YOUR OPINION

Are nuts fattening?

• Yes
• No
• I don’t know

 

Ms. Goretti Guasch, Executive Director of the INC, presented a report on the activities carried out within the 2009 Strategic Plan of Actions at the General Assembly held on May 23rd, 2010, in Beijing, China, highlighting projects on marketing, scientific and nutrition, which are the core activities of the INC.

Since February 2009, the INC is participating in the EU-funded project MYCORED, a large collaborative project aimed to address global strategies for mycotoxin reduction. The INC participates in assessing the efficacy and safety of processing procedures for reducing mycotoxins; the development of a training video for mycotoxin sampling; a Delphi study on advances on reduction of mycotoxins, and an economic evaluation of the impact of mycotoxin contamination. Within the economic evaluation task, the INC will publish a book on “Nuts and Dried Fruits. Global Statistical Review”. The book gathers worldwide statistics on production, imports, exports and consumption trends of nuts and dried fruits, from 2004 to 2009.

The INC has also participated in industry conferences such as the Australian Nut Industry Council Conference (Melbourne, 2009), the International Dried Grape Conference (Hamburg, 2009); the 1st International Seminar on Raisins (Chile, 2009); the 24th European Dried Fruit Meeting of the Waren Verein (Hamburg, 2009); and the 1st Golden Nut Cashew Festival (Vietnam, 2010). The objective to participate in these meetings is to monitor the key issues affecting the nut and dried fruit industry, from regulatory issues to market trends, while interacting with the industry players in order to develop consistent approaches to risk issues.

Research and communication are essential for our industry. With this is mind, the INC continues to spread the positive role of nuts and dried fruits on health worldwide, promoting scientific studies, education and dissemination. In this sense, the INC participated in the 3rd International Congress on Food and Nutrition (Turkey, 2009); funded the NREF Session on Health Benefits of nuts in Bangkok (October, 2009), within the frame of the 19th International congress on Nutrition; and organized a Symposium on Nuts and Cardiovascular Health this past March in Barcelona, within the frame of the 2nd congress of the Federation of Societies of Nutrition, Food and Dietetics. For October 2011, the INC is planning to organize a Scientific Symposium within the frame of the 11th European Nutrition Conference (Madrid, October 2011).

The INC Symposium “Nuts and Cardiovascular Health” organized in Barcelona, March 2010, was co-chaired by Prof. Jordi Salas-Salvadó (University Rovira i Virgili, Spain), member of the INC Scientific Committee, and Dr. Emilio Ros (Hospital of Barcelona, Spain). The Symposium was held under the umbrella of the 2nd Congress of the Federation of Societies of Nutrition, Food and Dietetics, with a participation of over 1,500 participants including researchers, health influencers and specialized media.

Finally, Ms. Guasch presented the video with interviews of the keynote speakers of the INC symposium “Nuts and Cardiovascular Health”, held in Barcelona, March 4th, 2010, within the frame of the II Congress of the Federation of Societies of Nutrition, Food and Dietetics (FESNAD). The INC 90-minute Symposium gathered leading nut researchers from Europe, the United States and Australia, and provided the opportunity to share information on the health benefits of nuts with a large group of over 200 people, including health influencers, researchers and specialized media. The session reviewed the main scientific studies that have examined the health benefits of nuts consumption in the last 5 years. The summary of the speeches and interviews to scientists and industry representatives are available at INC’s website www.nutfruit.org/incsymposium.

Ms. Guasch's presentation "Building the Future Together" is available at www.nutfruit.org/china-2010.