URBANA, Ill. — A new study in rats suggests that caffeine may offset some of the negative effects of an obesogenic diet by reducing the storage of lipids in fat cells and limiting weight gain and the production of triglycerides. Read more from the Illinois News Bureau.

URBANA, Ill. — At least 90% of head and neck cancer patients develop symptoms that affect their ability or desire to eat, because of either the tumor itself or the surgery or radiation used to treat it. These problems, called nutrition impact symptoms, have wide-ranging negative effects on patients’ physical and mental health and quality of life.

The newly named director of the first ever Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Safety (FSIL), Haley Oliver, engaged her audience by asking a question everyone had to answer in the affirmative: “Have you ever had diarrhea?”

Usually an uncomfortable inconvenience for most of us in the developed world, foodborne illnesses such as Norovirus, salmonellosis, campylobacteriosis, and toxoplasmosis kill 420,000 people annually. Thus, Oliver’s work puts food safety at the core of food security.  

URBANA, Ill. – Many low-income countries have turned to mass food fortification programs to address nutrient deficiencies in their populations. But many of these programs lack the resources needed to determine if the appropriate amount of nutrients is consistently present in those food products.

A team of University of Illinois researchers has developed an affordable, reliable paper-based sensor that works with a cellphone app – also developed at U of I – to detect levels of iron in fortified food products.

URBANA, Ill. – When coffee beans are processed and roasted the husk and silverskin of the bean are removed and unused, and often are left behind in fields by coffee producers.

Food science and human nutrition researchers at the University of Illinois are interested in the potential of inflammation-fighting compounds found in the silverskin and husk of coffee beans, not only for their benefits in alleviating chronic disease, but also in adding value to would-be “waste” products from the coffee processing industry.

URBANA, Ill. – A new extrusion line installation at the University of Illinois will usher in new research capabilities and industry partnerships. The equipment is housed in the Integrated Bioprocessing Research Laboratory (IBRL), in partnership with the Food Science and Human Nutrition Pilot Processing Plant (FSHN-PPP) in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES).

URBANA, Ill. - Join the nation's foremost experts in human nutrition, obesity research, and child and family health at the Food and Family Conference 2019 on Sept. 26, at the University Club of Chicago.

The conference is hosted by the Family Resiliency Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in partnership with the Christopher Family Foundation.

URBANA, Ill. – This fall, 15 new faculty members join the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois. Their expertise will add to the existing strengths in six academic departments, college administrative units, and University of Illinois Extension, which is housed in the college.

URBANA, Ill. – In the United States, a majority of children exceed the recommended amount of empty calories in their diets, and fail to meet the recommendation for fruit and vegetables—especially dark green vegetables. Practitioners look to intervention programs that could help children develop better dietary habits.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Scientists may have discovered more reasons to love chocolate. A new study by researchers at the University of Illinois suggests that three of the phenolic compounds in cocoa bean shells have powerful effects on the fat and immune cells in mice, potentially reversing the chronic inflammation and insulin resistance associated with obesity. Read more.