Prince Charles urged to cut sugar levels in Duchy Organic ice cream

Prince Charles should follow the lead of other food manufacturers by cutting the sugar in his Duchy Organic ice cream to a healthier level, health campaigners have said.

A new analysis by the Action on Sugar campaign group reveals that Duchy Organic ice cream – sold in Waitrose supermarkets – contains almost twice as much sugar as some other brands.

It was singled out by researchers as an example of the differing levels of sugar in exactly the same kinds of foods which appeal to children.

Action on Sugar is urging companies to support Public Health England’s voluntary reformulation programme to help tackle the childhood obesity epidemic, which it claims is the biggest public health crisis facing the UK.

The survey of foods commonly consumed by children including breakfast cereals, yoghurts, biscuits, cakes, confectionery, pastries, ice creams and chocolate spreads shows that products containing less sugar are in plentiful supply.

For example, Duchy Organic vanilla ice cream, with 14.5g of sugar per 100g, was found to have 84% more sugar than Asda’s “smart price” vanilla ice cream, with 7.9g sugar.

Data was collected by visiting Aldi, Asda, Co-operative, Lidl, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose using the FoodSwitch app to collect data on nutritional information. The survey was carried out during August and products were checked again during September.

Tam Fry, spokesman for the National Obesity Forum and an expert advisory team member of Action on Sugar, said: “George Osborne’s sugar levy announcement in March must be regarded as his swansong as chancellor.

“At a stroke, he concentrated the mind of sugar-happy soft drink manufacturers seriously to consider reformulating their products to an acceptable level.

“As Action on Sugar’s research shows, many food manufacturers got the message, too. All, and Prince Charles in particular, should now follow their lead. The added bonus is that they will have dramatically aided the health of millions of people, let alone the NHS.”

A spokesperson for Waitrose said the Duchy Organic vanilla ice cream was an “indulgent” treat not aimed at children, adding: “The sugar content is clearly labelled and we sell a range of vanilla ice creams with a significantly lower sugar content, which our customers can choose if they want a healthier option.

“Reducing sugar is a top priority and we have an extensive reformulation programme to achieve this, which has already included significantly reducing sugar in chilled juices, cereals, yoghurts, soups, cordials and fizzy drinks.”

Kawther Hashem, a nutritionist and researcher at Action on Sugar, said:“Unhealthy foods are the biggest cause of death and disability in the UK and it is time the food industry took their responsibility for this seriously.

“They now need to make this a priority and ensure children are not eating three times their daily maximum intake of sugar.”

Graham MacGregor, professor of cardiovascular medicine at Queen Mary University of London and chair of Action on Sugar, said reformulation was one of the most effective ways of reducing sugar and, if done properly, meant the UK could lead the world in this area.

“We therefore urge the prime minister, Theresa May, to fully support it and commit the government to both fat reformulation, as it’s the biggest source of calories than sugar, and to start restrictions of marketing, advertising and promotion of unhealthy foods.”

In August, leading retailers criticised the government’s watered-down childhood obesity strategy just days after its publication, arguing it would be better if ministers imposed mandatory cuts to sugar levels in food rather than leaving it up to voluntary initiatives by manufacturers.

Prince Charles urged to cut sugar levels in Duchy Organic ice cream

Letter: Charles Farthing helped deliver Aids out of the shadows

Charles Farthing’s crew at St Stephen’s hospital, Chelsea, handled folks with Aids as human beings

My pal Alastair MacInnes was 1 of the people taken care of by Charles Farthing in the early 1980s, in what was rightly described as a climate of fear about this mysterious illness that was killing previously wholesome, predominately gay youthful males.

Alastair was initially taken care of at a hospital where food on paper plates was pushed by means of a slot into his isolation space. No 1 knew what was incorrect with him and couple of men and women came near him. This contrasted with his following expertise as an inpatient at St Stephen’s hospital. Alastair and his companion had absolute faith in Dr Farthing and his team. On one particular memorable evening many of the inpatients held a Bet Lynch earrings party on their ward. Against a backdrop of media hysteria about the “gay plague”, folks with Aids were handled as human beings there, not lepers. I believe that this was down to Charles Farthing.

Alastair ultimately succumbed to the opportunistic HIV virus but in his last months he was able to turn out to be involved with the campaign to raise money for research into the ailment. He was specifically enthused about being a VIP guest at a fundraising musical gala. Large credit goes to Charles Farthing for bringing Aids out of the shadows and enriching the lives of so numerous youthful guys, their partners, family members and pals.

Letter: Charles Farthing helped deliver Aids out of the shadows

Charles Farthing obituary

Charles Farthing treating a patient in Los Angeles in 1997. Photograph: Axel Koester/Sygma/Corbis

In the early 1980s, Charles Farthing, who has died aged 60 of a heart attack, was studying dermatology at St Stephen’s hospital in Chelsea, south-west London (now Chelsea and Westminster hospital), when he saw his first patient with HIV infection. He began to see a pattern of rare skin conditions and soon realised that the underlying cause for all of them was the condition that would soon be known as Aids. He devoted the rest of his life to the care of those with HIV and Aids.

The first few years of the epidemic were very frightening for those of us involved in providing medical treatment and care, as we did not know how the infection spread; and all those infected died. In the Guardian in 1985, Charles wrote of the alarm within the medical profession – at that point St Stephen’s was treating a dozen Aids patients, but two years later the number stood at 1,000. With a steely, determined, inquiring mind and a pleasing and precise public face, he was in a pivotal position in persuading the Conservative government of the time to recognise the severity of the problem, and the need for public information and money for both research and care of the infected patients.

Thirty-three years later, the epidemic has been partly controlled and smaller than many feared. Draconian laws were not necessary and indeed the epidemic gave impetus to a set of liberal anti-discriminatory measures, which have helped to reduce the stigma attached to HIV. By 1989, Charles was able to point to “the acceptance of it as a disease, as something needing compassion. In the early days I was always having to defend Aids patients against all sorts of cruelty, but I seldom have to do that now. It isn’t over yet, by a long way, but the difference is colossal”.

This outcome is a tribute to the ministers of health at the time, who recognised the scale of the problem, activists, who used reasoned arguments to produce a supportive plan for care, and the pharmaceutical industry, which developed the drugs which have transformed the prospects of patients. Charles, who was chair of the all-party parliamentary committee on Aids and founder of the campaigning and fundraising UK Aids Foundation, proved to be a catalyst for many of these early developments.

He was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, to Ngaire, a piano teacher, and Jack, an accountant, and was educated at Christ’s college, Christchurch. He was considering the ministry but chose medical school instead, at the University of Otago, Dunedin. He practised medicine in Christchurch for five years before travelling to Britain to continue his studies.

At St Stephen’s, he designed the first purpose-built Aids clinic and outpatient day-care clinic in the UK and carried out a great deal of research. He described many of the symptoms of this new disease and how t(AGFo ameliorate them. Between 1985 and 1988, he and I carried out early clinical trials on medications including Thymosin, AZT and foscarnet.

In 1988 Charles was awarded a fellowship to study HIV at Bellevue hospital in New York, eventually becoming director of its Aids programme. In 1994, he joined the Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF) in Los Angeles as principal investigator, and in 1997, keen to see the development of a vaccine, was among a group of researchers who volunteered to inject themselves with a weakened strain of the virus.

In 2001 he became medical director at AHF and helped to set up clinics providing excellent care throughout the world, including in Honduras, Uganda and South Africa. Charles was the AHF medical director at the time the “triple therapy” mixture of drugs – which revolutionised the management of Aids – first became available.

In 2007, he joined the pharmaceutical company Merck Sharp & Dohme as the HIV medical director in the Asian and Pacific region. The company had developed a new and potent drug for HIV infection and Charles was instrumental in making it widely available in the developing world. He was one of the first western specialists invited to teach and advise medical professionals in China, and taught at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and at Fudan University, Shanghai. He was an inspiring teacher and an influential advocate for HIV-infected patients, an excellent organiser and a charming companion.

Charles is survived by his partner, Dougie Lui, his brother, Bruce, and four nieces, Kathryn, Elizabeth, Sonja and Helaina.

• Charles Frank Farthing, doctor, born 22 April 1953; died 6 April 2014

Charles Farthing obituary

Charles Farthing obituary

Charles Farthing treating a patient in Los Angeles in 1997. Photograph: Axel Koester/Sygma/Corbis

In the early 1980s, Charles Farthing, who has died aged 60 of a heart attack, was studying dermatology at St Stephen’s hospital in Chelsea, south-west London (now Chelsea and Westminster hospital), when he saw his first patient with HIV infection. He began to see a pattern of rare skin conditions and soon realised that the underlying cause for all of them was the condition that would soon be known as Aids. He devoted the rest of his life to the care of those with HIV and Aids.

The first few years of the epidemic were very frightening for those of us involved in providing medical treatment and care, as we did not know how the infection spread; and all those infected died. In the Guardian in 1985, Charles wrote of the alarm within the medical profession – at that point St Stephen’s was treating a dozen Aids patients, but two years later the number stood at 1,000. With a steely, determined, inquiring mind and a pleasing and precise public face, he was in a pivotal position in persuading the Conservative government of the time to recognise the severity of the problem, and the need for public information and money for both research and care of the infected patients.

Thirty-three years later, the epidemic has been partly controlled and smaller than many feared. Draconian laws were not necessary and indeed the epidemic gave impetus to a set of liberal anti-discriminatory measures, which have helped to reduce the stigma attached to HIV. By 1989, Charles was able to point to “the acceptance of it as a disease, as something needing compassion. In the early days I was always having to defend Aids patients against all sorts of cruelty, but I seldom have to do that now. It isn’t over yet, by a long way, but the difference is colossal”.

This outcome is a tribute to the ministers of health at the time, who recognised the scale of the problem, activists, who used reasoned arguments to produce a supportive plan for care, and the pharmaceutical industry, which developed the drugs which have transformed the prospects of patients. Charles, who was chair of the all-party parliamentary committee on Aids and founder of the campaigning and fundraising UK Aids Foundation, proved to be a catalyst for many of these early developments.

He was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, to Ngaire, a piano teacher, and Jack, an accountant, and was educated at Christ’s college, Christchurch. He was considering the ministry but chose medical school instead, at the University of Otago, Dunedin. He practised medicine in Christchurch for five years before travelling to Britain to continue his studies.

At St Stephen’s, he designed the first purpose-built Aids clinic and outpatient day-care clinic in the UK and carried out a great deal of research. He described many of the symptoms of this new disease and how t(AGFo ameliorate them. Between 1985 and 1988, he and I carried out early clinical trials on medications including Thymosin, AZT and foscarnet.

In 1988 Charles was awarded a fellowship to study HIV at Bellevue hospital in New York, eventually becoming director of its Aids programme. In 1994, he joined the Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF) in Los Angeles as principal investigator, and in 1997, keen to see the development of a vaccine, was among a group of researchers who volunteered to inject themselves with a weakened strain of the virus.

In 2001 he became medical director at AHF and helped to set up clinics providing excellent care throughout the world, including in Honduras, Uganda and South Africa. Charles was the AHF medical director at the time the “triple therapy” mixture of drugs – which revolutionised the management of Aids – first became available.

In 2007, he joined the pharmaceutical company Merck Sharp & Dohme as the HIV medical director in the Asian and Pacific region. The company had developed a new and potent drug for HIV infection and Charles was instrumental in making it widely available in the developing world. He was one of the first western specialists invited to teach and advise medical professionals in China, and taught at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and at Fudan University, Shanghai. He was an inspiring teacher and an influential advocate for HIV-infected patients, an excellent organiser and a charming companion.

Charles is survived by his partner, Dougie Lui, his brother, Bruce, and four nieces, Kathryn, Elizabeth, Sonja and Helaina.

• Charles Frank Farthing, doctor, born 22 April 1953; died 6 April 2014

Charles Farthing obituary

Prince Charles: very good food in hospitals must be a priority

He highlighted the just lately introduced Hospital Meals Exemplar CQUIN (Commissioning for Top quality and Innovation), which permits commissioners to reward hospital trusts for delivering higher top quality meals.

In a speech Charles mentioned it was important to “see food as a medication in itself”, in accordance to the Daily Mail.

He added: “You can envision just how delighted I was that final month NHS England launched an initiative CQUIN, which for the 1st time really encouraged commissioners to make hospital foods a clinical priority.”

He described Mike Duckett, former catering manager at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London, as an “inspiration”.

Mr Duckett reopened a amount of shutdown hospital kitchens and set them up with an natural chef and back links to neighborhood farmers in Kent who have been in a position to supply them with fresh seasonal make.

Charles mentioned this variety of enterprise developed a “virtuous circle” of sustainability, assisting the neighborhood economy and making certain better patient health.

Prince Charles: very good food in hospitals must be a priority

If exercising was very good for Charles Darwin, it really is good for all of us | Damon Young

Charles Darwin: barnacle aficionado, intrepid scholar, cautious iconoclast – and dogged, every day walker. The grandfather of modern evolutionary concept walked in rain and sunshine, in youth and age, in firm and solitude. This constitutional was not just for cardiovascular fitness, or to post his 1000′s of letters. It was a crucial part of his intellectual routine.

The “sandwalk” was a gravel track near Down Property, his residence in Kent – he called it his “pondering path”. Every day, after in the morning and once again in the afternoon, Darwin strolled and reflected amongst the privet and hazel, typically alongside his fox terrier. Darwin had a minor pile of stones on the path, and he kicked one with each and every turn: some ideas were 4-pebble issues.

As walkers and joggers will know, Darwin was not being eccentric: numerous puzzles are solved on foot. Poet William Wordsworth paced his gravel path, composing rhymes. Novelist Haruki Murakami runs marathons – including the original marathon (albeit backwards), from Athens to the ancient city. It is often written that the citizens of Königsberg set their clocks by the normal walks of philosopher Immanuel Kant. And Friedrich Nietzsche strolled for hrs, usually close to lakes or up mountains. In Sorrento, Italy, he wandered to his Gedankenbaum – his “thought tree”.

There are a lot of excellent motives for strolling and jogging: fitness, health, quiet solitude or conversation, and the stimulation that happenstance affords. But regular footslogging can also enrich our creativity and increase our character.

Scientists speak of “transient hypofrontality”: a state-of-mind promoted by pursuits that call for bodily exertion but small believed or concentration. The components of the brain that coordinate basic ideas and principles are turned down, while the motor and sensory components are turned up. In this state, tips and impressions mingle much more freely. Unusual and unexpected thoughts arise.

This is partly why Darwin’s son explained the naturalist’s walks had been for his “challenging thinking”: not just since he analysed data, but since he permitted his thoughts to wander as he kicked his stones. He let his idle mind metabolise its substantial meals of information. (“I hate a barnacle,” he wrote, “as no man ever did ahead of.”) Obviously strolling was not responsible for Darwin’s theory of evolution by organic choice, but a good footslog was definitely component of his cognitive labour – and nonetheless is for many these days.

Jogging: good for the thoughts. Photograph: Photograph: Gavin Rodgers/Alamy

Likewise for Murakami, who believes jogging is important for his literary occupation. It provides the novelist, not only power and solitude, but also a particular liberty of mind. In What I Talk About When I Talk About Working, Murakami writes that he jogs to obtain a “void”: a mental blank, around which random thoughts come and go.

In each case, physical exercise is not purely bodily, as if we might carve off the flesh, leaving the spirit behind. And this is a vital philosophical message: of wholeness. The human issue entails a continual to-and-fro among the physique and the mind. In truth, the nouns make these aspects of self appear a lot more divided than they are. Thinking is embodied, and acting is mindful. We are not a ghost in a machine, to use philosopher Gilbert Ryle’s phrase: we are bodies, and these bodies are aware.

In this light, several workouts can have intellectual rewards, and fitness can advantage from our states-of-thoughts. This has much less to do with simplistic corporate slogans – ‘just buy it’ – and much more to do with enlightened pleasure and virtue.

For example, swimming can evoke the sublime, and gesture at the precariousness of human daily life. As the ancient Greek poets remind us, sprinting can prompt pride: not just in rapidly legs or fit lungs, but in the dedication to striving before mortality claims us. Standard jogging can advertise consistency of character, and preserve us from losing the plot. Rock climbing can inspire humility and caution: focus to our flaws, and to the subtle information of rock or wall. This state-of-mind then allows “flow” to come up: we come to feel free, timeless, as we skilfully negotiate a challenging task. Ballet and karate can turn ache into a curious pleasure – we pick bruised ribs and aching toes above a lifestyle of anaesthetised comfort.

The level is not that we have to be Olympians, monitoring private bests with tailored dawn instruction schedules. We need not be the fastest, strongest or most agile. The point is that exercise can be a dedication to wholeness to a daily life enriched and enhanced by physical and mental striving. Darwin was no specialist athlete: but he knew about fitness and flourishing.

If exercising was very good for Charles Darwin, it really is good for all of us | Damon Young