URBANA, Ill. – March is National Nutrition Month, and dietetics and nutrition students and organizations across the University of Illinois campus use this opportunity to share their passion with the community.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Although studies suggest that many cancer patients experience food insecurity, few oncology dietitians routinely ask them if they are having problems affording or obtaining food, new research has found.

Despite awareness that many cancer patients are food insecure, most of the 41 registered dietitian nutritionists interviewed by researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign said they did not use a validated tool to screen patients for it.

This week’s 5 Questions Friday features Benjamin Cohen, an agricultural and consumer economics student with a focus on food systems and public policy.

What year are you, and how did you choose your ACES major?

URBANA, Ill. – Committed chocoholics, be warned. A health-robbing heavy metal, cadmium, lurks in the velvety recesses of your favorite indulgence.

URBANA, Ill. – Food insecurity in low-income countries is on the rise as climate variation and economic shocks, including the COVID-19 pandemic, take their toll. Accurately predicting when and where hunger crises occur is critical to effective humanitarian aid response. A new study from the University of Illinois explores how machine learning can help improve forecasting when used appropriately. 

URBANA, Ill. – Fruit and vegetable consumption is an important part of a healthy diet. But low-income families face unique obstacles to healthy eating, including higher cost of fresh foods and limited resources for cooking. 

An international audience joined Illinois Extension and ACES International for the Sixth International Food Security Symposium, “Comparative Extension Models: Perspectives from the Field" on Oct. 11-12, 2021.

URBANA, Ill. – Plant-based burgers often promise protein comparable to their animal-based counterparts, but the way protein is expressed on current nutrition labels – a single generic value expressed in grams – can be misleading. That’s because the human body does not use “protein” per se. Instead, it needs essential amino acids, which are present in proteins, but the concentration and digestibility of amino acids are different among protein sources.

URBANA, Ill. ­– Dried snack foods such as apple chips are a convenient alternative to fresh fruit, providing longer shelf life and easier storage. Consumers increasingly demand product variety, so companies coat such snack foods with fruit and vegetable powders to enhance taste and sensory appeal.

URBANA, Ill. – A University of Illinois research team plans to develop a food education curriculum for low-income families, focusing on food management and cooking strategies for better nutrition and less waste. The project is part of a $15 million, five-year grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) that brings together partners from 14 institutions in the first national academic research network on wasted food.