Nutrition Scientists Research Articles

Food Engineering as an Advancing Branch of Chemical Engineering

During the past two decades, application of established chemical engineering principles in food industry has rapidly become an important branch of chemical engineering. Challenges faced by engineers and technologists have been in the areas of preserving the original food quality, creating new food structures in large quantities and at high rates. Active ingredients within foods that are good for human consumption must be kept within acceptable limits. Collaborations with food and nutrition scientists and microbiologists, microelectronic engineers etc. are an essential element for success. Studies have been conducted at all scales (from molecular (nano scale), macromolecular, to macroscopic and large scales such as packaged foods). In the area of chemical engineering education, there is an increasing amount of interest in introducing chemical engineering students to food related concepts. Both Australia and New Zealand have very large agri-food businesses. The challenges due to the specific materials (food materials) concerned in R & D have led to many inventions that have great potentials in new food development. In this lecture, the advances made in food engineering research and new technology development will be highlighted.

From nutrition scientist to nutrition communicator: why you should take the leap1,2

Media reports about new nutrition research are abundant, but they may confuse the public when unqualified sources are quoted, findings are reported out of context, or results appear to contradict previous studies. The nutrition scientist who conducts the research is best qualified to communicate the findings accurately and within context. Yet, some nutrition scientists hesitate to speak out in the media because of barriers such as a lack of time, media skills, and support from administrators or fear that their results will be miscommunicated or sensationalized. Scientists who do grant media interviews enjoy benefits such as positively affecting the public's eating habits, influencing health and nutrition policy, and receiving heightened attention to their work, which can lead to future research funding. Scientists who want to improve their media skills can seek support from their institution's public relations professionals and can learn from continuing education opportunities at conferences and self-study through articles and other resources.

McCollum International Lecturer, Professor Mark L. Wahlqvist, Points Us “Towards a New Generation of International Nutritional Science and Nutritional Scientist” from the Podium in Durban, South Africa

McCollum International Lecturer, Professor Mark L. Wahlqvist, Points Us “Towards a New Generation of International Nutritional Science and Nutritional Scientist” from the Podium in Durban, South Africa

Towards A New Generation of International Nutrition Science and Scientist: The Importance of Africa and Its Capacity ,

Towards A New Generation of International Nutrition Science and Scientist: The Importance of Africa and Its Capacity ,

Molecular Evolution of Milk: Computational Genomics as a Discovery Tool

Milk is the sole recipe for the nutrition of a growing infant. Throughout time, the results of milk production have been exposed to relentless Darwinian selective pressure to serve the needs of the infant while minimizing impact on the mother. Thus, elucidation of the ingredients in this recipe should provide us with the most essential promoters of human health. Nutrition scientists are therefore challenged to identify and characterize the molecules present in milk, their genesis, their targets, and their mechanisms of actions. In this study, we use a literature mining tool to extract a library of genes involved in lactation. Literature mining is also leveraged to identify additional candidate milk genes and to categorize them by functional and anatomical clusters. These analyses are discussed in the context of what is known about lactation and new directions of study are explored. Finally, a conceptual framework for future work is presented.

Measure for measure

Nutrition BulletinVolume 31, Issue 1 p. 6-7 Measure for measure J. Lunn, Corresponding Author J. LunnDr Joanne Lunn, Nutrition Scientist, British Nutrition Foundation, High Holborn House, 52–54 High Holborn, London WC1V 6RQ, UK. E-mail: j.lunn@nutrition.org.ukSearch for more papers by this author J. Lunn, Corresponding Author J. LunnDr Joanne Lunn, Nutrition Scientist, British Nutrition Foundation, High Holborn House, 52–54 High Holborn, London WC1V 6RQ, UK. E-mail: j.lunn@nutrition.org.ukSearch for more papers by this author First published: 21 February 2006 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-3010.2006.00542.xRead the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume31, Issue1March 2006Pages 6-7 RelatedInformation

EuroFIR update – one pagers and web features

Nutrition BulletinVolume 31, Issue 1 p. 69-70 EuroFIR update – one pagers and web features B. J. McKevith, Corresponding Author B. J. McKevithMs Brigid McKevith, Senior Nutrition Scientist, British Nutrition Foundation, 52–54 High Holborn, London WC1V 6RQ, UK. E-mail: b.mackevith@nutrition.org.ukSearch for more papers by this author B. J. McKevith, Corresponding Author B. J. McKevithMs Brigid McKevith, Senior Nutrition Scientist, British Nutrition Foundation, 52–54 High Holborn, London WC1V 6RQ, UK. E-mail: b.mackevith@nutrition.org.ukSearch for more papers by this author First published: 21 February 2006 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-3010.2006.00545.xRead the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume31, Issue1March 2006Pages 69-70 RelatedInformation

Reflections and vision of a young African nutritional scientist: talk given during the closing ceremony at the 18th International Congress of Nutrition

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Vernon R Young: the man, the scientist, the visionary

It was just 1 y ago in our favorite Italian restaurant on Cambridge Street that Vernon Young and I began to discuss the festschrift that his many friends wanted to organize for him at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In agreeing to this, he indicated that he wanted us to look to the future of nutrition and to highlight the new disciplinary opportunities for nutrition scientists. We wanted to schedule it early in 2004, but space was not available at MIT. With characteristic optimism, although undergoing treatment for renal cancer, Vernon insisted on November 12, the first date an auditorium would be available at MIT and near what would have been his 67th birthday on November 15. Ultimately Vernon chose the topics, proposed the speakers, and planned today’s meeting as a festschrift and we both envisioned a large and enthusiastic gathering. In his final hours in the hospital when Vernon could no longer speak, I assured him in the presence of his family, all of whom are here today, that we would hold the symposium as we planned it and he smiled. Today we honor that promise. It is appropriate that before the scientific sessions, we begin with 3 brief presentations describing Vernon as a person, a scientist, and a visionary. The first topic is presented by Dr Takuzo Kitamura, who provided the financial support from the Ajinomoto Company of Japan that allowed Vernon to begin his pioneering research on lysine and who came to know Vernon as charismatic, sympathetic, and dedicated. Dr Kitamura has committed his company to not only the full support of this symposium but also major additional recognition.

A perspective on DNA microarray technology in food and nutritional science

The functions of nutrients and other foods have been revealed at the level of gene regulation. The advent of DNA microarray technology has enabled us to analyze the body's response to these factors in a much more holistic manner than before. This review is intended to overview the present status of this DNA microarray technology, hoping to provide food and nutrition scientists, especially those who are planning to introduce this technology, with hints and suggestions. The number of papers examining transcriptomics analysis in food and nutrition science has expanded over the last few years. The effects of some dietary conditions and administration of specific nutrients or food factors are studied in various animal models and cultured cells. The target food components range from macronutrients and micronutrients to other functional food factors. Such studies have already yielded fruitful results, which include discovery of novel functions of a food, uncovering hitherto unknown mechanisms of action, and analyses of food safety. The potency of DNA microarray technology in food and nutrition science is broadly recognized. This technique will surely continue to provide researchers and the public with valuable information on the beneficial and adverse effects of food factors. It should also be acknowledged, however, that there remain problems such as standardization of the data and sharing of the results among researchers in this field.

The new nutrition science: sustainability and development

To show that nutrition science is anchored in food systems and is influenced by the social, through the environmental to the cosmological, life's connections and rhythms. To indicate that an integrative approach is now becoming possible with advances in food technology, in the understanding of food choice and of human behaviour, and in a preparedness to recognise nutritional inputs in the full sweep of life-long well-being and health outcomes. An analysis of the much broader understanding of nutritionally related diseases from an ecological perspective, with attention to economic development, beginning with poverty alleviation. Recognition that the biological dimension of nutrition science is undergoing a profound reappraisal; that technologies will allow us to change the course of nutritionally related diseases for the better; and that nutrition science will find partners in information technology and telecommunications, food technology and energy technology. A new generation of nutrition scientists can help build a new economy that supports development amongst communities, whether close or distant from each other. The opportunities for this kind of development to be realised between Asia, Latin America and Africa are considerable. At all times, however, nutrition scientists must uphold the paramount importance of good governance, conflict resolution and maternal literacy if their work is to achieve its growing potential.

Proposed criteria for assessing the efficacy of cancer reduction by plant foods enriched in carotenoids, glucosinolates, polyphenols and selenocompounds.

The cancer-protective properties of vegetable consumption are most likely mediated through 'bioactive compounds' that induce a variety of physiologic functions including acting as direct or indirect antioxidants, regulating enzymes and controlling apoptosis and the cell cycle. The 'functional food' industry has produced and marketed foods enriched with bioactive compounds, but there are no universally accepted criteria for judging efficacy of the compounds or enriched foods. Carotenoids, glucosinolates, polyphenols and selenocompounds are families of bioactive compounds common to vegetables. Although numerous studies have investigated the agricultural and human health implications of enriching foods with one or more of these compounds, inadequate chemical identification of compounds, lack of relevant endpoints and inconsistencies in mechanistic hypotheses and experimental methodologies leave many critical gaps in our understanding of the benefits of such compounds. This review proposes a decision-making process for determining whether there is reasonable evidence of efficacy for the both the compound and the enriched food. These criteria have been used to judge the evidence of efficacy for cancer prevention by carotenoids, polyphenols, glucosinolates and selenocompounds. The evidence of efficacy is weak for carotenoids and polyphenols; the evidence is stronger for glucosinolates and lycopene, but production of enriched foods still is premature. Additionally there is unacceptable variability in the amount and chemical form of these compounds in plants. The evidence of efficacy for selenocompounds is strong, but the clinical study that is potentially the most convincing is still in progress; also the variability in amount and chemical form of Se in plants is a problem. These gaps in understanding bioactive compounds and their health benefits should not serve to reduce research interest but should, instead, encourage plant and nutritional scientists to work together to develop strategies for improvement of health through food.

Ancel Keys: a tribute

Ancel Keys, Ph.D., who died in November, 2004, at the age of 100, was among the first scientists to recognize that human atherosclerosis is not an inevitable consequence of aging, and that a high-fat diet can be a major risk factor for coronary heart disease. During World War II, he and a group of talented co-workers at the University of Minnesota conducted a large-scale study of experimentally-induced human starvation. The data generated by this study – which was immediately recognized to be a classic – continue to be of inestimable value to nutrition scientists. In his later years, Keys spent more time at his home in Naples, Italy, where he had the opportunity to continue his personal study of the beneficial effects on health and longevity of a Mediterranean diet.

Food for two seasons: Culinary uses of non-cultivated local vegetables and mushrooms in a south Italian village

The use of non-cultivated plants in a daily diet based on local cuisines is potentially of considerable interest to nutritional scientists, because of the plants’ role as local products and their potential as sources of novel nutraceuticals. In many Mediterranean regions these traditions are at risk of disappearing, hence the urgent need to study such knowledge systems. Accordingly, an ethnobotanical survey was carried out among the 850 inhabitants of the village of Castelmezzano, in central Lucania, which is located in the inland southern Italy. Seventy-five taxa of non-cultivated and semi-cultivated local food plants and mushrooms were documented, and uncommon food uses of a few species were reported for the first time. These include Bellavalia romana, Lepista nebularis and Onopordum illyricum. Most of the recorded non-cultivated food plants and mushrooms are cooked in oil or fat. Very few are consumed raw. This article discusses in detail the traditional culinary uses of these plants, their seasonality, ethnoecology, and their economic and nutritional potentials. The article also demonstrates how food agro-biodiversity is inextricably connected with cultural heritage.

Vitamin

Derived from vita, the Latin for life, and amine, from a (mistaken) belief about the chemical nature of the organic compounds involved, vitamine was coined by Casimir Funk in 1912, after the discovery that “preventive substances” were crucial in averting beri-beri and pellagra. By 1915, vitamines were also known to be important in promoting normal growth. In 1920, following the suggestion of jack Drummond, the final “e” was dropped to disassociated them from amines or derivatives of ammonia. Drummond also suggested that vitamins be named by letters. Later biochemical refinement led to the separation of vitamin B into numbered categories. Most of the known vitamins were identified between 1920 and 1940, and recognition fo their role was a critical component of the “Newer Knowledge of Nutrition”, derived from E V McCollum's 1918 book, which became established among western public-health practitioners and researchers. Academic nutritin scientists proved enthusiastic popularisers fo their subject, and the word vitamin quickly entered common use. In the 1920s, for example British oyster merchants were already advertising the health benefits of oysters, on the grounds that they were rich in vitamins, Vitamins provided a new definition of good food, and one that was generally accepted by consumers. Food manufacturers began to make use of nutrition science to market their products. Margarine and baby milk were the first foods to be widely sold with added vitamins. By World War ll, “vitaminized” foods and vitamin content of foodstuffs had become a common advertising poly. Cadbury advertised Vitamin D in chocolate; Heinz, vitamin C in tomato ketchup; and Glaxo, “the Sunshine Vitamin” in Sunshine Glaxo baby milk popular recognition of vitamins as a health benefit became entrenched, and awareness of their importance contiuued to grow along with health consciousness in the later 20th century. Indeed, the assertion by Nobel Prize winning biochemist Linus Pauling that generous consumption of vitamin C would prevent the common cold rapidly acquired myhic popular status. His late assertion that such consumption would prevent a range of ills including cancer was rather less influential. By the 1970s, Vitamins had received so much publicity as an essential factor for healthy living that nutrition scientists worried that the health hazards of excess consumption of at least some of them had been forgotten. As the healthy living bonanza gathers pace in the 21st century in developed countries, that warning remains pertinent but widely disregarded.

Meeting the challenges of dietetics practice with evidence-based decisions

The practice of dietetics is, and always has been, characterized by change. Diabetic diet prescriptions of the 1940s evolved over time into current practices. Dietary approaches to weight control have drastically changed from the highly rigid diet plans of the 1950s and 1960s to the more flexible, consumer-friendly approaches in current use. The Recommended Dietary Allowances themselves have changed with each edition. As new data become available and new scientific theories are put forth, nutrition scientists and dietetics practitioners are faced with conflicting interpretations and, hence, practice-related controversies. Pediatric dietitians currently debate the value of using a ketogenic diet to control pediatric seizures as well as the efficacy of prescribing gluten- and/or casein-free diets for children with autism. Sports nutritionists debate the effectiveness of specific supplements in elite athletes and try to define “best practices” for counseling competitive athletes. Management dietitians discuss the merits of self-operated vs contract-managed food service departments and the use of cook/chill technology vs real-time food production. Nutrition educators argue the benefits of distance learning and learner-centered education compared with more traditional face-to-face lectures. Diabetes educators, renal dietitians, public health nutritionists, nutrition support dietitians, and weight management specialists face their own practice-specific controversies. Faced with ever-changing theories and bodies of evidence, how can dietitians ensure that their decisions and actions are based on the most recent and accurate scientific data and that they are not at risk of becoming “dietetics dinosaurs”?

Learning from America? The travels of German nutritional scientists to the USA in the context of the Technical Assistance Program of the Mutual Security Agency and its consequences for the West German Nutritional Policy.

Learning from America? The travels of German nutritional scientists to the USA in the context of the Technical Assistance Program of the Mutual Security Agency and its consequences for the West German Nutritional Policy.

Don’t pass the salt

Nutrition BulletinVolume 28, Issue 4 p. 339-340 Don’t pass the salt First published: 10 November 2003 https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1467-3010.2003.00375.xCitations: 4 Dr Frankie Phillips SRD, Nutrition Scientist, British Nutrition Foundation, High Holborn House, 52–54 High Holborn, London WC1V 6RQ, UK. E-mail: f.phillips@nutrition.org.uk Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article.Citing Literature Volume28, Issue4December 2003Pages 339-340 RelatedInformation

The use of ICPMS for stable isotope tracer studies in humans: a review.

The use of stable isotope tracers in human studies is a rapidly growing research field that benefits from the many new developments in inorganic mass spectrometric instrumentation and from the better availability of mass spectrometric techniques to nutritional scientists during the last three decades. Traditionally, thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) has been the preferred technique for these studies, but the development of new inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometric (ICPMS) techniques with better isotope-ratio measurement and interference-removal capabilities (e.g. single and multi-detector ICPMS and reaction/collision cell ICPMS) has enabled broader use of ICPMS for determination of stable isotope tracers in nutritional research. This review discusses the current and future use of ICPMS in stable isotope tracer studies in humans.

Oily fish and pregnancy

Nutrition BulletinVolume 28, Issue 3 p. 247-251 Oily fish and pregnancy First published: 12 August 2003 https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1467-3010.2003.00348.xCitations: 3 Dr Hannah Theobald, Nutrition Scientist, British Nutrition Foundation, High Holborn House, 52–54 High Holborn, London WC1V 6RQ, UK. E-mail: h.theobald@nutrition.org.uk Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onEmailFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume28, Issue3September 2003Pages 247-251 RelatedInformation