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The administration issued proposed voluntary principles which would turn children’s food advertising on its head by calling for advertisements to be for foods that “make a meaningful contribution to a healthful diet” and minimise those  ingredients that could have an negative impact on weight and health in later life.

The interagency working group that released the principles is made up of the Federal Trade Commission, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Food and Drug Administration and US Department of Agriculture. It put together the proposal at the prompting of Congress.

If implemented, the guidelines would mean a revolution in food advertising to children, which is now dominated by ads for salty chips and sugary cereals, drinks and yoghurt.

While  obesity rates have largely stopped rising, 10.4 percent of US children aged 2 to 5 are obese, 19.6 percent of 6-11 year olds are obese and 18.1 percent of 12-19 year olds are obese, according to 2007-2008 data from the CDC. Children were defined as being up to age 17, and the principles were to be implemented by 2016.

Understanding how gastric bypass affects metabolism could shed light on treatments for type 2 diabetes, a global epidemic strongly linked with obesity and too little exercise.

Weight loss surgery is becoming increasingly popular as obese people struggle to lose weight and avoid the health complications that accompany the extra pounds – including diabetes, heart disease, joint pain and some types of cancers. Up to a third of US adults could suffer from diabetes by 2050, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

US climate negotiator Todd Stern and European climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard played down the chance of a breakthrough after a meeting of the Major Economies Forum (MEF), an informal group of 17 countries including the world’s top polluters, China and the US. “From what I’ve heard in these last two days, the conclusion must be that it is highly unlikely that the world will see a legally binding deal done in  “ Durban,” Hedegaard told reporters.

“Not that they do not think it’s important – but there is just this feeling that it’s simply not doable for “ Durban.”

Equity valuations remain undemanding and are much more attractive than bonds. The corporate world has a much better balance sheet than Western sovereign nations and households,” it said in its 2011 Global Macro and Multi-Asset Outlook report/

“Cost cutting and a stronger-than-expected revenue in 2010 has driven very strong profit growth. These strong results have led to 2011 forecasts rising significantly,” the report by Ana Armstrong and Patrick Armstrong said.

Distinction said companies involved in food products and high-end branded luxury goods will continue to exhibit “tremendous” growth, while infrastructure will remain a major theme for capital allocation by pension funds.

“The stability of earnings and high yield from infrastructure companies is every attractive, and we expect earnings will grow in excess of inflation for the next decade,” the report said. It gave no details on specific stocks.

It was the last of a trio of new weight-loss drugs to come before regulators in 2010, the Food and Drug Administration having rejected two rival medicines in October.

The FDA panel of outside experts voted 13-7 that the weight-loss benefits seen with Contrave outweighed concerns about heart risks. The FDA usually follows panel recommendations. A final ruling is due by January 31st. Shares of Orexigen were halted while the panel met. The fate of Contrave is key to the California-based company, which focuses solely on obesity drugs and has no products on the market.

According to data from BioMedTracker, Contrave sales could reach $1.2bn by 2018. That figure would make it the top player in a US weight-loss drug market that sees just $382m in sales annually, according to IMS Health. Drugmakers seeking a pill to help people slim down have been thwarted for decades by serious side effects, and few options remain on the US market even though two out of three Americans are overweight or obese.

Citing unfair control in South Africa by the two dominant US seed companies, South African activists successfully convinced regulators to deny the bid by DuPont’s agricultural unit, Pioneer Hi-Bred, to buy South Africa’s largest seed company, Pannar Seed Ltd.

Now, opponents say they are planning to push for a regulatory investigation of the dominant position global seed leader Monsanto holds in the genetically modified seed sector in South Africa. They argue allowing foreign corporate control of South Africa’s seed supply would erode availability of traditional conventional seed varieties, hurt export business with countries opposed to biotech crops, and force farmers deep into debt to pay for expensive seeds that are the patented properties of the US corporations.

“This is only the beginning of the battle over the control of seeds in (South Africa),” said Mariam Mayet, environmental attorney and director of the Africa Centre for Biosafety (ACB).

Mayet said the group was preparing a study of Monsanto’s seed holdings and all the licensing and cross-licensing agreements in South Africa, particularly those dealing with corn or maize. The group will make a formal application to the South African Competition Commission to investigate and take action to protect against “negative socioeconomic impacts,” Mayet said.

A state-run coffee shop chain has sprung up giving customers parallel price-lists to show them the wrongs of the free market and benefits of a state-controlled economy.

At one of the Cafe Venezuela shops on the corner of a historic square of central Caracas, the menu offers a large coffee at 2.5 bolivars ($0.58) on the “socialist price” list. The menu also has the “capitalist price” charged elsewhere – five bolivars. The idea is to provide Venezuelans with cut-price coffee and also promote the controversial left-wing politics of President Hugo Chavez’s government.

In his 12th year in power, the radical former soldier has called on the armed forces and parliament to embrace “extreme left” policies as he seeks to further radicalise a “revolution” that has already changed the face of Venezuela.
Subsidised food for the poor has been a major platform for Chavez, although with mixed success given shortages of some products and runaway prices in other sectors. While some supporters are balking at the pace of change in Venezuela, including widespread nationalisations, most at Cafe Venezuela on a recent sunny morning said they would be happy if it brought them more cheap coffee.

“This cafe is a symbol of a national policy that is doing away with exploitation of the poor,” said decorator Cristobal Isturiz, 70, savoring a brew with friends on the cafe terrace. “National coffee, at national prices. You can’t beat it.”

“The chances of prices to remain high and extremely volatile well into 2011/12 are stronger than ever,” FAO’s economist Abdolreza Abbassian says.

Food prices rose in November on the back of surging sugar and strong gains in cereals and oils. That was despite the lack of fundamentals which could have justified the rises and also a stronger dollar, which usually sends agricultural commodities prices lower, Abbassian said. “That shows that there is tremendous market sentiment in favour of high and perhaps still rising prices,” he said.

Agricultural commodities demand remained strong, triggering an increased use of reserves and fuelling concerns about tighter supplies next season, especially because the level of new plantings situation in producing countries remained unclear, he said. “For this season, there is certainly enough supplies, even if at higher prices, but this is not something that could be guaranteed in 2011/12 without a considerable increase in plantings,” Abbassian said. The International Grains Council has said it expected global wheat areas for the 2010/11 crop to rise but warned about tightening of global grain supply/demand outlook.

Abbassian said wheat would have to compete with other crops for new sown areas. He said there were concerns about wheat plantings in Russia, a major producer, and uncertainty over whether it would export or import grain next season. Following last year’s droughts, Russia has announced it will import grain and an industry lobby warned that a shortage of fertiliser and equipment could hit spring crops. But overall the situation remained different from the 2007/08 food crisis that saw riots in poor countries and panic buying in the richer world. That was largely thanks to strong local crops in Africa and other developing countries, Abbassian said.

Feed accounts for about 60 percent of the cost of raising a pig and prices have been climbing sharply since late June as a drought in Russia removed a key grain exporter from the market.

“Looking ahead, particularly with the Russia export door still shut, raw material prices are likely to stay high for some time,” Barney Kay, general manager of the Britain’s National Pig Association, a producer group, said.

Karsten Flemin, analyst for the Danish Meat Association, said some small, less profitable, producers were exiting the industry and it would be more difficult this time for the larger producers to expand to cover the shortfall. “There is a more difficult environment this time. We don’t have the same financial situation today with the same back-up from banks and credit,” he said.