ARS Food and Nutrition Research Briefs Issued

By Kim Kaplan
February 10, 2015

New nutrition and health findings in the latest issue of the Agricultural Research Service's (ARS) Food and Nutrition Research Briefs include research showing that about 2 percent of the cattle grazing in a pasture or eating high-energy rations in a feedlot pen, on average, may be "supershedders"—shedding high levels of pathogenic organisms such as Escherichia coli O157:H7 in their manure.

It can be found at /is/np/fnrb/fnrb0215.htm

The popular online newsletter reports discoveries from researchers at ARS laboratories nationwide.

Among other findings, the current issue reports —

• The latest update of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 27, is now available including new and updated food-nutrient profiles and a reorganized Internet "dashboard" that users see after launching the online version of the database.

• The Ossabaw pig, a heritage breed, has been proven to be an excellent model for human obesity-related research and for studying metabolic effects induced by a high-fat diet.

• A new, more precise analytical method has been developed for detecting and measuring concentrations of phytochemicals called "polyphenols" in fruit and vegetables.

ARS Food and Nutrition Research Briefs is offered with color photos and illustrations on the Web. And by clicking the "subscribe" link on the newsletter's home page, readers can sign up for either of two e-mail options: They can receive the full text of the newsletter by e-mail or simply an advisory that a new issue has been posted to the Web.

ARS is the USDA's chief intramural scientific research agency.