News

In brief

Stress has overtaken the common cold as the biggest cause of sickness absence from work, according to research by business information group Gee Publishing. A survey of 300 organisations found that one in five companies with over 1000 staff regard stress as a ‘major problem’. According to the TUC, last year lost working days cost the economy £3000 million, with stress the biggest factor.

Health promotion agencies and NHS trusts should develop local food growing projects within the context of Health Action Zones, Health Improvement programmes and other health promotion strategies, according to the farming and food alliance Sustain. Projects could include food coops, community cafes and the use of health authority land for food growth.

Following months of public pressure in the UK and Europe, multinational genetics company Monsanto has announced it will not now commercialise or develop the so-called terminator gene, which would make plant seeds sterile after a year. The development of the gene would have meant that third world farmers who were customers of Monsanto would have to purchase new seed stocks annually.

The environmental campaign group Greenpeace has challenged Monsanto to sell it the terminator gene patent for £1, as a guarantee that it cannot renege on its announcement.

Frozen foods chain Iceland has banned all artificial colourings and flavourings from its 1500 own-brand products. Ingredients to be banned include tartrazine (E102) and other additives alleged to cause behavioural problems in some children. Iceland was the first food chain to ban all products containing GM ingredients from its shelves.

There have been an estimated 227,000 ‘excess deaths’ among young children in Iraq since 1991, because of the continuing UN sanctions, and over 700,000 children in Iraq are currently chronically malnourished, according to US research from Colombia University.

An estimated 111 million new cases of curable sexually transmitted infections occur worldwide each year in young people aged under 25, according to the independent research institute Panos.

Lack of sex education is to blame, but parents, opinion leaders and policy makers avoid the issue because they believe it will lead to teenage promiscuity and immorality.