Growing evidence suggests that lutein for vision and flavan-3-ols for cardiovascular disease could be candidates for quantified recommended intakes. In 2014, Elwood et al. pointed out the challenges and suggested that a framework be developed to recommend bioactive intakes not currently covered by approaches used to establish nutrient intakes to prevent deficiencies. A standing committee […]
A large variety of new caffeinated beverage products have entered the market in recent years, including new types of energy drinks, cold brew and ready-to-drink specialty coffees and teas, and caffeinated waters and sports drinks. With shifts towards remote work and learning, online food and grocery ordering, and rapid pickup and delivery options for consumers, an updated evaluation of beverage consumption patterns and caffeine intakes in the U.S. population is warranted. The study will provide a current perspective on caffeinated beverage consumption patterns and caffeine intakes from a nationally representative sample of the U.S. population.
Institutions: Penn State, Kantar
Principal Investigator: Diane Mitchell, MS, RD, Penn State
Year Awarded: 2021
This work was supported by the IAFNS Caffeine Committee.
Public health is determined not only by essential nutrients present in foods, but also dietary bioactives and their metabolites. Observational studies on diet and health outcomes rely on quality food composition databases, most of which are nearly devoid of non-essential health promoting bioactive components such as flavonoids. Lack of standard terms adds complexity, making it difficult to assign chemical identifiers to bioactives reported in the literature. New tools are needed to afford nutrition researchers the ability to establish relationships between dietary bioactives and health.
Institution: North Carolina State University
Principal Investigator: Colin Kay, PhD
Year Awarded: 2021
This work is supported by IAFNS Bioactives Committee
Fibers added to foods may provide specific health benefits, but these relationships would benefit from research specifically on children rather than extrapolated from adults. This project will prioritize research needed to understand the relationship between fibers added to foods and support specific health outcomes at varying stages from young children through teens. The long term goal is to improve dietary fiber recommendations for children across the age spectrum.
Institution: Tufts Medical Center
Principal Investigator: Nanguneri Nirmala, PhD
Year Awarded: 2021
View this project on the Center for Open Science’s Open Science Framework.
Read more: Physiologic Effects Of Isolated Or Synthetic Dietary Fiber In Children: A Scoping Review
This work was supported by the IAFNS Carbohydrates Committee.
Misperceptions are not new about low-and no-calorie sweeteners (LNCSs) within the healthcare practitioner (HCP) community and among consumers. Some confusion can be attributed to the mixed literature on LNCSs that results from variation in study hypotheses, design, interpretation and communication. Understanding HCP perspectives on LNCSs supports science-based information delivery to patients and clients. The first step in understanding these perspectives is to conduct a review of publicly available information, including published literature, surveys, market research and HCP professional organization policy statements, among other materials. This will inform the design of a more robust HCP survey to fill in gaps, and ultimately the content and delivery of science-based information appropriate to each topic. The objectives of Phase II of this project are to directly engage with HCPs, to: 1) assess HCPs' perspectives on the use of LNCSs for achieving various dietary goals, and 2) evaluate the effectiveness of science-based information on the safety evaluation process of LNCSs for addressing HCPs misperceptions of LNCSs.
Institution: University of Massachusetts Amherst
Principal Investigator: Dr. Alissa Nolden
Start Date: September 15, 2021
Learn More: FDA Regulatory Review Process For Food Additives-Including Low And No Calorie Sweeteners
This work is supported by the IAFNS Low- and No-Calorie Sweeteners Committee
Despite robust research on the implications of modifying the fat content and composition of the diet on health, this has not been systematically studied in those following various low carbohydrate diets. Recommendations for lower carbohydrate diets should be clear about how to make food substitution choices that promote overall health.
Institution: Tufts University
Principal Investigator: Paul Jacques, D.Sc.
Year Awarded: 2021
View this project on the Center for Open Science’s Open Science Framework.
This work was supported by IAFNS Dietary Lipids Committee.
Drawing accurate conclusions about whether an ingredient or finished product is safe based on the results of a test is important to the evaluation and management of food safety risk. With the expected prevalence of contamination in today’s food system at less than 1%, extremely large samples sizes are required to reliably detect contamination, and the potential for false negatives during routine sampling is high. It is therefore critical that samples are representative of the ingredient or product being evaluated, and that sampling plans maximize the probability of finding a target hazard -- particularly as contamination patterns are often heterogeneous rather than uniform. This project will leverage a recently-developed bulk product simulation model to create a publicly available model used to detect low-prevalence, low-level contamination in powdered products and ingredients, such as powdered milk and cocoa powder.
Institution: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Principal Investigator: Matthew Stasiewicz, PhD
Year Awarded: 2021
Publication on Simulation Evaluation Of Power Of Sampling Plans
Access the interactive web app designed to run sampling simulation
View this project on the Center for Open Science’s Open Science Framework.
Learn more about the IAFNS Food Microbiology Committee.
A wide range of self-selected contemporary diets restrict or eliminate specific foods or food groups (e.g., gluten free). Health professionals advising consumers may be unaware of the relationship between specific diets and nutrient insufficiency as well as low diet quality overall. Restriction diets may be inadvertently putting consumers at risk for low quality diets or even specific nutrient inadequacies. This research will examine diet quality and nutrient insufficiencies.
Institution: William & Mary
Principal Investigator: Zach Conrad, PhD
Year Awarded: 2021
This work is supported by IAFNS Carbohydrates Committee.
View this project on the Center for Open Science’s Open Science Framework.
Low- and No- calorie sweeteners (LNCSs) have been acknowledged as a tool for reducing the intake of total carbohydrates and particularly added sugars in the nutritional management of diabetes. LNCSs may also help to improve Quality of Life (QoL). QoL is an important aspect in management of diabetes as reduced QoL can negatively affect diabetes-related outcomes. As such, understanding the potential relationship between use of LNCSs to replace added sugars and excess carbohydrate in the diet on QoL is important. This knowledge may also be useful to clinicians who field questions about the general utility of LNCSs. A recent systematic review sponsored by the World Health Organization that was designed to investigate the effects of LCS use for people with diabetes included health-related QoL as an outcome measure. However, authors did not identify any data in the peer-reviewed literature that met the inclusion-exclusion criteria specified. Authors concluded that data on this “patient-important outcome” were “scarce or lacking”. The objective of this work is to assess the relationship between use of LCSs and health-related Quality of Life (QoL) measures in individuals residing in North America that were diagnosed with diabetes (type 1) not less than 1 year ago.
Institution: University of Colorado
Principal Investigator: Halis K. Akturk, MD
Year Awarded: 2021
View this project on the Center for Open Science’s Open Science Framework here.
This work is supported by the IAFNS Low- and No-Calorie Sweeteners Committee
As noted in the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee report, there is significant overlap between food categories that contribute to sodium intake and to vegetable intake. To ensure appropriate and effective messaging, dietary guidance, and food development or modification, it is important to understand the totality of nutrients and food groups provided by commonly consumed high-sodium foods. This applies whether they are in excess or support meeting dietary recommendations. In this project, national health and nutrition survey data (NHANES) from 2017-2018 will be examined to identify the top food category contributors to sodium intake. The analysis will break out data by racial and ethnic groups, and by poverty-to-income ratio. Intake of these food categories will be evaluated for the contribution to food groups and nutrient intake relative to dietary recommendations. This information will provide clarity on the broader contribution of these foods to better inform dietary guidance and messaging.
Institution: University of Toronto
Principal Investigator: Mary L'Abbe, PhD
Year Awarded: 2021
This project is being supported by the IAFNS Sodium Committee.
Read more: Top Sodium Food Sources in the American Diet—Using National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
View this project on the Center for Open Science’s Open Science Framework.