For week ending September 03, 2009

       The tournament is sponsored by the following: Gold Sponsors: Cargill Philippines, Chemrez Technologies, Minola (CIIF Oil Mills Group), Pilipinas Kao, and United Coconut Planters Bank; Silver Sponsors: EU Sons Trading, Pure Essence International, and Toepfer International-Asia Pte. Ltd.

       Reports say major US beverage maker Coca-Cola may soon buy a minority stake in Zico, a California-based coconut water drink producer. Knowledgeable sources cited by Beverage Digest editor John Sicher said the investment could be announced shortly. Coca-Cola spokesman Scott Williamson, however, was mum on the information.

       Many people in Lira use sunflower cakes as animal feeds because it is cheap. However, extraction of oil from the cake is now being done for consumption and export. Bhargava said crushing of oilseeds such as sunflower, soya beans and ground nuts will kick off next year for thousands of acres of land in Lira and in northern districts growing vegetable oil seeds.

       China?s annual soybean crushing capacity totals at least 80 million MT, although utilization rate is only about 50%. COFCO takes only 10% of the edible oils market, far behind market leader Wilmar International. China?s major edible oil producers, such as Sinograin Oils and Fats Industrial Co. and Jilin Grain Group, have also lined up plans to open new factories to boost capacity.

       More than 60 percent of Al?s revenues come from vegetable oil and biodiesel sales through subsidiary Al Energy Co. During the first semester of the year, vegetable oil and biodiesel sales totaled 602.3 million baht, down from sales of 717 million last year. Sales of porcelain insulators, used for power transmission towers, totaled 116 million baht in the first half, down sharply from sales of 401.9 million last year. Thanit Thareratanavibool, chief executive of SET-listed Asian Insulators, said the plant expansion will help reduce unit production costs by 15 percent once completed in mid-2010.

       According to John Forrest of the Australian Olive Oil Association, locally grown olive oil still represents a small percentage of the oil sold in Australia. Total olive oil production is around 15,000 MT and about 75% is consumed locally and the remainder sold overseas. Australia is the second largest consumer of olive oil outside the Mediterranean region.

       Peru?s policy calling for a blending of 2% biodiesel in traditional diesel fuel took effect on January 01 this year. However, according to Diego Gamero of Biodiesel Peru, US imports have caused lower margins for local producers who had been gearing up to supply requirements of around 60,000 MT a year. It was estimated that landed cost of US supplies were $200/MT cheaper because of subsidies like the blenders credit. The Peruvian government thus has begun an anti-dumping investigation on US biodiesel, with the potential for a countervailing duty to be imposed on US deliveries.

       The project is expected to end the dumping of used cooking oil on the streets or down the drains. Hameed Al Basri, technical committee chairman said many drains get blocked and doorsteps are flooded with waste vegetable oil because restaurants and households have no other use for it after cooking. Bahrain has taken a huge step in recycling and today there are a number of companies in the country that recycle different kinds of waste such as food, cans, glass and other materials, but so far nothing has been done to waste cooking oil.

       The scientists identified fried and processed food as the main sources of oxycholesterol in the diet. Oxycholesterol is produced in oxidized oils, particularly in trans fatty acids and partially-hydrogenated vegetable oils. According to Dr. Zhen-Yu Chen, led researcher, the detrimental effects of oxycholesterol have been on the researchers? radars for a while, with focus on cell and DNA damage, and its biochemical effects in contributing to atherosclerosis. He, however, maintains that total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), and the heart-healthy high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) are still important health issues. He said, ?Our work demonstrated that oxycholesterol boosts total cholesterol levels and promotes atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) more than non-oxidized cholesterol.?

       Researchers from Ohio State University studied whether soybean, corn, safflower and olive oils kept their healthful fatty acids during storage. Their findings are as follows: 1) high concentration of oxidized alpha-tocopherol caused a decrease in stability, or loss of health qualities, in all the oils studied, 2) soybean oil, which contains the highest oxidized alpha-tocopherol content, had the lowest stability during storage, 3) corn, safflower and olive oils had a decrease in their healthy fatty acids as their oxidized alpha-tocopherol levels increased. The authors thus conclude that removing the oxidized alpha-tocopherol will help improve the oxidative stability of food during the storage.

       Eleni Linos from Stanford University Medical Center and Walter Willett from Harvard School of Public Health stated in an accompanying editorial: ?We are now fortunate to have reports from many large cohort studies conducted worldwide, which include well over one million women and many thousands of cases of breast cancer, that are quite consistent in showing no overall relation of meat or dairy products consumed in midlife or later to breast cancer risk. Although more data on diet in childhood and early adult life are needed, and on the effects of high temperature cooking, these data are sufficient to exclude any major effect of consuming these foods during midlife or later on risk of breast cancer.? While the results of the study do appear to allay fears of animal fat intake and breast cancer, concerns still abound in relation to other forms of cancer, most notably lung, pancreatic and colorectal cancer.