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The use of polysaccharides increases solubility and consistency and causes functions such as viscosity? Moisture and food emulsifier stabilizer. This study aims to enrich the formulation of low-fat mozzarella cheese using microcoated vitamin D3 (VD3).

This study investigates the addition of hydrocolloids to low-fat mozzarella cheese to enhance its properties and nutritional value. Tests were conducted on cheese samples with 0.05% and 0.25% hydrocolloid concentrations at various stages: before production and at three and six months’ postproduction. The samples were evaluated for elasticity, pH and solubility to select the best one, which was then fortified with VD3. The vitamin was microencapsulated using alginate and whey protein to shield it from light and oxygen, optimizing the formula using the response surface method. The fortified cheese was tested for VD3 content over its shelf life.

Results indicated that all hydrocolloids tested improved moisture and meltability of the cheese while higher protein levels increased stretchability two to threefold. Rice starch hydrocolloid at 0.05% concentration was chosen due to superior sensory scores and minimal oil separation. This study concluded that VD3 levels remained stable during the cheese’s shelf life, suggesting that this approach could enhance the nutritional value of low-fat cheese without compromising its quality. Therefore, after examining the obtained results and comparing the regression models, the results indicated that the Quadratic model was chosen to investigate the effect of independent variables on the response rate, which had a statistically significant difference with other models (p = 0.0019). Also the results of the area under the curve and using the encapsulation efficiency equation, the percentage of microencapsulated vitamin was obtained, and according to the simulation results, the encapsulation efficiency was reported as 89.02%.

Developing innovative functional dairy products fortified with VD3 could improve the vitamin D status in deficient populations. Therefore, these designs can be applied at industrial scales for functional cheese production.

Research indicated that dietary antioxidants could improve immune system performance. This study aims to investigate the association of COVID-19 symptoms, total antioxidant capacity and serum inflammatory markers, with dietary antioxidants intake among angina patients.

A food frequency questionnaire was used in a cross-sectional study among 135 angina patients with COVID-19, to assess dietary antioxidants consumption. Serum levels of tumor necrosis factor, interleukin 1ß, malondialdehyde, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and total antioxidant capacity were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay methods.

Among study angina patients, 76.67% followed unhealthy food patterns and 23.33% followed anti-inflammatory dietary patterns before hospitalization. The angina patients with anti-inflammatory food pattern had less fever (p = 0.021), cough (p = 0.018), dyspnea (p = 0.024), diarrhea (p = 0.014) and pneumonia severity index (p = 0.014) compared to patients with unhealthy food pattern. The serum levels of tumor necrosis factor, interleukin 1ß, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and malondialdehyde, had a significantly negative association with dietary antioxidants intake (p < 0.05).

There are significant association between antioxidant intake with serum inflammation markers in COVID-19 patients. There is a need for more clinical trial studies for approval of these results.

After working on the assignment questions, the learners can achieve the following learning outcomes: understand the buying behavior towards sustainable products in the context of mindful consumption and product characteristics, appraise the market segmentation and positioning strategy of a sustainable business, understand the application of 5C’s framework for a sustainable business and critically evaluate a new sustainable business’s challenges in the emerging business environment.

Dr Joe Fenn, founder and director of PFoods, with extensive experience in the pharma industry overseas, observed a decline in the consumption of traditional dairy foods. Alternative plant foods come as a savior to people who are lactose intolerant and offer a host of health benefits with low environmental impact. Riding on the waves of veganism and sustainable foods, he saw an opportunity in India. PFoods developed and launched two products, namely, Just Plants (plant-based milk alternative) and Plotein (plant-based protein alternative), in collaboration with scientists at the Indian Institute of Science, a premier scientific institution in India, and PMEDS (PreEmptive Meds), a US-based nutraceutical Company. PFoods launched and pilot-tested Just Plant, a dairy alternative substitute for milk in select reputed organizations in Bangalore. The upcoming challenges for Fenn would be to select the right segment, educate the market and position the product that would resonate well with the target customers.

The case study suits undergraduate and graduate courses such as marketing management, sustainable marketing and sustainable business. The case study can also be used in entrepreneurship management and entrepreneurial marketing courses to introduce the challenges of a sustainable startup. The case study highlights the marketing challenges faced by the disruptive and growing plant-based foods or alternative dairy industry in emerging markets.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

Dietary supplements are important in improving maternal health and birth outcomes during pregnancy. This study aims to assess women’s knowledge about the benefits, sources and proper intake of dietary supplements during pregnancy.

This cross-sectional study was conducted among women at Jordan University Hospital in Amman, Jordan from July to October 2023.

A total of 448 women completed the questionnaire. Analysis of the results showed that among all questions, participants perceived sufficient knowledge about dietary supplements' beneficial effects. Around 50% of the participants did not recognize the importance of vitamin B12 and vitamin A. Most participants identified that iron supplements should not be taken with dairy products, coffee, tea, calcium and antacids. Most participants did not know the source of vitamin A (82.1%), and only 44% knew the correct source of vitamin B12. Less than half of the participants recognized the appropriate administration time for each dietary supplement.

The knowledge level of the interaction between iron and food, natural sources of vitamins and their benefits was high, less than half of the participants showed poor knowledge about the proper time to take the dietary supplement. Patient education and counseling is important to improve health outcomes.

Examining the impact of socioeconomic status (SES) and expenses spent on food preparation on nutritional intake has always been one of the critical concerns for policymakers. This study aims to investigate the association between household food expenditure as well as SES and dietary nutrient intake in Kermanshah, Iran.

In this cross-sectional study, households were randomly selected from different strict in Kermanshah, Iran. Data were collected with an SES questionnaire, a demographic data collection form, a weekly food purchase checklist and a food record. The authors performed the analysis of covariance to determine the relationship of dietary nutrient intake of study participants across quintile categories of SES and total food expenses per day.

Out of 125 households, 119 households including 401 people finished the study. A significant association was observed between higher SES and higher intake of vitamin B2 (p-value = 0.03). Moreover, the household members at the top level of total food expenses per day had significantly greater dietary nutrient intake of energy (p < 0.001), potassium (p < 0.001), magnesium (p < 0.001), calcium (p < 0.001), zinc (p < 0.001), vitamin B2 (p < 0.001), B6 (p < 0.001), B12 (p = 0.002) and vitamin C (p = 0.04).

In our study, higher dietary nutrient intake was observed in the household members at the highest level of total food expenses daily as well as SES. Therefore, governments and policymakers should pay basic attention to optimizing food costs and improving the economic status of people.

Cataract, or lens opacification, is a major public health burden accounting for more than half of all blindness worldwide. Plant-based dietary indices provide a unique approach to investigating a modifiable risk for age-related cataracts (ARC). The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between plant-based diet indices and risk of ARC.

This case-control study was conducted on 97 patients with newly diagnosed ARC and 198 healthy people (as a control group) in Iran. Convenience sampling and a food frequency questionnaire were used. Three plant-based dietary indices were used based on the health promoting qualities of food items, the overall plant-based diet index (PDI), healthful plant-based diet index (H-PDI) and unhealthful plant-based diet index (U-PDI) which comprised refined carbohydrates and highly processed foods. The plant-based dietary indices were used to investigate relationships with risk of ARC.

After adjusting for potential covariates, no significant association between a higher adherence to O-PDI and risk of ARC. As well, a higher adherence to H-PDI was inversely associated with the risk of ARC (OR = 0.35,95%CI:0.16–0.78). In contrast, there was a significant positive association between a higher adherence to U-PDI and the risk of ARC (OR = 3.67,95%CI:1.66 – 8.15).

The findings of this study have underscored the potential impact of the quality of plant-based food selections on the likelihood of developing ARC. Therefore, adopting a plant-based diet that is rich in nutrient-dense plant-based foods while being low in unhealthy options may have the potential to reduce the risk of ARC.

The ‘fit healthy’ body has been invoked in popular discourse as far less vulnerable to communicable diseases like the novel coronavirus both in mainstream accounts of the pandemic and in more fringe anti-vaccine discourse. Those opposed to vaccination argue the management of the body through diet and exercise allows for natural immune processes to manage COVID-19. This chapter interrogates anti-vaccine sentiment in Western countries such as Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States to demonstrate the pervasiveness of discourses that position the maintenance of a ‘fit healthy’ ideal body as an alternative to preventative medicine such as vaccines. Drawing on several key examples, this conceptual chapter explores the ways bodily ‘wellness’ became a part of vaccine hesitancy discourse during the pandemic, as risk is balanced through calculations of what vaccines might ‘do’ to a body and the body’s capacity to respond to illness.

Complementary feeding practices was more difficult during the COVID-19 pandemic due to economic instability, especially for animal source foods (ASFs) consumption. According to the problem, the purpose of this study was to determine the economic impact of COVID-19 pandemic on ASFs consumption and ASFs consumption related factors on complementary feeding in Indonesia.

This cross-sectional study was targeted at mothers of children aged 6–23 months during pandemic. A total of 574 respondents were obtained through online questionnaire.

This study found that flesh food, including fish/seafood, organ meat, meat, poultry and processed meat, were associated with all economic impact of COVID-19 pandemic; in contrast, those economic impacts did not affect the dairy product and egg consumption. Multivariate analysis showed children with older age (AOR: 1.13, 95%CI: 1.04–3.26), meet minimum dietary diversity (AOR: 2.17, 95%CI: 1.56–5.44) and are from high income level household (AOR: 1.14, 95%CI: 1.09–2.10) contributed to ASFs consumption.

Other strategies aimed at enhancing food security to increase ASFs consumption on complementary feeding. The government may consider short-term emergency purchasing subsidies and macro-control of the ASFs market. Nutrition education is also required to improve knowledge related to importance of ASFs consumption for children.

This study reveals the association between each food group of ASFs consumption on complementary feeding and the economic impact of COVID-19 pandemic.

In early 2014, recent Stanford University graduate Tyler Shultz was in a quandary. He had been working at Theranos, a blood-diagnostic company founded by Elizabeth Holmes, a Stanford-dropout wunderkind, for almost a year. Shultz had learned enough about the company to realize that its practices and the efficacy of its much-touted finger-prick blood-testing technology were questionable and that the company was going to great lengths to hide this fact from the public and from regulators.

Theranos and Holmes were Silicon Valley darlings, enjoying positive press and lavish attention from potential investors and technology titans alike. Just as companies like PayPal had revolutionized the stagnant payments industry and Uber had upended the for-hire transportation sector, Theranos had been positioned as the latest technology firm to substantially disrupt yet another mature sector: the medical laboratory business. By the start of 2014, the company had raised more than $400 million in funding, and had an estimated market valuation of $9 billion.

Shultz's situation was exacerbated by the fact that his grandfather, the highly respected former US Secretary of State George Shultz, was on the Theranos board and was one of Elizabeth Holmes's biggest supporters.

But Tyler Shultz worried about the customers he was convinced were receiving highly unreliable and often inaccurate blood-test results. With so much at stake, Shultz wondered how he should proceed. Should he raise his concerns with the firm's investors? Blow the whistle externally? Report to industry regulators? Go away quietly?

This case and its subsequent four brief follow-up cases are based largely on interviews with Tyler Shultz, and outline the dilemma he faced and the various steps he would take both to extricate himself from his unsavory position and let the public know the full extent of the deception at Theranos.

Five optional handouts are available to instructors to further discussion after the case has been debriefed. The handouts serve as additional decision points for the students if your class time permits.

The inflammatory potential of diet may play a role in the regulation of low-grade chronic inflammation derived from obesity. This study aims to investigate the relationship between the dietary inflammatory index (DII) and anthropometric indicators of adiposity among Turkish adults.

The study sample consisted of 833 young adults (mean age = 23 ± 5.2 years). The inflammatory potential of the diet was evaluated with a DII. Data on dietary intake were collected by a single 24-h dietary recall, and DII was estimated from 25 dietary components. Also, the Mediterranean diet (Med-Diet) adherence screener was applied using the 14-item assessment tool.

The proinflammatory diet was statistically associated with young (p < 0.001), singles (p < 0.001), high school degree (p = 0.011), students (p < 0.001), not working or unemployed (p < 0.001), eating outside (p = 0.016) and lower adherence to a Med-Diet (p = 0.027). There was a statistically significant positive relationship between the DII score and body weight (BW), waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) (r = 0.107; p = 0.002, r = 0.092; p = 0.008, r = 0.115; p = 0.001, respectively). Besides, there was a statistically significant negative relationship between MED score and BW, WHtR and neck circumference (r = −0.101; p = 0.004, r = −0.084; p = 0.016, r = −0.175; p = 0.000, respectively).

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this was the first Turkish study to assess the association between the anthropometric indicators of obesity and DII or adherence to Med-Diet in young adults. Lower DII scores and higher adherence to Med-Diet are related to the better status of anthropometric indicators of adiposity.