The IAFNS Carbohydrates Committee mobilizes members from government, industry and academia to drive, fund and lead actionable science in support of public health.
Through its tripartite model—bringing together scientists from government, academia and industry—the Carbohydrates Committee addresses scientific issues through discovery, research tool development, and translational messaging on how carbohydrates in foods are associated with consumption, diet quality and health.
Why Is This Research Important?
Carbohydrates are an important source of energy and nutrients in the food supply. The committee focuses its work on understanding sugar, fiber, and carbohydrate quality as they relate to human health.
Research Focus Areas:
- How fiber relates to human health outcomes.
- Characterize nutrient intakes and overall diet quality of various diets.
- Examine relationships between energy and body composition.
- Promote informed decision-making on carbohydrate quality.
Advance scientific evidence and research tools to further understanding of how fiber relates to human health outcomes.
IAFNS and the Institute of Food Technologists collaborated to explore how food product developers can formulate using fibers that deliver human health benefits.
Diet-Related Fibers & Human Health Outcomes Database
IAFNS is currently offering graduate student and post-doc stipends for research using the comprehensive fiber database (click here to apply).
Translating Carbohydrate Quality Into Evidence-Based, Consumer-Relevant Approaches
Reducing Carbohydrate Confusion At IAFNS, we advance food safety through rigorous research, collaboration, and science-based guidance. Clarifying Carbohydrate Choices Consumer confusion about carbohydrates can lead […]
Metabolic and Physiological Effects of Added Fibers for Children Across the Age Spectrum
Science for Growing Bodies At IAFNS, we advance food safety through rigorous research, collaboration, and science-based guidance. Clarifying how added fibers support health during growth […]
Assess Macronutrient Intakes and Diet Quality for Contemporary Consumer Diets
Diet Quality Implications At IAFNS, we advance food safety through rigorous research, collaboration, and science-based guidance. Understanding Restrictive Diets A wide range of self-selected contemporary […]
Impact of Carbohydrate Quality on the Association between Low-Carbohydrate Diet Scores and Longitudinal Changes of Cardiometabolic Risk Factors
Nutrition Journal, 2025
This study examines long-term associations among low-carbohydrate diet patterns varying in carbohydrate quality and changes in cardiometabolic risk factors.
Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Dietary Fiber and Bone-Related Outcomes in Children
Current Developments in Nutrition, 2025
This article synthesizes evidence from randomized controlled trials on the role of dietary fiber types on bone-related health outcomes in children ages 1 to 18 years.
The Role of the Gut Structure and Function in Health and Disease: The Celiac Disease Paradigm
February 26, 2025
Virtual, Event
The intestine is a critical site for interaction between the host and the external environment. Its complex structure plays key roles in selective absorption of nutrients or other dietary or environmental components, with implications for local and systemic effects which will be explored in this webinar.
Joint IAFNS-IFT Webinar: Food Innovations Using Fiber and Non-Digestible Carbohydrates for Health Benefits
January 9, 2024
Virtual, Event
This free webinar enables food product developers to formulate using fibers that deliver human health benefits.

