Funded Projects

Projects Funded by IAFNS

The Institute for the Advancement of Food and Nutrition Sciences catalyzes food safety and nutritional science for the benefit of public health. View projects* funded by IAFNS below.

Advancing Exposure Assessment for Food Contaminants Through Implementation of Probabilistic Modeling

Risk assessments for foods, ingredients and additives have evolved over the past few decades to incorporate new techniques such as benchmark dose modeling, and to further develop the utility of tools such as the threshold of toxicological concern, and even […]

Evidence Map on the Relationship Between Exposure to Dietary Sweetness and Body Weight-Related Outcomes in Adults

Dietary recommendations from numerous governmental and health organizations recommend reduced intake of added sugars due to the health risks, including the risk of overweight and obesity. Some recommendations include avoiding dietary sweetness – regardless of the source – based on […]

Simulating Powdered Product Sampling to Improve Food Safety Sampling Plans

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 […]

Assessing the Relationship between Low-Calorie Sweetener Use and Quality of Life Measures in Adults with Type 1 Diabetes

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 […]

Broader Dietary Value of Food Category Contributors to Sodium Intake

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 […]

Impact of Ingested Live Microbes on Health: An evidence Map

Human gut microbiome research has linked imbalances in the gut microbiota with several suboptimal health conditions. Consequently, the application of dietary interventions including foods (i.e., fermented foods [FFs]) and food supplements (i.e., probiotics) that contain live microorganisms to positively impact […]

The Identification of Microbially-Derived Metabolites as Biomarkers: What Changes of Which Metabolites Matter for Health?

Identifying microbially‐derived metabolites that may serve as biomarkers for health, or metabotyping, is a necessary step to understanding the role of the microbiome in human health. Ultimately, knowing what metabolites (including presence and quantity) matter for health can inform development […]

Development of a Research Framework for Evidence-Based Assessment of Potential Carcinogens in Human Diets

Risk assessment of chemicals that are potentially carcinogenic in humans often relies on extrapolation from carcinogenicity bioassays. There is a growing belief in the scientific community that evidence-based risk assessment can replace historical, over-protective guidance-based approaches. However, there is no […]

Impact of Dietary Sweetness Exposure on Future Dietary Intake: Reanalysis of Existing Intervention Trial Data

Several global health authorities recommend avoidance of sweetness in the diet from both sugar and low-calorie or non-nutritive sweeteners, due to concerns that intake of sweet taste drives a preference for more sweetness, with ultimate negative consequences for energy intake […]

Effect of Low-Calorie Sweetener Intake on Glycemic Response

Globally, dietary guidance recommends reducing added and total sugars in the diet to reduce caloric intake and chronic disease. Low-calorie sweeteners (LCS) present an option for reducing calories while providing sweetness in the diet, but questions remain regarding the effects […]

Standardizing Method and Development of Normal Values to Measure Human Small Intestinal and Colonic Permeability

Maintaining—or restoring to normal—gut barrier function is not currently recognized as a physiologic benefit of fiber consumption, in part due to lack of agreement by experts in the field on how to define and measure normal gut barrier function in […]

Metabolic and Physiological Properties of Rare Sugars Review Paper

Rare sugars are monosaccharides or disaccharides that exist in small quantities in nature and have unique metabolic and physiological properties that help distinguish them from more commonly consumed sugars like fructose and glucose. Due to their unique properties, rare sugars […]

*Projects from 2013 and later are included in this repository. To view projects supported by IAFNS prior to 2013, please visit our Peer-Reviewed Publications page.