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.

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Guiding Principles for Funding Food Science and Nutrition Research

With the limited availability of funds from federal agencies, nongovernmental sources of funding – including industry – play a critical role in offering new opportunities for advancement and innovation in food and nutrition research. While bias can present itself in […]

Comparison of Food Category Contributors to Sodium Intake from Stores vs. Restaurants

The FDA released the final voluntary sodium reduction guidance in 2021. The targets presented are applicable to both consumer packaged goods and prepared/restaurant foods. Research indicates that the sodium contribution of restaurant foods is greater than that of foods consumed […]

Heavy Metals in US Foods: Exposure Assessment by Age Group and Mitigation Strategies

Heavy metals such as arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and mercury (Hg) have the potential to cause neurocognitive impairment to infants and young children who are exposed to them in their diets. These elements can also cause chronic toxicological […]

A Framework for Heavy Metal Prioritization and Mitigation for Reducing Metal Intake: Rice and Spinach Case Studies

Rice is a significant source of arsenic and other elemental toxins (e.g. mercury and cadmium) to the human diet, particularly in foods for babies and young children. Spinach is a significant source of the highly toxic metals Cd and Pb […]

The Scientific Basis of Communicating Carbohydrate Quality

A workshop was convened jointly with Diabetes Canada to advance the dialogue between scientists and regulatory experts on science-based indices that can be used in communicating physiologic effects of carbohydrates in foods. Experts agreed that the carbohydrate quality of a […]

Standing Committee on Bioactive Recommendations

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 […]

Beverage Caffeine Intake Study

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 […]

Identify Safety Barriers to Broad Adoption of Recycled Polyolefins for Food Packaging

Defining a path to the production of clean recycled plastics is key to their sustainable use in food and beverage packaging. Despite significant advances in recycling science, obstacles remain to broad utilization of recycled plastics including the need for reliable […]

Updating USDA Food Composition Databases with Common Data Elements on Flavonoids

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 […]

Metabolic and Physiological Effects of Added Fibers for Children Across the Age Spectrum

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 […]

Addressing Perceptions of Low- and No-Calorie Sweeteners in the Healthcare Practitioner Community

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. […]

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 […]

*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.