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Bega takes full control of TaturaRecently listed on the Australian exchange, Bega Cheese has moved to buy the remaining 30% of the shares it does not already own in Victorian Co-op Tatura Milk Industries in a scrip deal valued at about $42.7 million. Tatura shareholders will receive two Bega shares for every Tatura Milk redeemable preference share. Bega will issue 24.1 million shares to about 320 Tatura shareholders, who are mostly farmers and milk suppliers in Victoria. The deal is seen as combining the strengths of both companies and brings a high margin, growing business into the Bega Cheese Group. The deal values Tatura Milk at about $140m. Bega first bought 70% of Tatura Milk for $38.8m in 2007 when Tatura was going through a difficult period. In the four years, Bega has turned around Tatura's business, which contributed $15.6m to Bega's full-year net profit of $21.7m for the year ending June 30 this year. The deal is expected to be completed before the end of the year. |
Fat TaxOpinionIt’s finally happened, a nation (Denmark) has become the first country in the world to introduce a tax on foods with saturated fat, in a bid to foster healthy eating. What were they thinking? Perhaps they think that aversion therapy is the answer, i.e. it will cost you more to be fat? The whole question of why people are overweight (whatever your personal definition) is multifactorial, no single food group is the culprit: do high taxes on alcohol prevent people overindulging? I don’t think so. Most importantly, we have to eat. My cynicism is leaping to the fore, “We have to do something, and quickly, be seen to take action!” – Yeah right. Changing a nation’s food habits is not a quick fix, look how long it took us all to get fat! We have to unlearn all the bad habits we got from “Carbs are good, low fat is good (even if its very sweet to mask the lack of fat); “Pure white and deadly,” – remember that one? Dedicated representatives of our Health Departments nationwide are working really hard to educate, educate, educate. It’s a long slow road and that’s just the start. Why are non-fatties not overweight, do they eat less, exercise more, have more active metabolisms, not like food? So much research, so much knowledge rendered into a fat tax. (Finally) words fail me. Anne Scott |
GI may be modified by meal combinationsA paper recently published in the American Journal of Nutrition by researchers from University of Otago raises more questions about Glycemic Index responA ses to meals. Their findings indicate that potatoes and other reportedly high-GI (Glycemic Index) foods might not be the dietary villains, when eaten as part of a meal, that recent publicity, books and health-based programmes would claim them to be. Researchers have shown that calculated GI values for meals made up of several different foods don't always predict blood sugar levels as they should, with carbohydrate rich meals not inducing as strong a response as expected. In the light of these findings, the authors suggest caution when interpreting meal GI from published values for nutritional or dieting purposes.
Am J Clin Nutr 2011; 94:992–6. Printed in USA. 2011 American Society for Nutrition |
Global food pricesGlobal food prices have fallen slightly from their historic peak in February but a report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, published October 10, says that high, unpredictable prices are likely to continue. High food prices not only put a strain on the already tight food budgets of the world’s poor, but raise the price of helping them with food aid. The global food price index produced by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reached a historic peak of 238 points in February, well above the peak of 213.5 reached in 2008. Prices have since eased and in September the index registered 225 points. However it is still 15%t higher than in September 2010 and high food prices are likely to continue and volatility may increase in coming years, making farmers, consumers and countries more vulnerable to poverty and food insecurity. One reason for continuing food price volatility is that experts expect extreme weather will become more frequent in coming years, and this will have an impact on crop production. Another is that there will be increasing demand for food from consumers in fast-growing economies. Meanwhile, growth in biofuels is also a factor, the FAO report says. Of course, there is also the simple fact that the world's population is growing. From a news report from the World Food Programme
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Plastic jam cup ‘works’ for jams |
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