Barbara Burlingame

Sustainable Intensification in Agriculture: Premises and Policies

Clearer understanding is needed of the premises underlying SI and how it relates to food-system priorities. Food security is high on the global policy agenda. Demand for food is increasing as populations grow and gain wealth to purchase more varied and resource-intensive diets. There is increased competition for land, water, energy, and other inputs into food production. Climate change poses challenges to agriculture, particularly in developing countries (1), and many current farming practices damage the environment and are a major source of greenhouse gases (GHG). In an increasingly globalized world, food insecurity in one region can have widespread political and economic ramifications (2).

Analysis of food composition data on rice from a plant genetic resources perspective

Abstract Rice accounts for 21, 14 and 2% of global energy, protein and fat supply, respectively. There are thousands of different rice varieties; some have been in the diet for centuries, while others are new hybrids promoted for qualities such as high yield and drought and disease resistance. Little is known about the nutrient composition of many of the worlds rice varieties. This paper investigates the literature on nutrient composition of rice varieties. Standardization of data to 100 g samples of unpolished rice (dry matter basis), showed intra-varietal ranges of; 9 g protein, 5.65 mg iron, 3.34 mg zinc, 1.6 mg thiamin, 0.392 mg riboflavin and 7.2 mg niacin. Currently, several research institutions are working toward improving the nutrient content of rice through greater utilization of rice genetic resources. The results section discusses in detail the magnitude of intra-varietal differences and highlights practical applications of genetic diversity in rice.

Composition of milk from minor dairy animals and buffalo breeds: a biodiversity perspective

A comprehensive review is presented of the nutrient composition for buffalo, mare, and dromedary camel milks at the level of breed, and species-level data for yak, mithun, musk ox, donkey, Bactrian camel, llama, alpaca, reindeer and moose milks. Average values of nutrients were calculated and compared. Interspecies values (g 100 g⁻¹) were 0.7-16.1 for total fat, 1.6-10.5 for protein, 2.6-6.6 for lactose, and 67.9-90.8 for water. Reindeer and moose milks had the highest fat and protein concentrations and the lowest lactose contents. Mare and donkey milks had the lowest protein and fat contents, in addition to showing the most appropriate fatty acid profile for human nutrition. Dromedary camel milk was most similar to cow milk in proximate composition. Moose milk was the richest in minerals, having values as high as 358 mg 100 g⁻¹ for calcium, 158 mg 100 g⁻¹ for sodium and 150 mg 100 g⁻¹ for phosphorus. Interbreed differences of 4 g 100 g⁻¹ were observed in total fat in buffalo, yak, mare and dromedary camel milks. Large interbreed differences were also present in the mineral contents in mare, buffalo and dromedary camel milks. By bringing together these compositional data, we hope to usefully widen the biodiversity knowledge base, which may contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of milk from underutilized dairy breeds and species, and to improved food and nutrition security, particularly in developing countries.

Fats and Fatty Acids in Human Nutrition: Introduction

a Nutrition and Consumer Protection Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy; b Department of Nutrition for Health and Development, World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva, Switzerland; c Instituto de Nutricion y Tecnologia de los Alimentos (INTA), Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile; d Nutrition and Public Health Intervention Research Unit, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK; e Consultant, Nutrition and Consumer Protection Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy

Protein quality evaluation twenty years after the introduction of the protein digestibility corrected amino acid score method.

In 1989 the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on Protein Quality Evaluation recommended the use of the Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS) method for evaluating protein quality. In calculating PDCAAS, the limiting amino acid score (i.e., ratio of first limiting amino acid in a gram of target food to that in a reference protein or requirement) is multiplied by protein digestibility. The PDCAAS method has now been in use for 20 years. Research emerging during this time has provided useful data on various aspects of protein quality evaluation that has made a review of the current methods used in assessing protein quality necessary. This paper provides an overview of the use of the PDCAAS method as compared to other methods and addresses some of the key challenges that remain in regards to protein quality evaluation. Furthermore, specific factors influencing protein quality including the effects of processing conditions and preparation methods are presented. Protein quality evaluation methods and recommended protein intakes currently used in different countries vis-à-vis the WHO/FAO/UNU standards are further provided. As foods are frequently consumed in complement with other foods, the significance of the PDCAAS of single protein sources may not be evident, thus, protein quality of some key food groups and challenges surrounding the calculation of the amino acid score for dietary protein mixtures are further discussed. As results from new research emerge, recommendations may need to be updated or revised to maintain relevance of methods used in calculating protein quality.

Sustainable diets: the Mediterranean diet as an example

OBJECTIVE To present the Mediterranean diet as an example of a sustainable diet, in which nutrition, biodiversity, local food production, culture and sustainability are strongly interconnected. DESIGN Review of notions and activities contributing towards the acknowledgement of the Mediterranean diet as a sustainable diet. SETTING The Mediterranean region and its populations. SUBJECTS Mediterranean populations. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS The acknowledgement of the Mediterranean diet as a sustainable diet needs the development of new cross-cutting intersectoral case studies to demonstrate further the synergies among nutrition, biodiversity and sustainability as expressed by the Mediterranean diet for the benefit of present and future generations.

Guidance for the scientific requirements for health claims related to antioxidants, oxidative damage and cardiovascular health

Abstract EFSA asked the Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA) to update the guidance on the scientific requirements for health claims related to antioxidants, oxidative damage and cardiovascular health published in 2011. The update takes into accounts experiences gained with evaluation of additional health claim applications related to antioxidants, oxidative damage and cardiovascular health, and the information collected from a Grant launched in 2014. This guidance is intended to assist applicants in preparing applications for the authorisation of health claims related to the antioxidants, oxidative damage and cardiovascular health. The document was subject to public consultation (from 12 July to 3 September 2017). This document supersedes the guidance on the scientific requirements for health claims related to antioxidants, oxidative damage and cardiovascular health published in 2011. It is intended that the guidance will be further updated as appropriate in the light of experience gained from the evaluation of health claims.

Food security and sustainability: can one exist without the other?

OBJECTIVE To position the concept of sustainability within the context of food security. DESIGN An overview of the interrelationships between food security and sustainability based on a non-systematic literature review and informed discussions based principally on a quasi-historical approach from meetings and reports. SETTING International and global food security and nutrition. RESULTS The Rome Declaration on World Food Security in 1996 defined its three basic dimensions as: availability, accessibility and utilization, with a focus on nutritional well-being. It also stressed the importance of sustainable management of natural resources and the elimination of unsustainable patterns of food consumption and production. In 2009, at the World Summit on Food Security, the concept of stability/vulnerability was added as the short-term time indicator of the ability of food systems to withstand shocks, whether natural or man-made, as part of the Five Rome Principles for Sustainable Global Food Security. More recently, intergovernmental processes have emphasized the importance of sustainability to preserve the environment, natural resources and agro-ecosystems (and thus the overlying social system), as well as the importance of food security as part of sustainability and vice versa. CONCLUSIONS Sustainability should be considered as part of the long-term time dimension in the assessment of food security. From such a perspective the concept of sustainable diets can play a key role as a goal and a way of maintaining nutritional well-being and health, while ensuring the sustainability for future food security. Without integrating sustainability as an explicit (fifth?) dimension of food security, todays policies and programmes could become the very cause of increased food insecurity in the future.

FAO/INFOODS food composition database for biodiversity.

Nutrient content can vary as much between different varieties of the same foods, as they do among different foods. Knowledge of varietal differences can therefore mean the difference between nutrient adequacy and inadequacy. The FAO/INFOODS food composition database for biodiversity has been developed with analytical data for foods described at the level of variety, cultivar and breed, and for underutilized and wild foods. It contains 6411 food entries and values for 451 components together with the bibliographic references and other information. The database is in MS Excel format and can be downloaded free-of-charge from the INFOODS website http://www.fao.org/infoods/biodiversity/index_en.stm. It is intended to annually publish new editions, making these data available for national and regional food composition databases. This database could be used to raise the awareness, promote and investigate food biodiversity and help to better estimate nutrient intakes.

Goals in Nutrition Science 2015–2020

1 Office of Energetics and Nutrition Obesity Research Center, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA, 2 Section on Statistical Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA, 3 Department of Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA, 4 Department of Biostatistics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA, 5 Nutritional Immunology and Molecular Medicine Laboratory, Virginia Bioinformatics Institute, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA, 6 Deakin University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia, 7 American University of Rome, Rome, Italy, 8 Nestlé Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland, 9 Organization for Interdisciplinary Research Projects, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, 10 École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, 11 Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden, 12 Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands, 13 Faculty of Science, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands, 14 North American Branch of International Life Sciences Institute, Washington, DC, USA, 15 Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany, 16 Nestlé Institute of Health Sciences SA, Lausanne, Switzerland, 17 Division of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, 18 Laboratory of Neuroenergetics and Cellular Dynamics, Brain Mind Institute, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, 19 Department of Health Services Administration, Nutrition Obesity Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA, 20 Department of Psychology, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria, 21 Analytical Food Chemistry, Technische Universität München, Freising, Germany, 22 Research Unit INSIDE, Institute for Health and Behaviour, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Luxembourg