Scientists in Sweden have for the first time created a fully wheat-based gel made entirely from wheat bran fiber and wheat gluten protein—an advance that could turn one of the grain industry’s least valued by products into a nutritious, sustainable ingredient in food products.

Efforts to prevent pathogenic contaminations such as salmonella in dry food processing facilities will take a step forward through new research from the University of Massachusetts Amherst describing a novel chemical mixture for sanitation in low-moisture environments.

The combined Mediterranean and blood pressure lowering diet (MIND) may slow the structural changes related to brain ageing, finds research published online in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry. 

New study - Excess fat stored around the waist (belly weight or visceral fat), indicated by measuring waist size, was more strongly associated with heart failure risk than body mass index (BMI).

Exercise science assistant professor Elizabeth Adams is using her expertise in healthy dietary patterns among children and families to lead a five-year study focused on improving nutrition through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). With support from a $3.2 million National Institutes of Health grant, Adams is working to increase SNAP recipients’ use of fruit and vegetable incentive programs to improve long-term wellness and reduce health care costs.

Health promotion, education, and behavior assistant professor Leila Larson conducts her nutrition-focused maternal and child health research all over the world, and South Carolinians will soon benefit from her expertise. With funding from the USC Collaborative for Health Equity Research (CHEER), an equity-driven pilot project program recently established by the USC Office of the Provost, Larson has launched a new study focused on pica (i.e., the craving and consumption of non-food items, like ice, and sometimes earth, like clay or soil).