NABC Report 22: Promoting Health by Linking Agriculture, Food, and Nutrition

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https://hdl.handle.net/1813/47516

Published 2010 by NABC.

Speakers at NABC 22 addressed the science linking agriculture, food, and nutrition to health, with the goal of informing both research priorities and government policies that seek to improve human livelihoods.

Agriculture and conventional food systems have provided the basis for long and healthy lives, which have improved dramatically over the last century, and much of that improvement can be traced to healthier diets. At the same time, we are faced with a growing critique that conventional food systems are a significant contributor to the health crisis that developed countries are facing, particularly related to obesity and diabetes. With this dichotomy—agriculture and diet being both the problem and the solution to an increasing health crisis—NABC 22 was framed, focusing on research strategies to better promote health through food and diet as well as on how governmental regulatory systems are providing oversight of the relationship between food and health.

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 26

Q&A
(NABC, 2010)
Q&A for dinner presentation.
Student Voice report
Hellberg, Rosalee; Kuldamrong, Watchareeya (NABC, 2010)
Student Voice report and recommendations
Alimentary pharmabiotics: common ground for academia with the food and pharmaceutical industries
Shanahan, Fergus (NABC, 2010)
Despite major technologic and conceptual advances in biology, new drug development in gastroenterology appears to be in decline. While large fortunes have been expended by the pharmaceutical industry in synthetic drug development, it is noteworthy that about half of the drugs approved by the FDA in the past twenty-five years have been derived from natural living material in the wider environment. Therefore, it seems logical and timely that the inner microenvironment of the alimentary tract might be another rich repository from which functional-food ingredients and new drugs can be mined. An alimentary “pharmabiotic” is the name that we have given to products derived from mining host-microbe interactions in the gut that have a proven health benefit.
Where will business find the next best food and nutrition innovations?
Rosenzweig, William (NABC, 2010)
The mission of Physic Ventures is to invest in keeping people healthy. We are the only venture-capital firm with a mission expressly focused on preventing disease and preventing the degradation of the environment rather than trying to fix something that is already broken
Plant biotechnology: The answer to your nutrition needs!
Newell-McGloughlin, Martina (NABC, 2010)
At its most basic level, food is the source of nutrition to meet daily requirements but is now taking on an ever-greater role in the quest for health optimization. The latter focus is a luxury that is primarily the purview of an affluent society and has little relevance in many areas where mere survival is the driving force. From the basic-nutrition perspective, there is a clear dichotomy in demonstrated need between different regions and socioeconomic groups, the starkest being addressing injudicious consumption in the developed world and under-nourishment in less developed countries (LDCs). Both extremes suffer from forms of malnourishment, one through inadequate supply, the other through inappropriate choices.
A national network for advanced food and materials
Yada, Rickey Y. (NABC, 2010)
It has been a challenge to link food, health and agriculture in Canada. The Networks of Centers of Excellence (NCEs) was a program established by the Federal Government in 1989 with the goal of mobilizing Canada’s research capability. The government realized that, because the country is so broad geographically, a mechanism was needed to link expertise and build critical mass in certain areas to “mobilize Canada’s research talent in the academic, private and public sectors and apply it to developing the economy and improving the quality of life of Canadians.” Funding comes from the federal granting agencies that are equivalent to the NIH and the NSF in the United States—the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council—as well as from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and Industry Canada, which is a federal government department with the mandate of adding economic benefit to Canada.
Q&A
(NABC, 2010)
Food-for-health strategies and programs
The science behind the claims and why the product that bears a claim needs to be “healthy”
Lupton, Joanne R. (NABC, 2010)
The evaluation of health claims is a rigorous, science-based process. Products that carry health or nutrient-content claims must meet nutrient-profiling requirements. There’s a reason for not directing people to good substances that are in bad vehicles—we cannot afford to waste calories on non-nutrient-dense foods. Consequently, FDA and the Institute of Medicine are evaluating nutrient-profiling systems for point-of-purchase labeling.
Q&A
(NABC, 2010)
Choosing foods for health
The EU regulation on nutrition and health claims: Current and future trends
Fernandes da Silva, Miguel (NABC, 2010)
When considering how to promote health by linking agriculture, food and nutrition, it makes sense to have a closer look at existing legislation in the area of nutrition and health claims made on food products. This is particularly important because what industry is allowed to say about the impact on health of the foods it sells is an essential element in a number of areas, such as consumer awareness, consumer education, product research and development, and research-funding opportunities. After all, why would anyone invest considerable resources to do research, develop and market a particular food product that would be more nutritious or would help mitigate certain disease-risk factors, if the law were to prohibit any commercial communication on those health benefits? When examining existing legislation on nutrition and health claims made on foods, it is useful to consider the regulatory framework in the European Union.

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