NIH, FDA Announce New Joint Venture in Nutrition

Photo:  PANUSHOT/SHUTTERSTOCK

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and NIH have announced a new research collaboration.

With diet-related chronic diseases continually rising, it’s imperative that the FDA and NIH work closely to prioritize a better understanding of the root causes to end the diet-related chronic disease crisis and safeguard the health of America’s children.

Under the new Nutrition Regulatory Science Program, the FDA and NIH will implement and accelerate a comprehensive nutrition research agenda that will inform effective food and nutrition policy actions to help make Americans’ food and diets healthier.

The initiative will aim to address: how and why ultra-processed foods harm people’s health; whether certain food additives affect metabolic health and contribute to chronic disease; the role of maternal and infant dietary exposures on health outcomes across the lifespan.

Addressing these and other related questions will enable effective policy development and help promote transparency about the foods we eat and how those foods can impact our health.

“The FDA is focusing resources on the greatest contributors to the staggering health care crisis: chronic diseases,” said FDA Commissioner Dr. Martin Makary. “Mirroring the highly successful FDA and NIH Tobacco Regulatory Science Program, we’re bringing together scientific expertise from both agencies to transform nutrition and food-related research.”

The FDA will provide its expertise in regulatory science. NIH will provide the infrastructure for the solicitation, review and management of scientific research. The initiative will convene experts in multiple disciplines—including chronic disease, nutrition, toxicology, risk analysis, behavioral science and chemistry—with the goal of advancing nutrition and food science. 

“Nutrition has always been a priority at NIH,” said NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya. “By teaming up with the FDA, we’re taking a major step toward answering big questions about how food affects health—and turning that science into smarter, more effective policy. It’s time to tackle the chronic disease crisis head-on. That’s why NIH is making this investment alongside the FDA.”