Preliminary UCAP data show Philippine export of coconut products plummeted 31.3% year-on-year in March to 85,257 MT in copra terms from 124,098 MT, marking nine straight months of continued losses. The total slightly improved by 5.2% on previous month volume estimated at 80,997 MT.

       Shipments of all products but desiccated coconut were substantially scaled back during the month. Coconut oil sales shrank 35.8% to 42,026 MT from 65,473 MT year-ago. The month-on-month data, however, show gradually increasing volume since January this year which logged a low of 24,292 MT, followed by a rise in February to 37,641 MT and another round of increase this March, indicating improving availability. Copra meal shipment dropped at an exaggerated rate of 87.8% to just 6,400 MT from 52,546 MT. Delivery of oleochemicals plunged 29.4% to 5,915 MT as copra from 8,384 MT. Desiccated coconut export defied the downward trend to record a modest growth of 7.2% at 8,172 MT from 7,625 MT.

       Still, bulk of the month?s shipment of coconut oil went to Europe amounting to 20,346 MT to account for 48.4% of total turnover. The United States took in slightly lower load at 19,230 MT contributing 45.8%. Japan was responsible for 2,450 MT or 5.8%.

       Evita Legowo, director general of oil and gas at Indonesia?s energy and mines ministry said the country has finalized its price formula for bioethanol and palm-based biodiesel. A ministerial decree will be issued accordingly. This development is expected to help boost the use of biofuels in the country. The government wants to make the use biofuel mandatory from this year to ensure the survival of the fledgling industry, but the lack of a pricing formula has made biofuels producers reluctant to sell the product to state oil firm Pertamina, which is the sole distributor of subsidized fuel products in the country.

       For palm-based biodiesel, the pricing formula will be a combination of the biodiesel price index issued by London-based Argus Media and the monthly palm oil base export price issued by the trade ministry. Argus provides a daily fob price assessment for palm oil methyl ester (PME) and ethanol loading from Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia. Pertamina is estimated to blend 580,025 kiloliters of palm-based biodiesel in 2009.

       According to a study entitled News Coverage and Sales of Products with Trans Fat: Effects Before and After Changes in Federal Labeling Policy, ?when consumers are exposed to information about the harmful effects of trans fats on the local news, they buy fewer products high in trans fat. In the absence of broader changes in food policy and public education, news coverage may be insufficient to produce lasting reductions in trans fat purchases and consumption?. The study appears in the May issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Jeff Niederdeppe, Ph.D, lead author of the study, conducted the research as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholar at the University of Wisconsin.

       In 2006, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mandated that the amount of trans fat per serving be listed on nutrition labels. This federal policy requires food products to list the amount of trans fat if it exceeds 0.5 gram per serving. The study examined news effects on the sale of seven brand-specific products that contained trans fat at the time of the study, including buttered popcorn, vegetable shortening, buttermilk biscuits, sandwich cookies, stick margarine, crescent rolls and hotdogs. For up to one week after the stories appeared, consumer purchases dropped significantly for six of seven products, with hot dog purchases being the exception. Three weeks later, consumer purchases went back up for half of these products.

       New research from South Dakota State University (SDSU) revealed that including flax in the diet may help prevent colorectal tumors or keep tumors from growing as quickly when they do form. Chandradhar Dwivedi, head of SDSU?s Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, directed the study by departmental graduate student researchers Ajay Bommareddy, Xiaoying Zhang and professional doctor of pharmacy student Dustin Scharader.

       The study was conducted in a special strain of mice that develop spontaneous intestinal tumors due to mutation in a gene. Results indicated that mice on diets supplemented with flaxseed meal and flaxseed oil had, on average, 45 percent fewer tumors in the small intestine and the colon compared to the control group. The research findings were published last February in the academic peer-reviewed international Journal Nutrition and Cancer. The results show that tumors in dietary flaxseed-treated groups, besides being few, were also very small in size when compared with what were found in the other experimental diets.

       William Dozier, animal scientist, formerly with the ARS Poultry Research Unit in Mississippi State has been working with colleagues at the ARS Swine Odor and Manure Management Research Unit in Ames, Iowa, and Iowa State University (ISU) to find ways to supplement animal diets with glycerin. The study showed that glycerin, a biofuel by-product, contains energy-providing nutrients for animals.

       The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), which has been skeptical of biotech in the past, found genetically modified (GM) herbicide-tolerant soybeans and maize did not increase yields compared with conventional methods. However, farmers have adapted the technology partly due to lower energy costs and convenience associated with applying pesticides. It found another variety, BT maize, contributed to about 3.3 percentage points of the estimated 28% increase in maize yields since it was made available commercially in 1996.