"The safety of sodium reduction in the food supply: A cross-discipline balancing act"-Workshop proceedings.

This workshop, jointly presented by the ILSI North America Technical Committees on Food Microbiology and Sodium, aimed to provide greater knowledge and appreciation of the opportunities and challenges facing the food industry in answering the public health community's call to reduce sodium levels in the food supply. One major challenge is finding effective substitutes for the various antimicrobial and functional roles that sodium plays across different food categories. Sodium plays a critical role in retarding the growth of pathogens and food spoilage bacteria.

Pairing nuts and dried fruit for cardiometabolic health.

Certain dietary patterns, in which fruits and nuts are featured prominently, reduce risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. However, estimated fruit consumption historically in the U.S.

Overcoming consumer inertia to dietary guidance.

Despite 35 y of dietary guidance, there has been no substantial shift in consumer compliance. Consumers report that they seek information on nutrition and healthy eating, but most are not paying attention to dietary recommendations. For guidance to be effective, it must be realistic.

Developing a standard definition of whole-grain foods for dietary recommendations: summary report of a multidisciplinary expert roundtable discussion.

Although the term "whole grain" is well defined, there has been no universal standard of what constitutes a "whole-grain food," creating challenges for researchers, the food industry, regulatory authorities, and consumers around the world. As part of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the U.S.

Strategies to optimize the impact of nutritional surveys and epidemiological studies.

The development of nutrition and health guidelines and policies requires reliable scientific information. Unfortunately, theoretical considerations and empirical evidence indicate that a large percentage of science-based claims rely on studies that fail to replicate. The session "Strategies to Optimize the Impact of Nutrition Surveys and Epidemiological Studies" focused on the elements of design, interpretation, and communication of nutritional surveys and epidemiological studies to enhance and encourage the production of reliable, objective evidence for use in developing dietary guidance for the public.

Whole grains and health: from theory to practice--highlights of The Grains for Health Foundation's Whole Grains Summit 2012.

The Grains for Health Foundation's Whole Grains Summit, held May 19-22, 2012 in Minneapolis, was the first meeting of its kind to convene >300 scientists, educators, food technologists, grain breeders, food manufacturers, marketers, health professionals, and regulators from around the world. Its goals were to identify potential avenues for collaborative efforts and formulate new approaches to whole-grains research and health communications that support global public health and business. This paper summarizes some of the challenges and opportunities that researchers and nutrition educators face in expanding the knowledge base on whole grains and health and in translating and disseminating that knowledge to consumers.

The LDL to HDL cholesterol ratio as a valuable tool to evaluate coronary heart disease risk.

The current National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III guidelines recommend specific target levels of LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) and HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) for determining cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk and evaluating the effectiveness of lipid-lowering therapies. While there is a growing consensus that levels of apolipoprotein (apo) B and the ratio of apo B/apo A-I are more accurate predictors of CVD risk, the question has been raised as to whether it is realistic to expect patients and health professionals to switch from cholesterol-based guidelines to apolipoprotein-based guidelines. Because it will take time before apolipoprotein terminology is recognized by the general public and recommended by the NCEP Adult Treatment panel to evaluate risk, it may be more efficacious to continue adhering to the already familiar and proven measurements of the LDL-C/HDL-C ratio.