URBANA, Ill. – Right now it’s infant formula, but food recalls are seemingly always in the news. When recalls happen, industries and supply chains can slam to a halt, causing everything from minor inconvenience to illness to, in the case of infant formula, widespread food insecurity for the youngest in our population.

URBANA, Ill. – Sodium is an essential micronutrient, but the amount we need is small. Three slices of bread or one teaspoon of table salt will do it, and chances are your daily sodium intake is far greater. More than 90% of Americans consume too much sodium, which can lead to hypertension, high blood pressure, and increased risk of heart disease and stroke.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Six academic professionals at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign were honored this week with the Chancellor's Academic Professional Excellence award for 2022. Jessica Hartke, senior associate director of the Division of Nutritional Sciences in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, was one of them.

URBANA, Ill. – When avocados were first recognized as a nutrient-dense superfood for humans, consumption skyrocketed. Today, consumers buy and eat the fresh fruit (hello, avocado toast), purchase pre-packaged guacamole, cook with avocado oil, and more.

URBANA, Ill. – Colorectal cancer is expected to claim more than 52,000 American lives in 2022, and if this year is like most others, Black Americans will bear the brunt of the disease. To understand the disparity in context, University of Illinois researchers looked at the intersection of bile acids, gut microbes, racial identity, and neighborhood food environment in the development of colorectal cancer.

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.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A study of overweight dogs fed a reduced calorie, high-protein, high-fiber diet for 24 weeks found that the dogs’ body composition and inflammatory markers changed over time in ways that parallel the positive changes seen in humans on similar diets. The dogs achieved a healthier weight without losing too much muscle mass, and their serum triglycerides, insulin and inflammatory markers all decreased with weight loss.

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. 

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.