Recently a group of our nutritionists, scientists and technology transfer staff from the Quadram Institute visited the United States to share knowledge and build collaborations with global nutrition experts. Here our Research Scientist Dr Liangzi Zhang explains more.

“International collaboration is important to improve health through nutrition.

In March 2023, I joined Dr Maria Traka, deputy Head of our Food & Nutrition National Bioscience Research Infrastructure (F&N NBRI) together with Professor Martin Warren’s group in a visit to the US to attend the 2023 “UC Davis/Quadram Collaboration on Biofortification, B12, and More: from Nutrition to Food Biotechnology”.

Biofortification describes the process of improving the nutrition of plant-based foods.

The two-day conference focused on biofortification was held at University of California, Davis campus and brought us together with researchers, clinicians and nutritionists from UC Davis as well as a small number of companies and investors together with and the Innovation Institute for Food & Health at the University of California.

Public and planetary health

The first day of the conference focused on health, nutrition and biofortification.

We learnt about the concept of Personalised Public Health from Professor Sean Adams, Vice Chair for Basic Research at UC Davis. This concept is tailoring public health interventions to the individual characteristics and needs of a person, including their unique genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors.

Professor Adams explained this concept by focussing on the variation in human physiological responses to food.

Then Dr Maria Traka and I gave a talk on how we provide and update data and knowledge on food composition and intake in the UK, to deliver nutritional policy and high-quality science through the F&N NBRI based here at the Quadram Institute.

Vitamin B12

In our talk, Maria and I explored the balance between human and planetary health, using the example of our research into vitamin B12 in milk.

Vitamin B12 is an essential micronutrient important for our health. It’s a topic that researchers in Professor Martin Warren’s group study too.

At the F&N-NBRI and together with the Warren group we have conducted research projects on the nutritional quality of plant-based food products and British cow milk.

Milk is currently the main source of vitamin B12 for the UK population. We found that the levels of vitamin B12 in cow milk are lower than 20 years ago and the population intake of B12 is even more concerning as more people switch to plant-based, which can lack vitamin B12.

This conference provided an ideal platform to share our findings with the vitamin B12 community and forge connections with food science experts, technology transfer experts, interested companies and investors.

The day also included presentations on vitamin B12 and neurological complications by experts from the University of California, San Francisco, and vitamin B12 as a health barometer and microbial modulator from UC Berkeley.

We ended the first day with a collective discussion about the need for vitamin B12 fortification and current ways we can increase vitamin B12 in foods through biofortification.

Researchers from the Warren Group, F&N NBRI and Business Development team at the Biofortification Collaboration meeting

Innovation and Technology

On the second day, the discussions centered around the potential of new technology and data science in understanding food, nutrition, and the environment.

Dr Danielle LeMay from USDA ARS Western Health and Nutrition Research Center explored the significant advancements that Artificial Intelligence (AI) can bring to the field of food and nutrition research. She highlighted how AI can facilitate precise and data-driven approaches in understanding the intricate relationships between diet, health, and diseases.

We learnt about a new initiative called “the Periodic Table of Food”. The initiative aims to create a worldwide system that offers tools, data, and training to catalogue the biomolecular composition of the global food supply.

Dr Mariana Barboza and Professor Bruce German from UC Davis explained how such a comprehensive database could transform the agriculture, food, and health industries.

Insight from industry

The conference was not only a platform for research presentations but also an opportunity for industry partners like Meati and TurtleTree to share their visions on commercialising new plant-based products developed from precision fermentation technology.

Following the conference, we took part in honey tasting event organized by Amina Harris, Ph.D., Director of Honey and Pollination Center. This event provided a unique sensory experience, allowing us to fully immerse ourselves in the aroma, flavor, texture, and color of three beautiful local honeys.

The conference was a resounding success, featuring a range of discussion not only on the topic of biofortification and vitamin B12, but also broader conversations surrounding technology, food systems, and the health of both people and the planet.

Forging future collaborations

For us in the UK’s Food and Nutritional National Bioscience Research Infrastructure (F&N NBRI) team, the conference allowed us to establish ties with the FoodData Central (FDC), the USDA’s online integrated food and nutrient data system.

We visited the FDC in person, in Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, Maryland where we had two days of discussions and saw their Human Studies Facility too.

Together, we discussed the research and methodology development of analysing components within food, including plant bioactives.

During our visit we were struck by the differences in research focus between FDC in the US and F&N-NBRI here in the UK.

The FDC places a greater emphasis on fundamental research, given their abundant resources and expertise. In contrast, our team at F&N-NBRI is more focused on adapting our data for practical use and exploring its interdisciplinary applications beyond nutritional information.

With these divergent approaches, we found the opportunity to share ideas and learn from each other extremely valuable. We were able to identify common interests and explore potential areas for collaboration that could benefit both our organisations.”