New test improves diagnosis of allergies

Higher diagnostic accuracy than standard tests

21-Oct-2024 - Researchers at the University of Bern and Bern University Hospital have developed a test to simplify the diagnosis of allergies. Its effectiveness has now been confirmed in clinical samples from children and adolescents suffering from a peanut allergy. The results could fundamentally improve the ...

How much microplastic are you drinking?

New tool can tell you in minutes

29-Aug-2024 - Micro- and nanoplastics are in our food, water and the air we breathe. They are showing up in our bodies, from testicles to brain matter. Now, University of British Columbiaresearchers have developed a low-cost, portable tool to accurately measure plastic released from everyday sources like ...

The bee’s knees: New tests created to find fake honey

20-Aug-2024 - Researchers led by Cranfield University have developed new ways to detect sugar syrup adulteration in honey, paving the way for fast and accurate tests to discover fake products. There is growing consumer demand for honey, with £89.8 million worth of honey imported to the UK in 2023. But as a ...

E-nose has mastered the art of detecting spoiled meat

19-Aug-2024 - Research has shown that spoiled food causes about 250 health problems, including poisoning, allergies, and even cancer. Today, food spoilage is detected by very time-consuming bacteriological analysis. A team from Skoltech, the Kharkevich Institute for Information Transmission Problems of RAS and ...

A new method for protection from plant pathogens could help support global food security

19-Aug-2024 - By modifying a plant intracellular immune receptor (NLR), researchers have developed a potential new strategy for resistance to rice blast disease, one of the most important diseases threatening global food security. The collaborative team from the UK and Japan have recently published their ...

Blueprint for blueberry improvement: genetic and epigenetic discoveries

13-Aug-2024 - Recent research has uncovered significant genetic and epigenetic variations in blueberry cultivars, particularly between northern highbush (NHB) and southern highbush (SHB) blueberries. The study highlights gene introgression's role in SHB's adaptation to subtropical climates and identifies key ...

Strawberries under the high-tech magnifying glass

05-Jul-2024 - Sweet notes and healthy ingredients make strawberries one of the most popular fruits worldwide. The complex biochemical compounds that determine the taste and nutritional value of a strawberry - so-called biomarkers - can only be determined in detail by experts using modern analyses. Now, a team ...

Uptake of tire wear additives by vegetables grown for human consumption

Chemical residues from tyre wear detected in leafy vegetables for the first time

06-Jun-2024 - Car tires contain hundreds of chemical additives that can leach out of them. This is how they end up in crops and subsequently in the food chain. Researchers at the Center for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science at the University of Vienna and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have ...

New biomarker proposed for coffee consumption studies

05-Mar-2024 - In order to record coffee consumption in nutrition and health studies, researchers usually rely on self-reporting by participants. However, this is not always reliable. It would therefore be desirable to conduct additional studies to objectively verify individual consumption using biomarkers. A ...

Detect 'forever chemicals' in under 3 minutes

New lab-based method to detect traces of PFAS from food packaging material, water and soil samples

12-Feb-2024 - PFAS have earned the name “forever chemicals” with good reason — the man-made compounds, which can take thousands of years to degrade and are found in everything from grease-resistant food packaging to water-repellent clothing, have made their way into nearlyhalf the U.S. tap water supply. Now, ...