Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Houston, Texas » Children's Nutrition Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #354435
Title: How food science is guided by research

Author
item O'NEIL, CAROL - Louisiana State University Agcenter
item NICKLAS, THERESA - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)
item EDELSTEIN, SARI - Simmons College

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/26/2017
Publication Date: 1/26/2018
Citation: O'Neil, C.E., Nicklas, T.A., Edelstein, S. 2018. How food science is guided by research. In: Edelstein, S. editor. Food Science an Ecological Approach, 2nd edition. Boston, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. p 51-96.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Food science and nutrition are complementary fields that examine all aspects of food, diet, health, and disease. Nutrition researchers have determined that a poor diet can lead to deficiency diseases, such as rickets or scurvy, and to chronic conditions and diseases, such as obesity, cardiovascular disease (CVD), type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, and cancer. Diets associated with these diseases are high in saturated fatty acids, trans fats, sugar, and sodium, or low in essential nutrients such as dietary fiber, calcium, vitamin D, and potassium. Although nutritionists recommend specific amounts of foods and nutrients to optimize health, food scientists apply these recommendations to develop products that can provide optimal amounts of these nutrients. These symbiotic fields share a common literature, research methods, and study designs. This chapter explains how to evaluate the literature in either field and discusses how this research is used to formulate policy.