ILSI 2022 Annual Meeting Session 2: Improving nutrition for public benefit

ILSI U.S. and Canada charter on applications of globally harmonized nutrients: development and application of nutrient bioavailability algorithms – Dr. Connie Weaver, San Diego State University, USA

Abstract: The ILSI U.S. and Canada's Research Charter on Applications of Globally Harmonized Nutrients aims to facilitate regional adaptations of harmonized nutrient requirements by developing bioavailability algorithms and determining equivalencies and standards for food labeling. Bioavailability algorithms have been developed for iron, zinc, and some amino acids. Our first project will develop bioavailability algorithm for predicting calcium bioavailability.

Dr. Connie Weaver is a Distinguished Research Professor at San Diego State University and a Distinguished Professor Emerita of Nutrition Science at Purdue University and CEO of Weaver and Associates Consulting, LLC. She is an elected member of The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine since 2010. She is a fellow of the American Nutrition Society, the Institute of Food Technology, the American College of Nutrition, and the American Heart Association. She is a member of the FDA Science Advisory Board and the NIH Advisory Committee on Research on Women’s Health. She was founder and director of the Women's Global Health Institute (WGHI) at Purdue University from 2012 to 2019. She was Deputy Director of the National Institutes of Health funded Indiana Clinical and Translational Science Institute from 2008 to 2019. Dr. Weaver is past-president of American Society for Nutritional Sciences. She is on the Board of Trustees of the International Life Sciences Institute, Showalter Biomedical Research Committee, and the Science Advisory Board of Biofortis. Her honors include the Spirit of the Land Grant Award (2013), the Herbert Newby McCoy recipient (2012, this award is the most prestigious research honor given by Purdue University), the Trailblazer Award (2016) by the Institute of Food Technology (IFT) and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND), an award to recognize “exceptional leaders” who have advanced the science at the interface of dietetics and food science, and the David Kritchevsky Lifetime Achievement Award (2017, American Society for Nutrition). Dr. Weaver was appointed to the 2005 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee for Americans. Dr. Weaver received a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in food science and human nutrition from Oregon State University. She received a PhD in food science and human nutrition from Florida State University and holds minors in chemistry and plant physiology.

The Delta Model®: nutrient provision of the global food production system – Dr. Jeremy P. Hill, The Riddet Institute, Sustainable Nutrition Initiative®, New Zealand

Abstract: The DELTA Model® uses information about the current production of all food to predict nutrient availability for 29 nutrients to the average global citizen both now and in the future.

The model lets the user adjust the production of different food groups, the degree of food waste, and the global population to see the impact of these changes on human nutrition.

User-adjustable settings include:

• Scenario Options – high-level scenario settings enabling the user to switch between predefined food system options
• Primary Production - the annual production of each of the food groups
• Secondary Modifiers - a range of other model options for the user to select

The presentation will cover how the model works, and some of the key insights that have come from use of the model including biomass flows from production to consumption; availability of calories, protein, and the impact of waste; and the importance of micronutrient availability, bioavailability and sources in the food system.

Jeremy Hill, Chief Science & Technology Officer, Fonterra Cooperative Group & Professor, Sustainable Nutrition, Riddet Institute, Massey University. Professor Hill has worked for Fonterra and its predecessor companies for over 30 years, the last 14 as Fonterra’s Chief Science & Technology Officer. He is an inventor on numerous patents covering different aspects of dairy science, technology, health and nutrition and has published over 100 scientific papers. Between 2012-2016 he served as President and Chairman of the Board of the International Dairy Federation (IDF). He is Chairman of the Pastoral Greenhouse Gas Research Consortium and sits of the Board of the NZ Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre. Professor Hill was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to science and the dairy industry in the 2020 Queens Birthday Honours.

Identifying and treating malnutrition in community-living seniors – Dr. Heather Keller, University of Waterloo, Canada

Abstract: With the aging of the world and the recent global experience of COVID-19, there is increasing recognition of the importance of preventing frailty and promoting healthy aging. Nutrition is a key determinant of frailty and prevention of malnutrition through early identification of nutrition risk is needed. This presentation will describe evidence-based pathways for malnutrition prevention, detection and treatment and evidence-informed treatment options for older adults identified to be at nutrition risk or malnourished in the community setting.

Heather Keller, RD, PhD, FDC, FCAHS, is the Schlegel Research Chair in Nutrition & Aging at the University of Waterloo. She is an internationally recognized expert in geriatric nutrition, assessment and treatment. As a founding member and past chair/co-chair (2009-2018) of the Canadian Malnutrition Task Force (CMTF), she is involved in translating research into practice and advocating for improvements in nutrition care. She is currently the co-chair of the primary care working group for CMTF and involved in several national and international expert groups advancing the prevention, detection and treatment of malnutrition.

Steps towards precision nutrition – Dr. Jose Ordovas, Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, USA

Abstract: General dietary guidelines have not achieved the objective of reducing nutrition-related diseases, as they do not yet include how to address the inter-individual variability in response to the foods consumed. The molecular bases of this variability are complex and partially defined by our genome and microbiome. Their elucidation is the objective of Precision Nutrition, driven by large intervention studies such as PREDICT and the NIH Nutrition for Precision Health.

Dr. Jose Ordovas is Professor of Nutrition and a Senior Scientist at the USDA-HNRCA at Tufts University in Boston, where he also is the Director of the Nutrition and Genomics Laboratory. His research interest focuses on the genetic and epigenetic factors predisposing to age-related chronic diseases and their interaction with dietary environmental, behavioral and chronobiological factors. He has published over 900 scientific articles (h-index 143).

Towards a healthy human microbiome – Dr. Seppo Salminen, Director, Functional Foods Forum, University of Turku, Finland

Professor Seppo Salminen received his MS degree in Food Science and Nutrition from Washington State University, USA and MSc degree in Food Chemistry and Microbiology from University of Helsinki, Finland and his Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry and Toxicology from the University of Surrey, United Kingdom.  He did his post-doctoral training in Food Toxicology at RMIT University, Melbourne Australia where he has been a visiting professor for several periods since 1990. Dr Salminen worked as a research/senior scientist at the National Board of Health and then Ministry of Agriculture in Helsinki Finland. He then served as a nutrition specialist at the Research Centre of Valio Ltd before joining the University of Turku as associate professor of food chemistry, then professor of Food Development and the Health Biosciences Program and later Director of the Functional Foods Forum, Faculty of Medicine. His research has focused on gut microbiology and health, probiotics and prebiotics and functional foods.  Since the establishment of the European Food Safety Authority he served as a member of the NDA panel for 9 years and another 3 years as a member of the Novel Foods working group.  He has been a visiting professor and faculty member at the Australian Key Centre for Toxicology and the BOKU University in Vienna, Austria. He has been given an honorary doctorate from the University of Tartu, Estonia and he is a member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters.  He received several prizes among other the Swiss Price of Modern Nutrition and the IDF Institute Pasteur Elie Metchnikoff Prize. He has also acted as vice president and later president of the International Society of Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP). He is an author of over 400 scientific peer reviewed publications and several books.