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an australian professor who spent 30 years seeking a treatment for diabetes may have finally come up with the ultimate cure - prevention, reports reuters. a fat-busting drug, developed by frank ng of melbourne\'s monash university, has completed phase two human trials and so far appears effective and without side-effects. based on an element in the human growth hormone that has long been known to reduce body fat, pills could be available in around four years to the millions of people looking for a miracle cure to the bulge.

the australia new zealand food authority (anzfa) this week released a research report on food handling practices in australian food businesses. the findings were mixed. results of the national food handling benchmark report show that businesses have started to use the better practices proposed in the new national food safety standards. anzfa\' s managing director ian lindenmayer said he was pleased that the majority of the food businesses surveyed, such as food manufacturers, food retailers, child care centres, schools, hospitals, cafés and restaurants, both knew about and are implementing safe food handling practices.

the european commission wants to see greater progress in frontier technologies, particularly life sciences and biotechnology, and has set out a clear strategy to achieve this aim. speaking in new york at the world economic forum earlier this week, david byrne, european commissioner for health and consumer protection, said: \"we are taking the lead in setting our vision for the future in this key area.

five new cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (bse) were announced this week by the department of agriculture in ireland bringing the number of cases to 43 for the month of january. the youngest animal detected last week was a six-year-old in a dairy herd in cork. to date, no animals born after 1996 have been found with bse and there has been a declining number of younger animals detected in the past two years.

fish is well known as the principal source of omega-3 fatty acids which can help reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes and arteriosclerosis. but new studies show that lean meat, fruit and vegetables can also contain useful amounts of omega-3. professor bruce watkins of the center for enhancing foods to protect health at purdue university in the us is conducting an experiment of feeding algae that is high in omega-3s to dairy cattle to increase the amount of the so-called good fat in their milk.

in a move that aims to ensure price consistency from shelf to checkout, netherlands-based hoogvliet supermarkets announced this week that it is deploying electronic shelf labels (esls) from ncr corporation throughout its 34-store chain. esls are digital tags that attach to shelves or other store fixtures. they display the price of merchandise or food items in large, clear characters and provide other information to shoppers or store personnel.

a seminar dedicated to the implications of quid legislation on food enforcement policy, analytical testing regimes and the responsibilities of food manufacturers and retailers will take place in london this month. the seminar, quid food labelling and enforcement, will focus on transparency across europe and will look at case studies from the perspective of the food manufacturer and the enforcement analyst.

us flavours company international flavors & fragrances (iff) announced a leap in fourth quarter earnings for 2001. fourth quarter 2001 earnings per share hit $0.30 (€0.35), an increase of 100 per cent and 67 per cent compared to pro forma and reported earnings per share excluding nonrecurring charges respectively for the fourth quarter 2000. iff acquired bush boake allen in november 2000 and bba\'s sales and operating results are included in the company\'s consolidated results from that date; pro forma results are prepared as though the acquisition of bba occurred on 1 january 2000.

hundreds of nutritionists, us government officials and leading researchers gathered in washington, dc last month to develop an action plan to address a critical health concern facing children and adolescents: calcium deficiency. us government data indicates that calcium intake remains dangerously low in the diets of children and adolescents. \"poor eating patterns are partly to blame for this shortfall, with over-consumption of low nutrient foods and under-consumption of nutrient-rich foods such as milk,\" according to marc jacobson, professor of pediatrics and epidemiology at albert einstein college of medicine and schneider children\'s hospital, and one of the calcium summit ii speakers.