Air pollution is composed of gases, droplets and particles that reduce the quality of air. These large and health-adverse molecules can include toxic gases and poisons like carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide. Air pollution is most common in big cities where there are large concentrations of vehicles and factories that spew dangerous substances as waste byproducts.

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Delicious, sweet fig fruit is one of the prime fruits enjoyed since antiquity in the human history. Fig is naturally rich in much health benefiting phyto-nutrients, anti-oxidants and vitamins. Dried figs, in fact, are concentrated source of minerals and vitamins. The fully ripe fig has bell or pear shape with succulent flesh.

Health benefits of figs

• Fig fruit is low in calories. 100 g fresh fruits provide only 74 calories. However, they contain health benefiting soluble dietary fiber, minerals, vitamins, and pigment anti-oxidants that contribute immensely for optimum health and wellness.
• Dried figs are an excellent source of minerals, vitamins and anti-oxidants. In fact, dried fruits are concentrated sources of energy. 100 g dried figs provide 249 calories.
• Fresh figs, especially black mission, are good in poly-phenolic flavonoid anti-oxidants such ascarotenes, lutein, tannins, chlorogenic acid…etc. Their anti-oxidant value is comparable to that of apples at 3200 umol/100 g.
• In addition, fresh fruits contain adequate levels of some of the anti-oxidant vitamins such as vitamin A, E, and K. Altogether these phyto-chemical compounds in fig fruit help scavenge harmful oxygen derived free radicals from the body and thereby protect us from cancers, diabetes, degenerative diseases and infections. [READ MORE]

NEW DELHI: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued notices in 38 cases of dubious claims or misguiding advertisements on food items and prosecution has been launched in 19 cases, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.

In a written reply, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari also said that apart from these 38 cases, other instances that came before the ministry were placed before an Inter-Ministerial Committee.

According to details given by the minister, complaints had been filed against advertisements of leading brands including one of Complan, which claimed that one can grow two times by using the product.

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Spinach, or Spinacea oleracea, is a common, inexpensive garden and market vegetable grown and eaten all over the world. This mild, green leafy vegetable grows best in cool weather, so you will find the tastiest fresh spinach in spring and fall, and frozen spinach available all year round. Spinach is a nutritional powerhouse packed with benefits for dieters designing meals for weight loss. Losing weight requires eating fewer calories than your body uses in its daily activities.

One way to help do this is to substitute low-calorie vegetables like spinach — a cup of cooked spinach has only 41 calories — to provide substance and bulk to your favorite foods while reducing their calorie count.

Spinach is a versatile vegetable, an important factor for dieters looking to avoid bland and repetitive meals while losing weight. Fresh spinach can be eaten raw in salads or on sandwiches in place of less-nutritious lettuce.

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The Karnataka High Court on Thursday stayed for three months the implementation of the regulations and some of the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006, which were enforced from August last year.

Justice Mohan Shantanagoundar passed the interim order after hearing the petition filed by the Karnataka Pradesh Hotels and Restaurants’ Association.

The FSS (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations, 2011; FSS (Food Product Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011; certain provisions in the FSS (Licensing and Registration of Food Business) Regulations 2011, and Sections 50 to 65 of the Act (dealing with penal provisions for various offences) have been stayed following the interim order.

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Singaporeans are not doing enough to keep their online accounts safe, such as using unique passwords, changing passwords regularly, and the use of two-factor authentication (2FA), according to a survey by Assurity Trusted Solutions.

Released Thursday, the survey showed 60 percent of respondents who file their tax returns online and 59 percent who use other government services do not change their passwords. Some 45 percent participants also do not have different passwords for all their online accounts, it said.

Of those who use online banking services, 10 percent change their passwords quarterly as recommended, while 52 percent never change their passwords. As for online security traders, 9 percent change their passwords quarterly and 54 percent of them never do.

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Karnataka health and family welfare department has planned to invest Rs.83 crore under the National Rural Health Mission(NRHM) where it is in the process of finalizing the public private partnerships (PPP) for five infrastructure projects that will help spur the healthcare activities and make the services more efficient in the state. The project is structured under BOOT (Build Own Operate Transfer )will span for a period of five years.

The five projects are for the establishment of MRI centres at the Medical College Hospitals, provide dialysis services at Taluka level hospitals, set up a lab and diagnostic centre at district hospitals, facility management of two government hospitals in Bengaluru and a geriatric clinic cum in-patient wards at district hospitals on corporate social responsibility(CSR) mode, according to officials.

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Developing world has less than 5 percent chance of meeting United Nations’ target of halving the proportion of children who suffer from hunger by 2015 compared with 1990 levels, according to a systematic analysis of data on children’s height and weight.

Although the nutritional status of children under five has improved overall since 1985, one in five infants and children in developing countries is still moderately or severely underweight, amounting to an estimated 110 million children worldwide. Another 148 million are mildly underweight.

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The state Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given food business operators a deadline of August 5 to get registered with it as per the Food Safety and Standards Authority Act of India (FSSAI).

With around 45 lakh food establishments across Maharashtra, the FDA has insisted that not only restaurants and hotels but even roadside food vendors must apply for a valid licence.

“It is usually the small shops and vendors that pose a problem in terms of licence. As per the FSSAI, anybody involved in the sale of consumables should have a valid licence and be registered with the FDA,” said Suresh Deshmukh, assistant commissioner (Food) of FDA, Maharashtra. Deshmukh said the FDA had issued around 1.6 lakh licenses in the state in the past nine months.

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HCM City should improve food safety and hygiene at all stages of the production cycle from farming to distribution, the head of the People’s Council’s Cultural and Social Affairs Board has said.

At a meeting between the council and the Department of Health on Wednesday, Huynh Cong Hung said he did not yet feel assured about the food safety and hygiene in the city.

Food contaminated by micro-organisms continued to be sold, while the sale of chemicals used as additives was not brought under control, he said.

For the sake of profits, manufacturers, especially small ones, and vendors were ready to flout safety and hygiene regulations, but Government agencies did not punish them severely enough, he said.

Huynh Le Thai Hoa, head of the city Food Safety and Hygiene Division, said his division faced many challenges.

Agricultural products from other provinces accounted for 80 per cent of those sold in the city, making it difficult to trace their origins, he said.

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Limiting sugary snacks and eating a healthy, balanced diet can help you keep your gums healthy

Approximately 150 people were sickened with food poisoning during a Mother’s Day trip to Chuang Yen Monastery in Putnam County yesterday. About 700 people visited the monastery for a Mother’s Day garden party—some 500 of them came up on buses from Chinatown. There’s unconfirmed speculation that the source of the food poisoning was the sticky-rice balls served at the temple—which made the moms in attendance sicker than that time you got caught shoplifting a Samantha Fox poster from Spencer Gifts.

“For this amount of people, at one time, this gets classified as a MCI — massive casualty incident,” David Sutz, an emergency medical technician with the Woodbury Community Ambulance, tells the Poughkeepsie Journal. Eric Gross, spokesman for the Putnam County Bureau of Emergency Services, says people started getting sick with vomiting, fevers, and diarrhea yesterday afternoon after they arrived for a post-monastery shopping expedition at the Woodbury Commons outlet mall.

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