Eideard

 
Ultraviolet (UV) rays emitted by the sun are the leading environmental cause of skin complaints, premature ageing, sun burn and even skin cancer. But in another nod towards the healthy mediteranean diet, Spanish scientists found substances in the grapes protect cells from the damage…

The University of Barcelona and the Spanish National Research Council looked at the chemical reaction in the skin when hit by UV rays from the sun. They found that flavonoids in the grapes can stop the chemical reaction that causes cells to die and therefore skin damage…

Marta Cascante, a biochemist at the University of Barcelona and director of the research project, said it proves grapes could help protect the skin from sun burn and even skin cancer. She said the research could help to develop skin creams and other products to protect skin from sun damage.

“This study supports the idea of using these products to protect the skin from cell damage and death caused by solar radiation, as well as increasing our understanding of the mechanism by which they act”, she said.

The study also adds to the popular image of the healthy and tanned population of the mediteranean.

Previous research has put the low cancer rates and good health down to tomatoes, olive oil and even red wine.

I would add garlic and love.

Daylife/Reuters Pictures used by permission

An international system of tracking tuna – a vital tool in the preservation of stocks – has been found to be full of gaps, reports Steve Bradshaw.

In Japan, diners are being urged to curb their craze for one of their favourite kinds of sushi – unless Mediterranean suppliers can prove it is legally and sustainably caught.

Masanori Miyahara, chief counselor of the Fisheries Agency of Japan, said consumers may have to “just forget about tuna for the time being…”

Spawning stocks of Eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna – the kind caught in the Mediterranean – are widely estimated to be down by around 75% in the last four decades, and some scientists believe they might be on the verge of collapse…

The Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) – which has spent months analysing the trade – calculates that more than one in three bluefins caught in the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean between 1998 and 2007 was fished illegally.

The illegal catches gave rise to an off-the-books trade in bluefin tuna, conservatively valued at $4 billion, according to ICIJ…

In Japan, Mr Miyahara is particularly concerned about the Bluefin Tuna Catch Document (BCD), a paper-based system of tracking tuna introduced in 2008…In theory the BCD also enables ranches and exporting countries to prove their catch is legal – and within the quotas set by ICCAT’s governing commission of tuna-trading member states.

But Mr Miyahara has described some BCD entries as “weird”, and Japan has refused to accept thousands of tonnes of Atlantic bluefin, alleging suppliers cannot demonstrate it is legally caught because the paperwork is not in order…

“You can use this for really good things, but there are so many holes in this data that it’s not much better than a pile of papers,” said the ICIJ’s Kate Willson.

A pile of papers is good enough for most bureaucrats, most of the time. In some countries that’s changing. In others, like the United States, we can look forward to reverses in every aspect of commerce requiring oversight, truth in purpose. The mid-term elections helped that along with voters who presume that changing one group of clowns for another group of crooks somehow improves daily life.

You can read the report [.pdf] over here.