The documentation for this initiative is detailed and comprehensive. There is however a major missing item and this is one on which the future of humanity depends. There is misconception in human nutrition for the brain which is leading food policy to the increase in mental ill-health.
The genomic difference between H. sapiens and apes is no more than 1.5%. A major difference is the brain. We separated from the great apes some 5-7 million years ago. With that 1.5% genomic difference it is obvious that our genome is adapted to wild foods. The brain evolved in the sea 500 million years ago using marine nutrient which it still requires today. The food system since WWII has been based on a flawed concept of protein and calories with increasing use of land based intensively reared and processed products. Fish and sea foods were not rationed during and after WWII.
I like my messages from Nature rather then expert committees. Human milk contains the least protein compared to any large mammal. It is however rich in the essential fats specifically needed for the finalisation of brain development. Even before birth, the human placenta screens out the fats not needed and concentrates those needed for neurogenesis, cardio-vascular and immune system development. This has been known since the 1970s and is a component of several FAO/WHO expert consultations 1978, 1994, 2008-10. Yet it has not been incorporated into food policy to our cost. As we predicted in 1972, mental ill-health has now risen to be the topmost burden of ill-health and is being globalised. It can only get worse whilst policies focus on protein and calories and ignore the requirements of the brain.
(DoH 2007 £77 billion. DoH 2010 105 billion, 2013 £113 billion Wellcome Trust.)
Food policy has to revolve around the priority of H. sapiens - the brain. Without that, brain disorders, mental ill health and cognitive abilities will continue to decline with unthinkable consequences.
A new paradigm is urgently required to reverse this dangerous movement and protest if not enhance the intelligence of our children and theirs.
I am happy to justify any remarks above with the scientific evidence.
Michael Crawford
Michael Crawford