EVENTS

In 2024, Dr. Shavawn Forester presented "The EAA-9 Score: Protein Quality Designed for Action" at the RADISH conference hosted by Wageningen University. Presenting alongside Dr. Pol Grootswagers, an expert in nutrition and aging the session showcased the ideal nature of different protein quality scores and their respective appropriate uses. Dr. Forester highlighted the EAA-9 score as a practical, personalized tool for assessing protein quality and introduced the Protein Quality Hub, an open-access resource addressing gaps in protein digestibility data. These initiatives aim to advance dietary guidance, public health research, and collaboration in improving protein quality assessments.

At the 2024 EuroFIR Food Forum, Dr. Shavawn Forester and Emily Reyes presented progress on the Nutrient Institute's objective to address longstanding inconsistencies in dietary fiber terminology across disciplines with a harmonized ontology. These inconsistencies, which exist in scientific literature, regulatory frameworks, and analytical methodologies, pose challenges to advancing fiber research and its application in public health. Through collaboration with leading experts in fiber research and ontology, we have developed a framework to harmonize terminology and create a unified language that supports greater clarity and interoperability in the field.

Translating nutrition research into practical dietary advice is challenging, particularly regarding essential amino acid (EAA) requirements. The USDA introduced "Protein Ounce Equivalents" (Oz Eq) in 1992 to help consumers monitor protein intake and assist federal programs in complying with dietary guidelines. However, Oz Eq does not accurately reflect protein or EAA contents in designated “protein foods”.

Nutrient Analysis is basic to human nutrition research and practice. Nutrient databases must aim to create detailed knowledge of the chemical composition of foods at a level of precision comparable to the other aspects of precision nutrition, including anthropometry, genetics, epigenetics, and metabolomics. It has become clear that there is incomplete knowledge of the nutrient composition of foods. including incomplete and outdated information.

Nutrition data is about to undergo dramatic changes. While many scientific disciplines such as genetics, metabolomics and the microbiome have seen seismic advances in the quantity, quality and access to the data at the heart of their research, nutrition science data has lagged behind.