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About the Food and Nutrition Board
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The Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) is a unit of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), part of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). The NAS is a private, nonprofit corporation created by an Act of Congress, with a charter signed in 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln. The IOM, chartered under the NAS in 1970, acts as an adviser to the federal government on issues of medical care, research, and education. The IOM secures the services of eminent members of appropriate professions to examine policy matters pertaining to the public's health and occasionally undertakes studies on its own initiative.
The FNB is a multidisciplinary group of biomedical scientists with expertise in various aspects of nutrition, food science, biochemistry, medicine, public health, epidemiology, food toxicology, and food safety. Since its inception, the Board has used science to make recommendations to improve food quality and safety, thereby promoting public health and preventing diet-related diseases.
The Board receives funding from federal agencies (such as FDA, USDA, NIH, and CDC) and others to evaluate issues concerning food and nutrition, initiates studies that are later assigned to standing or ad hoc Board committees, and oversees the work of these committees. The Board's widely disseminated reports have provided government, industry, academia, and the general public with the best available information and recommendations pertaining to the diverse issues of food safety, food security, and nutrition. Indeed, the Board's studies have served as the basis for national policy by being thorough, balanced, and objective.
The FNB has identified three critical areas for its work:
food, nutrition, and health
food safety, quality, and adequacy
international food and nutrition
With the quickening pace of technological changes in our food supply and increasing understanding of how food affects our health, it is imperative to examine and evaluate the complex interrelationships of food safety and nutrition issues. National policy makers need advice on nutrition and food science matters to ensure that their decisions are supported with the best scientific analysis. As a division of the IOM, a distinguished source of health policy guidance for the nation, the FNB is in an excellent position to examine and provide guidance on issues of food and health today and into the 21st century.
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Last Updated: 5/16/2003, 12:41 PM
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