Foodomics for personalized nutrition: how far are we?

Role of precision nutrition in improving military performance

Graphical abstract [Formula: see text] Role of precision nutrition in improving military performance.

GeNuIne (gene-nutrient interactions) Collaboration: towards implementing multi-ethnic population-based nutrigenetic studies of vitamin B12 and D deficiencies and metabolic diseases

Gene-nutrient interactions (GeNuIne) collaboration, a large-scale collaborative project, has been initiated to investigate the impact of gene-nutrient interactions on cardiometabolic diseases using population-based studies from ethnically diverse populations. In this project, the relationship between deficiencies of vitamins B12 and D, and metabolic diseases was explored using a nutrigenetic approach. A genetic risk score (GRS) analysis was used to examine the combined effect of several genetic variations that have been shown to be associated with metabolic diseases and vitamin B12 and D deficiencies, respectively. In Sri Lankan, Indonesian and Brazilian populations, those carrying a high B12-GRS had an increased risk of metabolic diseases under the influence of dietary protein, fibre and carbohydrate intakes, respectively; however, in Asian Indians, genetically instrumented metabolic disease risk showed a significant association with low vitamin B12 status. With regards to nutrigenetic studies on vitamin D status, although high metabolic-GRS showed an interaction with dietary carbohydrate intake on vitamin D status, the study in Indonesian women demonstrated a vitamin D GRS-carbohydrate interaction on body fat percentage. In summary, these nutrigenetic studies from multiple ethnic groups have provided evidence for the influence of the dietary factors on the relationship between vitamin B12/D deficiency and metabolic outcomes. Furthermore, these studies highlight the existence of genetic heterogeneity in gene-diet interactions across ethnically diverse populations, which further implicates the significance of personalised dietary approaches for the prevention of these micronutrient deficiencies and metabolic diseases.

A nutrigenetics approach to study the impact of genetic and lifestyle factors on cardiometabolic traits in various ethnic groups: findings from the GeNuIne Collaboration

Several studies on gene-diet interactions (nutrigenetics) have been performed in western populations; however, there are only a few studies to date in lower middle-income countries (LMIC). A large-scale collaborative project called gene-nutrient interactions (GeNuIne) Collaboration, the main objective of which is to investigate the effect of GeNuIne on cardiometabolic traits using population-based studies from various ethnic groups, has been initiated at the University of Reading, UK. While South Asians with higher genetic risk score (GRS) showed a higher risk of obesity in response to a high-carbohydrate diet, South East and Western Asian populations with higher GRS showed an increased risk of central obesity in response to a high-protein diet. The paper also provides a summary of other gene-diet interaction analyses that were performed in LMIC as part of this collaborative project and gives an overview of how these nutrigenetic findings can be translated to personalised and public health approaches for the prevention of cardiometabolic diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and CVD.

Manufacturing personalized food for people uniqueness. An overview from traditional to emerging technologies

Personalized nutrition means that we are unique in the way to absorb and to metabolize nutrients as a consequence of our genetic profile and the microbiome that we host in the gut. With the terminology of Personalized Food Manufacturing we want not only to stress the idea of the capability to manufacture food meeting our unique nutritional needs but - based on the idea that eating is a global experience - also to broad this to meet additional personal requirements and expectations, i.e. taste, texture, color, aspect, etc. To address this aim, traditional and advances technologies will have to be employed in new ways and new technological solutions will have to be implemented. All these considerations motivated our paper by which we want to explore and to discuss the technological options having the potential to produce personalized food. After pointing out the main diet styles, firstly we have analyzed the modern approaches of agricultural and animal nutrition in use to manufacture food for narrow group of consumers. Secondly, we have explored emerging technologies at disposal employable to manufacture customized food that meet our uniqueness. Finally the most important market products belonging in the sector of personalized food production have been considered.

Use of Foodomics for Control of Food Processing and Assessing of Food Safety

Food chain, food safety, and food-processing sectors face new challenges due to globalization of food chain and changes in the modern consumer preferences. In addition, gradually increasing microbial resistance, changes in climate, and human errors in food handling remain a pending barrier for the efficient global food safety management. Consequently, a need for development, validation, and implementation of rapid, sensitive, and accurate methods for assessment of food safety often termed as foodomics methods is required. Even though, the growing role of these high-throughput foodomic methods based on genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic techniques has yet to be completely acknowledged by the regulatory agencies and bodies. The sensitivity and accuracy of these methods are superior to previously used standard analytical procedures and new methods are suitable to address a number of novel requirements posed by the food production sector and global food market.

Towards a Universal Approach Based on Omics Technologies for the Quality Control of Food

In the last decades, food science has greatly developed, turning from the consideration of food as mere source of energy to a growing awareness on its importance for health and particularly in reducing the risk of diseases. Such vision led to an increasing attention towards the origin and quality of raw materials as well as their derived food products. The continuous advance in molecular biology allowed setting up efficient and universal omics tools to unequivocally identify the origin of food items and their traceability. In this review, we considered the application of a genomics approach known as DNA barcoding in characterizing the composition of foodstuffs and its traceability along the food supply chain. Moreover, metabolomics analytical strategies based on Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and Mass Spectroscopy (MS) were discussed as they also work well in evaluating food quality. The combination of both approaches allows us to define a sort of molecular labelling of food that is easily understandable by the operators involved in the food sector: producers, distributors, and consumers. Current technologies based on digital information systems such as web platforms and smartphone apps can facilitate the adoption of such molecular labelling.