Under the new Nutrition Regulatory Science Program, the FDA and NIH will implement and accelerate a comprehensive nutrition research agenda that will provide critical information to inform effective food and nutrition policy actions to help make Americans’ food and diets healthier. The initiative will aim to answer questions such as:

• How and why can ultra-processed foods harm people’s health?
• How might certain food additives affect metabolic health and possibly contribute to chronic disease?
• What is the role of maternal and infant dietary exposures on health outcomes across the lifespan, including autoimmune diseases?

Answering these questions and many others will enable effective policy development and help promote the radical transparency Americans deserve about the foods they are eating and how those foods can impact their health.

The FDA will provide its critical expertise in regulatory science and NIH will provide the infrastructure for the solicitation, review and management of scientific research. The initiative will bring together experts in many disciplines—including chronic disease, nutrition, toxicology, risk analysis, behavioral science, and chemistry—all with the goal to advance the gold standard of nutrition and food science.

The FDA and NIH will work together to develop a research agenda for the Nutrition Regulatory Science Program and are committed to ensuring all research conducted under the Program is fair, independent and free of conflicts of interest.