Recorded November 28, 2023
Description:
The webinar is part of an extension program aimed at understanding and addressing multiple hazards and controls in food safety environments. The program featured scientists from two Canadian universities and three U.S. universities. This video is the presentation and discussion on “Process preventive controls for food products” by Prof. Cangliang Shen at West Virginia University.
Recorded October 24, 2023
IAFNS is a Continuing Professional Education (CPE) provider with the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR). CDR Credentialed Practitioners will receive 1.25 Continuing Professional Education Unit (CPEUs) for completion of this recorded webinar until October 23, 2026.
Description:
In this webinar, researchers at the USDA-ARS Western Human Nutrition Research Center will present work focused on how diet and stress impact immune function and contribute to overall health. Researchers will differentiate acute from chronic biological stress, explain instruments used to measure biological stress, and describe its impact on health and well-being. How stress affects eating behavior and how diet influences one’s physiological responses to stress will be discussed. Scientists will also discuss how the biological stress response shapes the immune system and discuss how chronic stress can increase disease susceptibility. Results from various clinical research studies examining the impact of diet and nutrition on stress and immunity will be presented.
Webinar Speakers:
All speakers are from the USDA Western Human Nutrition Research Center
Dr. Kevin Laugero
Research Nutritionist / Associate Adjunct Professor
Dr. Ryan Snodgrass
Research Scientist / Associate Adjunct Professor
Commission on Dietetic Registration Performance Indicators:
Recorded October 11, 2023
IAFNS is a Continuing Professional Education (CPE) provider with the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR). CDR Credentialed Practitioners will receive 1.25 Continuing Professional Education Unit (CPEUs) for completion of this recorded webinar until October 10, 2026.
Description:
Our gut bacteria play a significant role in metabolism of dietary components and can influence human health. However, our understanding of the details of this interaction is still in its infancy. This webinar will cover the highlights of what we currently understand about diet-gut microbe interactions and how to study this complicated relationship, leveraging research underway at the USDA-ARS Western Human Nutrition Research Center.
Webinar Speakers:
All speakers are from the USDA Western Human Nutrition Research Center
Charles Stephensen, PhD – Moderator
Mary Kable, PhD
Danielle Lemay, PhD
Commission on Dietetic Registration Performance Indicators:
Recorded September 28, 2023
IAFNS is a Continuing Professional Education (CPE) provider with the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR). CDR Credentialed Practitioners will receive 1.25 Continuing Professional Education Units (CPEUs) for completion of this recorded webinar until September 27, 2026
Description:
Evidence from human microbiome research, randomized controlled trials testing interventions containing probiotics on preventive and therapeutic endpoints, and associative studies linking fermented food consumption with improved health, all point to the value of the consumption of live microbes for supporting human health. Various international organizations are interested in moving forward the concept of a dietary recommendation for live microbes. Although many scientists and organizations have independently hypothesized that consuming live microbes may be beneficial to health, understanding this relationship and developing a recommended intake range requires a systematic approach, including evaluation of existing evidence, addressing evidence gaps, and aligning the information with a framework of data needs required to support a recommendation. In this session, the most recent evidence supporting benefits of live dietary microbes and health outcomes, as well as challenges to making these links will be reviewed. Recent work to fill evidence gaps and future directions/needs for developing a dietary recommendation for live microbes will be covered.
Webinar Speakers:
Johanna Dwyer, DSc, RD, Tufts University - moderator
Joanne Slavin, PhD, RD, University of Minnesota
Maria Marco, PhD, University of California, Davis
Desiree Nielsen, BSc RD, Desiree Nielsen Nutrition
Commission on Dietetic Registration Performance Indicators:
The Institute for the Advancement of Food and Nutrition Sciences (IAFNS) is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) scientific organization that pools funding from industry collaborators and advances science through the in-kind and financial contributions from public and private sector participants.
The IAFNS Working Group on Erythritol is committed to proactively improving the science and evidence basis for decision making by all sectors. Regulators globally are seeking current information on the safety profile of erythritol and a deeper understanding of erythritol exposure (the how much erythritol is added to foods). Industry is seeking to fully understand various low and no calorie sweeteners. And, academic researchers, including those focused on nutrition are seeking additional hypotheses to test.
IAFNS adheres to rigorous procedures to maintain scientific integrity in all work we support. These requirements include adhering to the 9 Guiding Principles for Scientific Integrity and the Center for Open Science TOP Guidelines.
Background
Erythritol is an ingredient added to foods and beverages as a no calorie sweetener. Additionally, it can be added as a flavoring agent and/or a bulking agent. Erythritol is also produced endogenously in the human body and occurs naturally in some fruits, vegetables, and fermented foods.
A 2023 Nature Medicine paper (Witkowski, M., Nemet, I., Alamri, H. et al., 2023) reported an association between high erythritol blood levels and adverse cardiovascular events. The study also reported pilot data on 8 subjects showing a substantial dietary erythritol intake was associated with increased blood clotting.
References
Witkowski, M., Nemet, I., Alamri, H. et al. The artificial sweetener erythritol and cardiovascular event risk. Nat Med 29, 710–718 (2023).
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-023-02223-9.
Teysseire, F., Bordier, V., Budzinska, A., et al. Metabolic Effects and Safety Aspects of Acute D-allulose and Erythritol Administration in Healthy Subjects. Nutrients, 15(2), 458. (2023).
https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15020458.
Mazi, T. & Stanhope, K.L., Elevated Erythritol: A Marker of Metabolic Dysregulation or Contributor to the Pathogenesis of Cardiometabolic Disease? Nutrients, 15(18), 4011 (2023).
https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15184011.
Mazi, T. & Stanhope, K.L., Erythritol: An In-Depth Discussion of Its Potential to Be a Beneficial Dietary Component. Nutrients, 15(1):204 (2023). https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15010204.
Bordier, V., Teysseire, F., Senner, F., et al., Absorption and Metabolism of the Natural Sweeteners Erythritol and Xylitol in Humans: A Dose-Ranging Study. International journal of molecular sciences, 23(17), 9867 (2022). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23179867.
Wölnerhanssen, B. K., Meyer-Gerspach, A. C., Beglinger, C., & Islam, M. S., Metabolic effects of the natural sweeteners xylitol and erythritol: A comprehensive review. Critical reviews in food science and nutrition, 60(12), 1986–1998 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2019.1623757.
Wang, Z., Zhu, C., Nambi, V., et al. Metabolomic Pattern Predicts Incident Coronary Heart Disease. ATVB, 1475 – 1482 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1161/ATVBAHA.118.312236.
Hootman, K., Trezzi, J.P., Kraemer, L. et al. Erythritol is a pentose-phosphate pathway metabolite and associated with adiposity gain in young adults. PNAS, 114 (21) E4233-E4240 (2017).
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1620079114.
Munro, I. C., Berndt, W. O., Borzelleca, J. F., et al. Erythritol: an interpretive summary of biochemical, metabolic, toxicological and clinical data. Food and chemical toxicology : an international journal published for the British Industrial Biological Research Association, 36(12), 1139–1174. (1998).
https://doi.org/10.1016/s0278-6915(98)00091-x.
Bernt, W. O., Borzelleca, J. F., Flamm, G., & Munro, I. C. Erythritol: a review of biological and toxicological studies. Regulatory toxicology and pharmacology : RTP, 24(2 Pt 2), S191–S197(1996).
https://doi.org/10.1006/rtph.1996.0098.
Objective and Proposal Content
The IAFNS Working Group on Erythritol is requesting pre-proposals for a project that explores through a literature review, the potential relationships between dietary erythritol and human health outcomes. The review should address the following:
The resulting updated ‘state of the science’ summarizing the bioavailability, exposure, pharmacokinetics and toxicology of dietary erythritol would support decision making across the public and private sectors.
Pre-Proposal Preparation Instructions
The Working Group requests that applicants address each of the following components below in their proposal, which should be not more than 3 pages single-spaced:
In addition, as you prepare your pre-proposal, please note the following points:
Page Limit: 3 pages, single spaced (not including PI’s CV)
Pre-Proposal Submission Deadline Extended to November 30, 2023
Submission Instructions: Proposals (and questions) can be submitted to Neal Saab, PhD Senior Scientific Program Manager, nsaab@iafns.org
Review Process:
A review committee composed of scientists from academia, government, and industry will evaluate the pre-proposals. It is anticipated that applicants will be notified of the status of their pre-proposals within a few weeks. At that time, successful pre-proposal applicants will be asked to submit full proposals for projects to begin in January 2024, if funded. Critiques of individual pre-proposals cannot be provided.
The IAFNS Food and Chemical Safety Committee is pleased to announce it is accepting applications for the above project. The risk assessment of some food substances have been shifting to adoption of a high-throughput, non-animal method strategy for demonstrating safety. These methods, along with new in vitro, in silico and powerful computer modeling tools, are collectively referred to as New Approach Methodologies or NAMs. This proposal seeks to review available safety assessments of food substances to identify classes of food substances that have leveraged NAMs data to support a regulatory approval. This would include a review of safety determinations by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration in its publicly available GRAS database, as well as those from the European Food Safety Authority.
Due date and address information: Proposals are due Oct. 10, 2023. The full Request for Proposals is available here.
Responses can be sent to IAFNS Senior Science Program Manager Neal Saab, PhD, at nsaab@IAFNS.org
A sanitation program is a key component of a food processing facility’s food safety program and is a regulatory requirement for both FDA and USDA regulated products. Many sanitation programs utilize water and aqueous based sanitizers to control environmental pathogens. However, the introduction of water into facilities that manufacture low water activity, ready-to-eat foods could increase the potential for pathogen outgrowth and compromise the safety of the product. Instead, production of low-moisture foods (LMF) should utilize dry sanitation procedures to prevent pathogen contamination.
Pathogen control in the production of low water activity foods is difficult to accomplish with current dry sanitation products. Ethanol and isopropanol are commonly used sanitizers since they evaporate and leave no residue. However, they are highly flammable. Therefore, the use of these alcohol-based sanitizers requires the processing equipment to cool down prior to use, reducing the frequency of cleaning given the labor and time cost for processors.
As an alternative to alcohol-based sanitizers, organic acids in combination with non-polar liquids could be a viable option. Organic acids are commonly used as food additives or antimicrobials treatments to prevent the growth of pathogens. In hydrophobic environments, the antimicrobial activity of the organic acid can be increased due to a shift to a non-dissociated form. Therefore, utilizing non-polar liquids as a delivery agent for antimicrobial organic acids could be an effective sanitation strategy for dry processing environments.
This newly funded project aims to develop and validate non-polar liquid sanitizing formulations for food processing environment cleaning applications. This provides an alternative sanitizing tool that decreases the hazards associated with traditionally used alcohol-based sanitizers while increasing the frequency of sanitation and ultimately improving the safety of foods processed in dry environments.
Institution: University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Principal Investigator: Lynne McLandsborough, PhD
Year Awarded: 2023
Learn more about the IAFNS Food Microbiology Committee
Recorded August 30, 2023
IAFNS is a Continuing Professional Education (CPE) provider with the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR). CDR Credentialed Practitioners will receive 1.5 Continuing Professional Education Units (CPEUs) for completion of this recorded webinar until August 29, 2026.
Description:
Nutrition and dietetics professionals in research, policy development, academia, clinical practice, and food development rely on the availability of accurate, real time food data critical to their role in understanding the impact of food on health and disease.
The USDA Global Branded Food Products Database (GBFPD) is a component of USDA’s FoodData Central and the result of a Public-Private Partnership between USDA, IAFNS, GS1 US, 1WorldSync, NielsenIQ Label Insight and the University of Maryland.
The goal of the partnership is to enhance public health and the sharing of open data by complementing USDA Food Composition Databases with nutrient composition of branded foods and private label data provided by the food industry.
Attendees of this session will learn about the Global Branded Foods Product Database, including nutrient and data elements never previously available, and how they can use it to provide specific dietary guidance, more accurately link dietary intakes to disease measures and monitor key nutrients important to public health and policy.
Webinar Speakers:
Kyle McKillop, MS, Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, USDA
Alanna Moshfegh MS RD, Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, USDA
Trish Zecca, MS, IAFNS – Moderator
Commission on Dietetic Registration Performance Indicators:
5.1.1 Demonstrates proficient use of HIT and informatic tools to communicate, disseminate information, collect, track, and retrieve data, and create documents and presentations.
5.1.8 Finds and evaluates online information sources using appropriate search engines and databases.
6.2 Collects and interprets research data to advance knowledge and practice, and to enhance effectiveness of services.
Recorded July 12, 2023
IAFNS is a Continuing Professional Education (CPE) provider with the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR). CDR Credentialed Practitioners will receive 1.0 Continuing Professional Education Unit (CPEUs) for completion of this recorded webinar until July 11, 2026.
Description:
The low FODMAP diet is gaining recognition among consumers, and there are opportunities to communicate the scientific basis, specific intention, and appropriate implementation of the diet to ensure it achieves the clinical goal. In this webinar, the etiology, diagnosis (focus on Rome IV criteria), and symptomology related to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) will be covered. In addition, the specific action of lactose, excess fructose, GOS, fructans, and polyols and their contributions to GI symptoms will be reviewed. Participants will also benefit from a review of considerations for future research trials in humans. The webinar will include a review of the specifics of the low FODMAP diet for IBS, including the practicalities of implementation from a dietitian’s perspective. The program will delve into the 3 phases of the diet, helpful hints for success, grocery shopping tips and also particular nutrients that may be of concern with long-term implementation.
Webinar Speakers:
Kristin Roberts, PhD, The Ohio State University
Ijmeet Maan, FODMAP Friendly
Trish Zecca, MS, IAFNS – Moderator
Commission on Dietetic Registration Performance Indicators:
Recorded August 8, 2023
IAFNS is a Continuing Professional Education (CPE) provider with the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR). CDR Credentialed Practitioners will receive 1.0 Continuing Professional Education Unit (CPEUs) for completion of this recorded webinar until August 7, 2026.
Description:
COVID-19 and the associated societal and lifestyle disruptions have highlighted interest in how nutrition can support cognitive health. The 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) addressed several questions related to neurocognition, but was faced with “considerable variation in testing methods, inconsistent validity and reliability of cognitive testing methods, and differences between dietary patterns and cognitive outcomes examined,” precluding the ability to develop dietary recommendations. At the same time, several recent studies are providing new insights into nutrients and dietary patterns that may impact cognition. In this session, the complexities of nutrition and cognition research will first be reviewed, to include the various options for, strengths, and limitations of cognitive performance measures. New data capturing how individuals describe the benefits they are seeking from foods and nutrients, and alignment (or misalignment) of these terms with what research can demonstrate will be presented. Second, the Nutrition for Dementia Working Group will review their recent recommendations for advancing our understanding of dietary patterns that can support dementia prevention. Finally, practical guidance for optimizing cognitive health with nutrition will be provided, considering the current evidence and common consumer expectations for benefits, while aligning with the DGA and considering food accessibility and cultural needs.
Webinar Speakers:
Bramaramba Kowtha, MS RDN, NIH/Office of Disease Prevention – Moderator
Hayley Young, PhD, Swansea University
Hussein Yassine, MD, USC
Suzanne Summer, PhD RD, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital
Commission on Dietetic Registration Performance Indicators: