Regional Codex Guidelines and Their Potential To Impact Food Safety in Traditional Food Markets.

Abstract: Traditional food markets frequently have inadequate infrastructure, limited access to potable water, unsanitary conditions, and inadequate storage facilities, making them especially risky places for the growth and spread of foodborne pathogens. Traditional markets also often lack effective government oversight. Government programs are important for providing a foundation to manage food safety by setting and enforcing minimum food safety and quality standards and by establishing uniform standards for the conduct of food businesses.

Using implementation research for evidence-based programme development: a case study from Kenya.

The few available studies of programme effectiveness in nutrition find that programmes are less effective than would be predicted from the efficacy trials that are the basis for evidence-based programming. Some of these are due to gaps in utilisation within households. To a greater extent, these gaps can be attributed to problems in programme design and implementation.

Biofortification: a new tool to reduce micronutrient malnutrition.

Background: The density of minerals and vitamins in food staples eaten widely by the poor may be increased either through conventional plant breeding or through the use of transgenic techniques, a process known as biofortification.

Objective: HarvestPlus seeks to develop and distribute varieties of food staples (rice, wheat, maize, cassava, pearl millet, beans, and sweet potato) that are high in iron, zinc, and provitamin A through an interdisciplinary, global alliance of scientific institutions and implementing agencies in developing and developed countries.

Methods: In broad terms, three things must happen for biofortification to be successful.

From harvest to health: challenges for developing biofortified staple foods and determining their impact on micronutrient status.

Background: The use of conventional breeding techniques and biotechnology to improve the micronutrient quality of staple crops is a new strategy to address micronutrient deficiencies in developing countries. This strategy, referred to as "biofortification," is being developed and implemented through the international alliance of HarvestPlus to improve iron, zinc, and vitamin A status in low-income populations.

Objective: The objective of this paper is to review the challenges faced by nutritionists to determine and demonstrate the ability of biofortified crops to have an impact on the nutritional and health status of target populations.