Biomarkers of Nutrition for Development (BOND)—Iron Review

This is the fifth in the series of reviews developed as part of the Biomarkers of Nutrition for Development (BOND) program. The BOND Iron Expert Panel (I-EP) reviewed the extant knowledge regarding iron biology, public health implications, and the relative usefulness of currently available biomarkers of iron status from deficiency to overload. Approaches to assessing intake, including bioavailability, are also covered. The report also covers technical and laboratory considerations for the use of available biomarkers of iron status, and concludes with a description of research priorities along with a brief discussion of new biomarkers with potential for use across the spectrum of activities related to the study of iron in human health. The I-EP concluded that current iron biomarkers are reliable for accurately assessing many aspects of iron nutrition. However, a clear distinction is made between the relative strengths of biomarkers to assess hematological consequences of iron deficiency versus other putative functional outcomes, particularly the relationship between maternal and fetal iron status during pregnancy, birth outcomes, and infant cognitive, motor and emotional development. The I-EP also highlighted the importance of considering the confounding effects of inflammation and infection on the interpretation of iron biomarker results, as well as the impact of life stage. Finally, alternative approaches to the evaluation of the risk for nutritional iron overload at the population level are presented, because the currently designated upper limits for the biomarker generally employed (serum ferritin) may not differentiate between true iron overload and the effects of subclinical inflammation

New nutritional data on traditional foods for European food composition databases

Background/Objectives: There are many different cultures within Europe, each with its own distinct dietary habits. Traditional foods are the key elements that differentiate the dietary patterns of each country. Unfortunately, in most countries, there is little information on the nutritional composition of such foods. Therefore, there is a need to study traditional foods to preserve these elements of European culture and, if possible, enrich and improve dietary habits across the continent. The Traditional Foods work package within the European Food Information Resource (EuroFIR) project aimed to provide new nutritional data on traditional foods for use in national food composition tables. Subjects/Methods: A EuroFIR consensus-based method with standardised procedures was applied for the systematic study of traditional foods and recipes in selected European countries. Traditional foods were selected on the basis of the EuroFIR definition of the term ‘traditional food’ and prioritised according to specific criteria. From the prioritised list, the five traditional foods per country to be investigated were selected to represent a full course meal. Protocols with guidelines for the recording of traditional recipes, the collection, preparation and distribution of laboratory samples, as well as quality requirements for laboratory selection, were developed to establish a common approach for use by all countries for the acquisition of reliable data. Results: The traditional character of the selected foods has been documented and traditional recipes have been recorded. Chemical analyses to determine the nutritional composition of 55 traditional foods were performed and the data were evaluated and fully documented according to EuroFIR standards. Information on food description, the recipe, component identification, sampling plan, sample handling, analytical method and performance was collected for each of the 55 investigated traditional foods. Conclusions: This common methodology for the systematic study of traditional foods will enable countries to further investigate their traditional foods and to continue to update their national food composition databases and EuroFIR’s food databank system

Web-Enabled and Improved Software Tools and Data Are Needed to Measure Nutrient Intakes and Physical Activity for Personalized Health Research123

Food intake, physical activity (PA), and genetic makeup each affect health and each factor influences the impact of the other 2 factors. Nutrigenomics describes interactions between genes and environment. Knowledge about the interplay between environment and genetics would be improved if experimental designs included measures of nutrient intake and PA. Lack of familiarity about how to analyze environmental variables and ease of access to tools and measurement instruments are 2 deterrents to these combined studies. This article describes the state of the art for measuring food intake and PA to encourage researchers to make their tools better known and more available to workers in other fields. Information presented was discussed during a workshop on this topic sponsored by the USDA, NIH, and FDA in the spring of 2009