Ven Griva, Contributor

It has been long asserted that the moderate consumption of red wine is beneficial in the fight against heart attack and stroke. Recently, a study by researchers from the University of Missouri in Columbia indicated that red wine might also protect humans from common food-borne diseases and even ulcers.

Researchers Azlin Mustapha, associate professor of food science at the University of Missouri College, and Atreyee Das, a doctoral student in the food science programme, studied the inhibitory effects of numerous varieties of red wines against pathogens such as E. coli and Listeria. Mustapha and Das found that red wines - cabernet, zinfandel and merlot in particular - have antimicrobial properties that defend against food-borne pathogens.

Stomach ulcers

What's more, red wine's antibacterial effect does not seem to harm beneficial bacteria that naturally reside in the human intestinal tract and combat things like high cholesterol and tumours. The findings were presented recently at the 2007 Institute of Food Technologists conference in Chicago. E. coli, Salmonella typhimurium, Listeria monocytogenes and H. pylori were among the pathogens examined. E. coli, which recently was blamed for a deadly outbreak linked to spinach grown in California, and Listeria can be fatal.

Mustapha said the most promising results involved Helicobacter

pylori, which can be transmitted via food and water and is the main cause of stomach ulcers. "Our study is a little different than those previously reported in the media," Mustapha said.

"Those studies promote moderate red wine consumption for cardiovascular diseases.

"We went a step further and asked: If red wine is already good for cardiovascular diseases, what about food-borne pathogens? If you get a food-borne illness and drink red wine, will that help decrease the symptoms a little bit? This study showed that the four probiotics tested weren't inhibited by red wines; the pathogens were."

The news is good for those who prefer red wine, but not so good for wine lovers who choose chardonnay and chenin blanc. Numerous white wines were tested, the researchers said, but they failed to yield positive results.

Asthma link

Using household cleaning sprays and air fresheners only once a week can raise the risk of developing asthma in adults, says a report coming out of one of the world's largest epidemiologic studies. Science has linked such increased asthma rates in cleaning professionals, but never before has a similar effect been discovered in non-professional users.

"Frequent use of household cleaning sprays may be an important risk factor for adult asthma," wrote lead author Dr. Jan-Paul Zock of the Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology at the Municipal Institute of Medical Research in Barcelona, Spain. The study was the first to investigate the effects of cleaning products on occasional users rather than occupational users. Its conclusions were published October 15 in the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Scientists used information gathered in the first phase of the European Community Respiratory Health Survey, one of the world's largest epidemiologic studies of airway disease, and interviews conducted in the follow-up phase, ECRHS II. The study included more than 3,500 participants in 10 European countries. Survey participants in the first study were assessed for asthma, wheeze, physician-diagnosed asthma and allergy.

Participants were assessed again on average nine years later. They were asked to report the number of times per week they used cleaning products. Two-thirds of the participants who reported doing the bulk of cleaning were women, about six per cent of whom had asthma at the time of follow-up. Fewer than 10 per cent of them were full-time homemakers.

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