Water Use Stewardship in the Food System

The use of natural resources such as water in food production is a sustainability issue that continues to be on the radar of many farmers, food processors and consumers. In many regions of the world, water scarcity is on the rise as the demand for food production increases. In 2019, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that agriculture remained a major user of fresh water in the United States and that the 2017 Census of Agriculture reported that there is a total of 58 million acres of irrigated cropland in the U.S. USDA goes onto note that sustainable irrigation and water use practices are at the core of managing food production efficiency and responsible natural resource usage. What do these water saving practices in our food system entail? Let’s take a look at farm and food processing plant activities to learn more. Water and Farming Do Mix Of course, growing crops needs a notable amount of water to ensure productivity, but farmers aim not to waste any. Part of proper crop-growing and wise water use is linked to advances in irrigation techniques, which allow water to move from one location to the next. Water not absorbed into the ground for crops can collect at the low end of furrows, border strips and basins. This wastewater is also referred to as irrigation tailwater. A certain amount of tailwater runoff is needed to ensure adequate penetration of water and irrigation efficiency, but the additional tailwater can be safely reused. Another source of agricultural wastewater, albeit a bit more indirect, is runoff from centralized plant facilities processing crops harvested from the field. Both of these sources of wastewater can be reclaimed and used on neighboring farms or on the farm where it was generated. Wastewater that collects at the low end of furrows can be used for the irrigation […]

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Questions and Answers About Sugars

Think about the foods and drinks you most enjoy—do they have anything in common? Chances are, many of them contain some form and quantity of sugar. It could be naturally occurring sugars, like in fresh fruits and vegetables, or it could be the added sugars that are typically found in desserts. We are born liking sweet taste, and most people continue to enjoy the sweet taste of sugars throughout their life. Unfortunately, most Americans consume more added sugar than is recommended by health and nutrition experts. But that doesn’t mean that sugars need to be eliminated from a balanced plan for healthy eating. This article addresses common questions that many people have about sugars and their role in a healthful diet. What are sugars? Sugars are carbohydrates, one of the three macronutrients—along with dietary fat and protein—that provide us with calories. But all carbohydrates are not sugars. Sugars occur naturally in dairy, fruits, and vegetables. Sugars are also used as ingredients in many packaged foods and beverages. The most familiar sugar is sucrose (i.e., table sugar), which is a disaccharide made of two simple sugars: the monosaccharides fructose and glucose. Sucrose, fructose, and glucose are examples of sugars that are naturally occurring but are also used as added sugars. Other sugars commonly added to foods include corn syrup and high-fructose corn syrup. Why are sugars added to foods? Sugars play important roles in foods, and taste is only one of them. In addition to sweet taste, sugars provide various technical functions in food science, including contributing to a food’s color, structure, and texture; balancing acidity; controlling crystallization in candies and chocolates; providing a medium for the growth of yeast in baked goods; and preventing spoilage by binding water to reduce its activity. Are sugars safe to eat? The U.S. Food […]

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What is Choline?

Highlights Choline is an essential nutrient involved in brain and nervous system function, cell membrane support, making DNA, fat transport and metabolism. The Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Medicine has established Adequate Intakes and Tolerable Upper Intake Levels for choline, which vary depending on sex and age. Animal-based foods are rich in choline. Cruciferous vegetables, legumes and the emulsifier lecithin also provide choline. Although choline deficiency is rare, most people do not consume the recommended amounts. Pregnant and breastfeeding women have particularly high choline needs and many do not get enough. THE BASICS OF CHOLINE Choline (pronounced KOH-leen) is an essential nutrient needed for brain and nervous system function and regulation of mood and memory. It’s also critical for supporting the membranes that hold our body’s cells together, is a key player in fat transport and metabolism, and is involved in synthesis of DNA. Although choline plays a vital role in many aspects of our health, it’s less well-known than many other essential nutrients. For most people, choline intake is lower than recommended. Unlike many other nutrients, humans can produce some choline, mostly in the form of phosphatidylcholine (foss-fa-TIE-dull-KOH-leen) in the liver. However, the amount that our bodies can make isn’t enough to meet our daily needs, so getting choline from food is important. CHOLINE AND HEALTH Choline’s importance begins before birth and extends through the lifespan. Some of its important roles in human health include: Early brain development. Maternal nutrition is critical for proper growth and development of children, both during pregnancy and while breastfeeding. When pregnant women consume choline, it is passed on to the developing baby through their interconnected bloodstreams, and it’s also passed to infants through breast milk. An increasing amount of research supports that exposure to choline during development and after […]

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What is the Vegan Diet?

Vegan and vegetarian diets appear to be among the top food trends, but there is evidence that some people have been eating a predominantly plant-based or vegetarian diet for centuries. However, it wasn’t until 1944 that the term “vegan” was coined.

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The Healthy Dietary Patterns Highlighted in the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans

We recently summarized the 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), which were released in December 2020. In case you missed that article, here is a refresher: The DGA provide science-based advice on what to eat and drink to promote health, reduce the risk for chronic disease and meet daily nutrient needs. The DGA are the foundation of federal food, nutrition and health policies and programs, and they have been revised every five years since 1980. The 2020–2025 DGA provide four overarching guidelines that encourage healthy eating patterns at each stage of life, stressing that many individuals will need to make shifts in their food and beverage choices to achieve a healthy eating pattern: These guidelines are not intended to be overly prescriptive; rather, they are meant to be customized based on an individual’s personal preferences and needs. This article focuses on the first guideline—following a healthy eating pattern at every stage of life—and explores the three recommended eating patterns that are highlighted in the DGA. The Importance of Healthy Dietary Patterns A hallmark of the DGA is the importance placed on healthy dietary patterns as a whole—rather than on individual nutrients or foods in isolation. But what is a dietary pattern? A dietary pattern is the combination of foods and beverages consumed over the course of any given day, week, or year. As a result, dietary patterns can be more closely associated with overall health status and disease risk than consumption of individual foods or nutrients. According to the DGA, a healthy dietary pattern consists of nutrient-dense forms of foods and beverages across all food groups, in recommended amounts, and within calorie limits. As with the previous version, the 2020–2025 DGA provide examples of three dietary patterns that align with DGA recommendations; they are defined as Healthy U.S.-Style, Healthy Vegetarian […]

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Portion Size

Let’s get wise on portion size! The IFIC Portion Size Toolkit helps make the concepts of serving size versus portion size clear and approachable to support more informed decision making about food and nutrition.

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A Registered Dietitian’s Perspective On Dietary Guidance, Stress & Wellbeing: Principles, Priorities & Practice

Nutrition has moved far beyond the exam room and the classroom. Today, it shows up everywhere —on social media, in policy debates, at the grocery store, and at the dinner table. At the same time, many Americans are navigating unprecedented stress, rising food costs, challenging health priorities, and a steady stream of conflicting nutrition information. In this environment, dietary guidance is no longer just about what to eat; it is increasingly intertwined with overall wellness and competing priorities. In the final timed release of the 2025 IFIC Food & Health Survey: A Focus On Wellbeing & Body Weight, we turn our attention to wellbeing. While approximately half of Americans describe their health as excellent or very good, this share has steadily declined since 2012. At the same time, self-reported stress levels have escalated since 2022, with about two-thirds of respondents saying they have been very or somewhat stressed in the past six months. Financial concerns —both with the broader economy and personal finances —top the list of contributors of stress, followed by health and medical issues and politics. Against the backdrop of mounting health and financial pressure, January 2026 ushered in heightened public discourse around nutrition. As many Americans were recovering from holiday celebrations and resetting routines for the new year, the 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) were released. And this edition marked a clear departure from previous iterations.   The DGA differed in several notable ways: From Plate To Pyramid: Implications For Consumer Understanding & Wellbeing Although the DGA were not historically developed to target consumers, 44% of respondents in the 2025 IFIC Food & Health Survey report knowing at least a fair amount about them. In contrast, MyPlate enjoys (or did enjoy) substantially higher recognition: 77% of Americans recognize the icon, and the proportion who say they […]

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2013 IFIC Food & Health Survey

The 2013 Food & Health Survey: Consumer Attitudes toward Food Safety, Nutrition & Health, commissioned by the International Food Information Council Foundation, is the eighth annual national quantitative study designed to gain insights from Americans on important food safety, nutrition and health-related topics. The research provides the opportunity to better understand how Americans view their own diets in relation to others, their efforts to improve them, how they balance diet and exercise, their knowledge of food ingredients and components, their beliefs when it comes to food safety, and their behaviors across all of these fronts.    The International Food Information Council Foundation 2013 Food & Health Survey was conducted by Mathew Greenwald & Associates of Washington, D.C. This 28 minute, web-based survey was fielded in April 2013. The survey respondents were reflective of the demographics of the U.S. population, and while the sample was very close to the target demographics, the data were weighted to match the demographics of the U.S. population. This year, the weighting adjustments were very minor.  This Survey offers the important voice and insights of the consumer for health professionals, government officials, educators and other interested individuals who seek to improve the lives and health of Americans.    The vast majority of Americans believe it’s possible to have a great deal of control over their level of physical activity, the healthfulness of their diet and their weight, yet far fewer are actually taking that control. Ninety percent of consumers say it’s possible to have “a great deal” or “complete” control over their physical activity, yet only 65 percent are actually trying to take that same amount of control in their own lives—a 25-point “control gap.” In terms of the healthfulness of their diet, there is a 20-point gap (88% versus 68%), and regarding their weight, the […]

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