More people than ever before are checking food labels for salt, fat and sugar levels in food.

The number of people who say they look for nutritional details has risen to 75% in 2004, from just over half in 2000. People are more concerned about levels of salt, fat and sugar in food and the accuracy of food labels, and less concerned about issues like BSE.

To meet the growing demand for information about nutrition and healthy eating, the Food Standards Agency has launched a new website - www.food/eatwell - dedicated to providing reliable and practical advice on all aspects of food, diet and health, as well as helpful tips on topics such as understanding food labels.'

In the last five years people have become more aware of healthy diets which include plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables; far less concerned about B.S.E and the safety of raw beef; and more concerned about the accuracy of food labelling.

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Al-Abed and his associates hope that the experimental compound can one day be developed into a long-acting oral drug that could be taken by prediabetic people to achieve lasting protection, perhaps a lifetime. But such a drug would take years to develop and test, the researchers caution. Likewise, effective gene therapy against the disease may take many years to develop, they add.

Besides prevention, ISO-1 also is being tested in animals to determine whether it will help in the actual treatment of ongoing type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes, the more common type. Results are not yet available from these tests, the researchers say.

Although nobody knows the exact cause of type 1 diabetes, and there is no cure, the disease can be controlled and its complications minimized by following a healthy diet, getting exercise and taking prescribed medications as directed, according to health experts.

The Institute for Medical Research at North Shore-LIJ provided funding for this study.

The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization, chartered by the U.S. Congress, with a multidisciplinary membership of more than 159,000 chemists and chemical engineers. It publishes numerous scientific journals and databases, convenes major research conferences and provides educational, science policy and career programs in chemistry. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

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