions of the food safety acts. Strict regulations for food safety and standards have been put into practice from Aug 5, last year.

Spices Board and WSO through this campaign offer a platform to the public to gain insights into the great challenges of this issue. Udai K Saxena, Joint Secretary of AFST (I) (Association of Food Scientists and Technologists, India), Delhi and a member of FSSAI Committee of experts on categorisation of food products and HS codes will lead the discussions for the day. To ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption, FSSA, 2006 (Food Safety and Standard Act) has to be carried out with no compromise.

The workshop will discuss provision and overview of FSSA 2006 and basic concept of food safety and hygiene with specific reference to the spice industry. Registration and Licensing regulations, general hygiene requirements for it and procedure of new and renewal of license are topics that will be discussed. Packaging and labeling regulations specially for spices and laboratory and sampling analysis that determine food safety standards would also be discussed. Deliberations on food safety and standards for the workshop are expected to bring awareness on the subject and will be beneficial to the participants mainly farmers, traders and exporters, the release said.

Source: IBN Live

The Expert’s Thought: The rules would give the country the proper Insight of the Law and its effective implementation.

The Indian packaging industry is estimated to be worth Rs 63,000 crore. This industry is growing at 11% annually and is expected to cross a turnover of Rs 95,000 crore by the year 2015.
This segment is made up of organised to medium to large players as well as unorganised local players. The main growth drivers for the Indian packaging industry are the food & beverage and pharmaceutical packaging sectors. The food processing industry is likely to double its capacity over the next 3-4 years which will consequently lead to a huge demand for packaging material. The fastest-growing segments are laminates and flexible packaging, especially PET and woven sacks.

The Indian raffia industry
The raffia segment, which is part of the plastic processing sector, has the most modern technology available and produces products of international standards. Approximately 1.2 million tonnes of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) materials consumed by the raffia sector in India produce woven sacks, tarpaulins, FIBC (flexible intermediate bulk containers), leno bags, geotextiles etc. The consumption growth of PP+PE for the raffia sector from 2006-07 to 2009-10 is about 55%, i.e. 775 KT to 1.2 million tonnes. As of today, the Indian sector has become the 2nd largest raffia segment in the world.

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The Expert’s Thought: The highly fragmented packaging industry is estimated at Rs 8,000 crore. There are about 600-700 packaging machinery manufacturers, 95percent of which are in the small and medium sector located all over India.