September 2024 News Brief

From May 8-10, 2025, the beautiful island of Mallorca will host the annual INC Congress, gathering leading professionals from the global nut and dried fruit industry. Become a sponsor or exhibitor at the INC Congress and see your brand receive visibility among numerous professionals in the INC network via pre-event communications, website ads and over 1,500 expected attendees in Mallorca! Take advantage of an environment fully oriented to the nut and dried fruit industry, and don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity. [Apply now]

UN Working Party to Discuss Revised Agricultural Quality Standards

UNECE standards are internationally recognized as the minimum quality requirements

The 79th session of the UNECE Working Party on Agricultural Quality Standards will be held on November 11-13, 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland. The quality standards approved by this body establish the minimum quality requirements for different foodstuffs. They are recognized internationally by governments, producers, traders, importers, exporters and international organizations. [Read more]

Call for Data on Total Aflatoxins in Ready-to-Eat Peanuts

Towards establishing a Codex maximum level

The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives has issued a request for data on total aflatoxins in ready-to-eat peanuts. The information collected will inform the Committee’s work towards establishing a maximum level for total aflatoxins in ready-to-eat peanuts. Specifically, the Committee calls for: data on occurrence of total aflatoxins for the last 10 years; data collected with methods with a LOQ of 4 µg/kg or below; data on ready-to-eat peanuts, for which it can reasonably be assumed that at least 90% or more of the food item consists… [Read more]

Worldwide Adoption of Nut-Rich Diet Would Reduce Food-Related Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The decrease is primarily attributed to shifts from red meat to nuts and legumes

Climate goals cannot be achieved without efforts to reduce food-related greenhouse gas emissions, which account for approximately one-third of human-induced emissions. A new study published in Nature Climate Change modeled the changes in food-related emissions associated with worldwide adoption of the Planetary Health Diet (PHD), a healthy dietary pattern proposed by the EAT-Lancet Commission that could feed the growing global population sustainably. [Read more]

Research Finds Cashews May Reduce Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Adults on Weight-Loss Treatment

Participants who ate cashews also saw improvements in liver function biomarkers

A recent study published in Frontiers in Nutrition set out to assess the effect of eating cashews and cashew nut oil on body fat as well as adiposity, cardiometabolic and liver function indicators during weight-loss treatment. The study was a randomized controlled-feeding study involving 68 adults with overweight or obesity. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups. The cashew group ate 30 grams of cashews per day, the cashew nut oil group consumed 30 mL of cashew nut oil per day, and the control group did not… [Read more]

Study Suggests Dried Fruit Intake Could Reduce Type 2 Diabetes Risk

The findings provided insights into daily primary prevention measures for type 2 diabetes

A recent study published in Nutrition & Metabolism set out to examine the association between dried fruit consumption and type 2 diabetes (T2D). The study used data on dried fruit intake, as well as genotypic and phenotypic data, from a genome-wide association study (GWAS) comprising approximately 500,000 individuals in Europe. The researchers conducted a Mendelian randomization analysis to explore the causal association between dried fruit intake and T2D. [Read more]

Peanut Allergy News Round-up

Recent developments offer hope for better allergy management

Significant progress is being made in the battle against peanut allergy. Several recent milestones in different countries mark positive steps towards more effective treatments and better management. On July 26, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the oral immunotherapy drug Palforzia for initiation of treatment, up-dosing and maintenance in individuals aged 1 to 3 years with a confirmed diagnosis of peanut allergy… [Read more]

Sustainability Updates

The INC’s latest installment of sustainability news includes information about MOSH/MOAH regulations in the European Union, an Italian initiative that will provide funding for projects relating to nut production, an international partnership to sustainably enhance Cambodia’s cashew industry, and more.  [Read more]