Dietary supplements may have beneficial value but, by definition, they have no therapeutic effect. However, their labeling and especially the advertisements in the media, often make ungrounded health claims. The aim of the study was to analyze the content of audio–visual advertisements of dietary supplements for health and legal aspects in the context of the European Law and the 1 January 2020 Polish self-regulation between TV broadcasting companies and supplement manufacturers. Supplement advertisements broadcast across six TV and radio stations from 9–15 March 2020 were analyzed. Most of the analyzed advertisements complied with the legal requirements and included terms such as ‘supports’ or ‘facilitates’ body function, which are less definite in nature. Almost 30% of the advertised supplements made unproven claims on their effectiveness in various health situations, e.g., effective weight loss, thus assuring the addressee about the beneficial effect of dietary supplements in a given health context. Agreement on the rules and regulations governing supplement advertising resulted in a noticeable improvement in advertisement content, which will hopefully raise consumer awareness about the absence of therapeutic properties of dietary supplements. Full article

Evidence suggests there has been a decrease in childhood dairy consumption. There is a need for further studies to evaluate the types of dairy products in relation to the risk of obesity in pediatric population. The aim of the study was to determine the associations between the frequency of consumption of different types of dairy products and body composition and excess adiposity in preschool children from Poland. A cross-sectional study of 1172 children aged 5–6 years was conducted using a bioelectrical impedance analysis for body composition estimation and a modified food frequency questionnaire (FFQ-6) to assess the habitual diets of the participants. Among the analyzed dairy products, milk was consumed most often, followed by fruit yoghurts, yellow cheese, and cottage cheese, and natural yoghurt was the least common. Participants that consumed fruit or natural yoghurt more frequently had higher adipose tissue content. The logistic regression analysis by the method of forward selection showed that more frequent consumption of fruit yoghurt significantly increased the risk of excess adiposity among the total sample (OR = 1.20, p < 0.001). This study revealed that higher consumption of fruit yoghurt could be significant determinant of excess adiposity in Polish preschool children. Full article

Meat is a source of protein widely consumed by the population in many countries due mainly to the nutritional aspects, sensory characteristics, and cultural aspects. The meat cooking preparation can promote significant changes in the meat’s chemical composition and physical characteristics. Such transformations can impact both the acceptance of the product and consumers’ health. Due to the different thermal processes altering the physical-chemical characteristics of meat, the present study aimed to evaluate the physicochemical characteristics of fillet steak submitted to different cooking methods: pan-frying with and without oil and air fryer. We performed the analysis to evaluate the physicochemical characteristics considering moisture, lipid, protein, ash, sodium, and potassium content, cooking loss index and colorimetry in three degrees of doneness of the meat, rare, medium, and well done. The fillet steak prepared by pan-frying with oil lost higher moisture and weight than the other samples. The air fryer method presented the highest moisture content. There was a significant difference in lipid content in which the pan-frying with oil fillet steak showed the highest amount of lipids. The pan-frying with oil steak fillet also presented more changes in the colorimetric parameters evaluated compared to the other samples. The pan-frying with oil cooking method promoted more pronounced changes in the steak fillet, and the cooking air fryer, the changes in meat quality are less pronounced. Therefore, the air fryer can be considered a good alternative for cooking meat. Full article

The aim of this study is to ascertain if the living environment (type of residential neighborhood and number of household members) will elucidate differences in obesity risk reduction behaviors and self-efficacy in Chinese Americans. A cross-sectional survey design was used to recruit participants from Los Angeles County and New York City metropolitan areas. A total of 650 adults were recruited from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. Descriptive statistics were measured for 19 behaviors reflecting food intake and portion size control and items measuring self-efficacy and attitudes. T-tests were applied for the two categories of living environment. The mean age of the sample was 36.3 years. The ‘high income’ neighborhood group indicated a greater frequency of behaviors, including choosing steamed over fried foods (p < 0.01) and using small amounts of oil (p < 0.05). In general, this group exhibited more favorable attitudes and stronger self-efficacy to perform health behaviors. Multiple regression analyses point to the impact of self-efficacy in predicting behaviors. Nutrition professionals must assess client’s living environments in the adoption of obesity prevention behaviors and the fostering of behavioral confidence. Full article

Heavy metals (HM) can be accumulated along the food chain; their presence in food is a global concern for human health because some of them are toxic even at low concentrations. Unprocessed or minimally processed foods are good sources of different nutrients, so their safety and quality composition should be guaranteed in the most natural form that is obtained for human consumption. The objective of this scoping review (ScR) is to summarize the existing evidence about the presence of HM content (arsenic (As), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), methylmercury (MeHg), and aluminum (Al)) in unprocessed or minimally processed foods for human consumption worldwide during the period of 2011–2020. As a second objective, we identified reported HM values in food with respect to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) International Food Standards for Maximum Limits (MLs) for contaminants in food. This ScR was conducted in accordance with the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology and PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR); advance searches were performed in PubMed, ScienceDirect and FAO AGRIS (Agricultural Science and Technology Information) databases by two reviewers who independently performed literature searches with specific eligibility criteria. We classified individual foods in food groups and subgroups according to the Global Individual Information Food Consumption Data Tool (FAO/WHO GIFT). We homologated all the reported HM units to parts per million (ppm) to determine the weighted mean HM concentration per country and food group/subgroup of the articles included. Then, we compared HM concentration findings with FAO/WHO MLs. Finally, we used a Geographic Information System (GIS) to present our findings. Using our search strategy, we included 152 articles. Asia was the continent with the highest number of publications (n = 79, 51.3%), with China being the country with the largest number of studies (n = 34). Fish and shellfish (n = 58), followed by vegetables (n = 39) and cereals (n = 38), were the food groups studied the most. Fish (n = 42), rice (n = 33), and leafy (n = 28) and fruiting vegetables (n = 29) were the most studied food subgroups. With respect to the HM of interest, Cd was the most analyzed, followed by Pb, As, Hg and Al. Finally, we found that many of the HM concentrations reported exceeded the FAO/OMS MLs established for Cd, Pb and As globally in all food groups, mainly in vegetables, followed by the roots and tubers, and cereals food groups. Our study highlights the presence of HM in the most natural forms of food around the world, in concentrations that, in fact, exceed the MLs, which affects food safety and could represent a human health risk. In countries with regulations on these topics, a monitoring system is recommended to evaluate and monitor compliance with national standards. For countries without a regulation system, it is recommended to adopt international guidelines, such as those of FAO, and implement a monitoring system that supervises national compliance. In both cases, the information must be disseminated to the population to create social awareness. This is especially important to protect the population from the consumption of internal production and for the international markets of the globalized world. Full article

Speciation analysis is a key aspect of modern analytical chemistry, as the toxicity, environmental mobility, and bioavailability of elemental analytes are known to depend strongly on an element’s chemical species. Henceforth, great efforts have been made in recent years to develop methods that allow not only the determination of elements as a whole, but also each of its separate species. Environmental analytical chemistry has not ignored this trend, and this review aims to summarize the latest methods and techniques developed with this purpose. From the perspective of each relevant element and highlighting the importance of their speciation analysis, different sample treatment methods are introduced and described, with the spotlight on the use of modern nanomaterials and novel solvents in solid phase and liquid-liquid microextractions. In addition, an in-depth discussion of instrumental techniques aimed both at the separation and quantification of metal and metalloid species is presented, ranging from chromatographic separations to electro-chemical speciation analysis. Special emphasis is made throughout this work on the greenness of these developments, considering their alignment with the precepts of the Green Chemistry concept and critically reviewing their environmental impact. Full article

Current nutritional trends include plant-based diets as nutritional behavior of consumers who are increasingly concerned about a healthy lifestyle. Sea buckthorn (Hippophaë rhamnoides L.) is a plant with great virtues, containing more than 100 types of compounds. It is a plant with versatile properties, multiple economic advantages and a rich history, which still continues in natural medicine, and it is hence included in the daily diet by more and more people for the prevention and treatment of diet-related diseases. Its uniqueness is due to its chemical composition and the health beneficial properties that rise from its composition. This review is a detailed analytical picture of the current state of knowledge currently available regarding the Hippophaë plant, providing an overview of the qualities of sea buckthorn. This article summarizes data on sea buckthorn’s nutritional value, health beneficial properties, and its applications. Full article

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic non-degenerative disease characterized by the presence of multiple symptoms such as chronic pain, which negatively influence the quality of life of sufferers, most of whom are women. Currently, there is no effective treatment to limit the impact of these symptoms. The aim of this research is to review the scientific evidence on the effect of following a vegetarian or vegan diet on fibromyalgia patients. A systematic review included the original articles that answered the research question. These articles were in 2021 in the PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus databases. The research used the PRISMA (preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses) guidelines. No time restriction was applied, and grey literature was not included. The evaluation of the methodological quality of the articles was carried out using the following different scales: STROBE (strengthening the reporting of observational studies in epidemiology), PEDro (Physiotherapy Evidence Database), and MMAT (Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool) scales. A total of 88 studies were analyzed, of which 6 investigations were included in this systematic review (n = 4 clinical trials and n = 2 cohort studies). These investigations show significant improvements in biochemical parameters, quality of life, quality of sleep, pain at rest and general health status when following mainly plant-based dietary patterns. In conclusion, these findings are promising but interpretation of the findings is limited due to the methodological quality of the studies. Well-designed clinical trials are needed to consolidate these dietary recommendations in FM patients. Full article