Summary of newsmakers of the previous day – 28.1.2008

Can eco-mark Ecologically friendly product confuse consumers?

In shops you can buy eggs on package of which is a logo Ecologically friendly product (EŠV). Who does not know eco-marks, he/she can buy eggs with a presumption that it is dealt with ecological agriculture. Nevertheless, the eggs come from a cage raising which is miless off eco-agriculture. The mark EŠV refers only to a box which really fulfills conditions for granting the eco-mark. While conservationists of rights of consumers consider it as confusing; producers of the packing and eggs and the Agency for EŠV does not see any problem in it.

First European subsidies aim at applicants

On Wednesday the 23rd of January the Managing Committee of Operational Program Environment (OPŽP) has sit for the first time and negotiated application for subsidies submitted in frame of the first call appeal of OPŽP. The Managing Committee of the OPŽO recommended in total 368 projects submitted in the first call appeal of OPŽP to approval and to be signed by the Minister of Environment Martin Bursík on Wednesday the 23rd of January evening. The Minister Bursík passed and signed the recommendation of the committee today. The environment became the first program from structural funds for the period 2007 - 2013 from which applicants from the CR will spends e subsidies, already from February this year.

Oxidation changes in warming and fermentation of meat

Application of herbs or nitrite-salting mixtures and starting cultures prevents from creation of undesirable peroxide within heat treatment of meat and products. Oxidation changes of fats belong besides microbial decay to the most serious reasons of deterioration of meat quality. Reaction products rising within the oxidation have not only negative impact on the taste and odour but also e.g. some aldehydes and oxidated cholesterols can have also a negative health effect. Mechanism of decay of teeth is closely connected with myoglobin. In warming of meat oxymyoglobin oxidizes to methemoglobin; hydrogen peroxide rises, which is not fissioned, because a catalase is inactivated by warming. Therefore heat-treated meat gets rancid faster than the fresh one.

Some forests will save

Some forests in extra protected areas will be got rid of interventions of foresters. In 65 percents of growths with an acreage of 107 hectares, which is five percents of Prague forests, trees will not be cut and timber will not be harvested, nor in improvement-cutting. The biggest areas are situated in Divoká Šárka and Kunratický les. The city chose preferentially the area with a natural species composition, with a high rate of regeneration, or on hardly-accessible slopes. “Acreages where the forest is left to its natural development are extremely important from a view-point of diversity of species and health of the forest. We expect that these areas will be a biotope for plants, insect, birds and rodents which would not occur in a managed forest”, a Councilman for Environment Petr Štěpánek (Green Party) said.