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Facebook!The School of Nutrition and Food Sciences aims for excellence with comprehensive, integrated, and 21st century education, scholarship, and outreach. Food science professionals train students in the quality, processing, and safety of foods for the multibillion dollar food industry. Nutrition professionals provide training in nutrition science, community nutrition, and clinical nutrition with a focus on improving health and well-being of all citizens and populations.
Scholarly and educational programs at the undergraduate and graduate level integrate the basic and applied sciences with outreach.
Our Mission
The mission of the SNFS is to prepare future professionals and support the community through discovery, didactic and experiential teaching and learning, and the development of services and products that improve the health and wellbeing of individuals, families, and communities in a complex and changing society, and to assist local, national and global food industries.
Academic Calendar
- Link to LSU Academic Calendars
NOTE: changes have been made for missed class time due to ice storm - -- 6 March 2021 - Saturday: Make-up day for Monday , 15 Feb 2021 (Ice Storm)
- -- 12 March 2021 - Friday: Make-up day for Friday, 19 Feb 2021 (Ice Storm)
- -- 25 March 2021 - Thursday: Make-up day for Thursday, 118 Feb 2021 (Ice Storm)
- -- 28 Mar 2021 - Sunday: Course scheduling for fall semester and Wintersession begins, 5:00 p.m.
- -- 10 April 2021 - Saturday: Make-up day for Wednesday, 17 Feb 2021 (Ice Storm)
- -- 23 April 2021 - Friday: Final date for dropping courses, 4:30 p.m., deadline. [Note change of date]. Click the link for more information rgarding 'W' grades for Spring 2021 semester.
LSU COVID-19 Updates & Information
Save the Dates
Webinar Series:
Packaging, Processed Foods, & Innovation
Eating Well, Eating Sustainably
Hear about global food security and innovations in food processing and packaging impact on sustainability and reduced food waste. Hear about the complexities of ingredient sourcing and new product innovation.
Participate in facilitated discussions.
For more information see the Packaging, Processed Foods, & Innovation page.
Download Link: Series Informamtion PDF
- Food Packaging & Sustainability
- Download link: PDF
- Diana Maya
- March 4, 1:30-3:30
- Kuraray America
- Active & Intelligent Packaging to Reduce Food Waste
- Download link: PDF
- Claire Sand
- March 30, 4:30-5:50
- Packaging, Technology & Research
- Beverages 101: Ingredients & Product Development
- Download link: PDF
- Cathy Culver
- April 8, 1:30-3:30
- Pepsi-Co R&D
Attend by Zoom:
Contact Dr. Louise Wicker at lwicker@agcenter.lsu.edu for the zoom link to the webinars.
For more information:
https://www.lsu.edu/departments/nfs/
lwicker@agcenter.lsu.edu
LSU AgCenter
School of Nutrition and Food Sciences
NFS Training & Certification
- Due to COVID-19 restrictions, no in-person workshops are currently scheduled. An updated schedule will be announced as restrictions are lifted.
Upcoming Workshops: (pending appropriate COVID-19 Phase restrictions)
- AFDO Sanitation Control Procedures (SCP) For Fish and Fishery Products - Next Course: TBD
- AFDO Basic Seafood HACCP Training - Next Course: TBD
- IHA Meat and Poultry HACCP - TBD
News
AgCenter scientist exploring how diet, gut health affect COVID-19 severity
(02/26/21) BATON ROUGE, La. — An LSU AgCenter researcher wants to find out whether eating a plant-based diet and having a healthy gut can reduce the severity of a COVID-19 infection.
Jack Losso, a professor in the School of Nutrition and Food Sciences, has long been intrigued by the links between what people eat and how it affects their health. When he noticed that coronavirus infection and death rates are lower in areas where people tend to have more plant-based diets, he knew he wanted to study the correlation further.
“When you take populations that are relying on plants for a lot for their diet, the rate of infections and death is very low,” Losso said.
He pointed to the Blue Zones — places where many people live longer than usual — as an example. Despite having an older population, these zones have had comparatively fewer COVID fatalities than many other areas of the world, Losso said. The Blue Zones include Okinawa, Japan; Loma Linda, California; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Ikaria, Greece; and Sardinia, Italy.
“Besides old age, some of the risk factors for COVID are obesity, diabetes and hypertension,” he said. “The rates of those conditions are low in the Blue Zones compared to most of the rest of the world.”
Losso has completed an extensive literature review and is diving into his own study of how diet affects gut health, which in turn can affect how well a person’s body handles a coronavirus infection.
“A plant-based diet helps gut microbiota,” he said. “When the gut is affected, the lungs are affected and vice versa.”
He explained that 70 to 80% of the body’s immune system is in the gut, or gastrointestinal tract. The immune system can be weakened if there is a microbial imbalance in the gut — a condition known as dysbiosis, which is common in people with diabetes and other conditions that put them at risk for more severe COVID cases.
Eating a lot of foods that are high in fat and sugar can hinder gastrointestinal health, he said. Proteins and fiber that come from plants, on the other hand, are good for the gut.
Losso wants to explore another possible benefit of certain plant-based foods: compounds that may help the body ward off infection by preventing the coronavirus from bonding to ACE2 receptors. These receptors are proteins found on the surface of cells, and they are plentiful in the lungs and gastrointestinal tract.
Some foods are known to inhibit certain enzymes, Losso said. For example, sweet potatoes, soy products, bananas, squash, zucchini and some beans contain inhibitors of trypsin, an enzyme that breaks down proteins.
Because enzymes prime the coronavirus for bonding to receptors and entering the body, it’s important to examine foods that might be able to stop that process, he said.
Even though vaccines have been developed and are beginning to be administered, Losso said, it’s still a good idea to study other methods of potentially controlling the virus. He wants to use his expertise in food science to make a contribution.
“We’re not saying people are not going to be infected,” he said. “But when you combine this with masks and social distancing and proper handwashing, maybe we can reduce the severity of infections and fatalities. And people can get better and go back to school and their occupations, and that’s what we want.”
By Olivia McClure, LSU AgCenter Communications | permalink
Dr. Erin McKinley is the 2019-2020 ASA Club Advisor
of the Year
30 December 2020: Congratulations! Dr. Erin McKinley serves as the Faculty Advisor of the Student Nutrition and Dietetics Association (SNDA). Dr. McKinley is a School of Nutrition and Food Sciences as an assistant professor and the Director of the Didactic Program in Dietetics.
For Healthy Communities, Knowledge Isn’t Enough
5 November 2020: Through the Healthy Communities initiative, led by Denise Holston, assistant professor in the LSU School of Nutrition and Food Sciences, LSU AgCenter extension agents are on the ground in every Louisiana parish inviting residents to decide for themselves how to best lower obesity rates where they live—because knowledge, Holston says, isn’t enough. See:For Healthy Communities...
Update: Seafood Extension Events & Research
In the June 2020 Seafood Extension Specialist Update is now available. The PDF is available for download. For additional information contact Dr. Evelyn (Gutierrez) Watts, and see the Seafood Quality Laboratory website.
Congratulations to Dr. Zhimin Xu for winning the 2020 Manfred Kroger Outstanding Reviewer Award
Congratulations to Professor Zhimin Xu of Louisiana State University, the winner of the 2020 Manfred Kroger Outstanding Reviewer Award for IFT's Scientific Journals. Some of the many accolades that can be said for Professor Xu's contributions are that he has reviewed 61 manuscripts over the past 15 years, which reflects agreeing to 98% of our reviewer requests
E. Allen Foegeding, Ph.D., Editor in Chief of the IFT Scientific Journals interviewed Dr. Xu about his experiences of being a reviewer. Dr. Xu shared the rewards of being a reviewer, his overall process, and what he would tell your researchers about reviewing. The article is available via the link below, plus a link to the PDF. Congratulations Dr. Xu!
Celebrating reviewers—The 2020 Manfred Kroger Outstanding Reviewer Award winner. Journal of Food Science, 85(6):1618
Celebrating reviewers—The 2020 Manfred Kroger Outstanding Reviewer Award winner. [PDF]
LA Agriculture Fall 2019 Features SNFS Research and Programs
The fall 2019 issue of Louisiana Agriculture focuses on the LSU AgCenter School of Nutrition and Food Sciences and the many ways in which faculty and staff through their research, extension and teaching programs are making our communities healthier, our food supply safer and contributing to economic development in Louisiana, capitalizing on the state’s unique expertise in food production. See below for links to the articles. If you would like to receive a print copy, or if you have any questions, or if you want to unsubscribe from this list, please contact the editor, Linda Benedict. The LSU AgCenter is here to serve you.
- School of Nutrition and Food Sciences Transforms Lives. Gina E. Eubanks
- The School of Nutrition and Food Sciences executes all facets of the land-grant university mission through its research, teaching and extension programs.
- Helping Rural Louisiana Gain Access to Healthy Food. Denise Holston, Melissa Cater and Stephanie Broyles
- People living in rural areas of Louisiana have higher rates of nutrition-related diseases than people living in more urban areas for many reasons.
- Building Coalitions to Foster Healthy Louisiana Communities. Denise Holston, Melissa Cater and Gina E. Eubanks
- Instead of the traditional model for teaching nutrition classes and working with families one-on-one, the new approach is to work with the entire community.
- Can Crustacean Waste Be Used to Preserve Foods? Nancy Katherine Rubio, Marlene Janes, Zhimin Xu and Witoon Prinyawiwatkul
- Scientists are studying the use of chitosan, a substance created from the shells of crustaceans, as a preservative as well as food supplement.
- Spicing Up Louisiana with Hot Sauce. Evelyn Watts
- LSU AgCenter researchers help Louisiana hot sauce producers make their products safer and more cost effectively.
- Developing Food Products with More Fiber and Protein. Joan M. King, Christopher Ringuette and Gabriella Paz
- Scientists are boosting the fiber and protein content in processed foods to make them more appealing to consumers.
- Enhancing Probiotic Characteristics of Probiotic, Culture Bacteria. Tanuja Muramalla, Luis Vargas, Behannis Mena, Olga Cueva, Najim Najim and Kayanush Aryana
- Food scientists continue to improve the probiotic qualities of foods to make them even healthier.
- Functional Dairy Foods Offer Health Benefits. Emily Mouton, Olga Cueva, Marvin Moncada, Brad Trammell, Ingrid Osorio, Charles Boeneke and Kayanush Aryana
- Food scientists continue to develop more functional dairy foods, which is good for the economy and people’s health.
- Improving Processing Attributes of Culture and Probiotic Bacteria. Rachael Brown, Emilio Ernesto, Douglas Olson and Kayanush Aryana
- LSU AgCenter researchers are studying how to increase the tolerance of beneficial bacteria to the high temperatures required to manufacture processed cheese.
- Food Incubator, Sensory Services Lab Improve Business Potential. Ashley Gutierrez, Gaye Sandoz and Witoon Prinyawiwatkul
- The LSU AgCenter Food Incubator and Sensory Services Lab provide valuable services for food entrepreneurs and the food industry.
- Developing a Probiotics Delivery System for Improving Gut Health. Subramaniam Sathivel, Arranee Chotiko, Chen Liu, Emmanuel Kyereh, Bennett Dzandu and Mike Keenan
- Scientists are working to make it easier to add probiotics, which have many health benefits, to processed food.
- Insects As New Food Sources. Ryan Ardoin, Yupeng Gao, Cristhiam Gurdian and Witoon Prinyawiwatkul
- One potential source for more protein in the diets of the worlds’ growing population is insects. LSU AgCenter researchers are looking at crickets.
- Strategies on Salt Reduction in Foods. Ryan Ardoin, Jose Alonso, Pitchayapat Chonpracha and Witoon Prinyawiwatkul
- LSU AgCenter researchers are testing several strategies to help people reduce salt intake.
- Improving Irrigation Water Safety for Strawberries. Jose L. Brandao Delgado, Kathryn K. Fontenot, Achyut Adhikari and Marlene Janes
- A new method is being tested to assure irrigation water safety in fruit and vegetable production.
- Harnessing Health Benefits of Tart Cherries. Jack Losso, Johana Coronel, Diana Coulon, Michael Keenan and Frank Greenway
- LSU AgCenter researchers are studying the health effects of tart cherries.
- Alligator Byproducts: A Reservoir of Hyaluronic Acid. Jack Losso and Jose Daniel Estrada-Andino
- LSU AgCenter scientists are studying the beneficial effects of hyaluronic acid, which include reducing inflammation, from alligator.
- Evolution of a Healthy Lifestyle. Elizabeth Gollub and Sandra May
- Flavors of Health is an LSU AgCenter statewide community nutrition and health education program led by a core of extension nutrition agents.
- Managing Food Safety Risk with Hydroponic Systems. Janny Mendoza and Achyut Adhikari
- LSU AgCenter researchers are developing the methods to keep hydroponic vegetable production systems safe.
- Stable on My Table: Foods for Health and Convenience. Louise Wicker
- LSU AgCenter researchers are studying shelf-stable foods that help consumers get delicious meals on the table in minutes.
- Strengthening the Last Line of Defense for Foodborne Illness. Wenqing Xu
- Extension agents teach food safety to people preparing food for large groups as well as for home meals.
- Weaving Real-world Experience with Higher Education Through Internships. Wenqing Xu
- The School of Nutrition and Food Sciences internship experience has proven to be a career enhancer and to improve subsequent academic performance.
- The Value of Internships. Wenqing Xu
- The faculty liaison for internships in the School of Nutrition and Food Science provides a compelling example of a successful internship.
- Nutrition Education Program Celebrates 50 Years. Johnny Morgan
- The LSU AgCenter hosted events around Louisiana during the fall of 2019 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program.
- LSU AgCenter News for Fall 2019. Linda Foster Benedict
- Researcher gets $410,000 grant to control fat; Louisiana woman inducted into the national 4-H Hall of Fame; AgCenter team committed to hemp production; High school students get hands-on genetics lesson; and more
- College of Agriculture News for Fall 2019. Tobie Blanchard
- Grain elevator processing professionals endow scholarship; Ruben and Laura Dauzat give generously to college; Nearly $10,000 raised at annual Cocktails and Cuisine event; and more
- New Faculty Profile: Erin McKinley, Director of Dietetics Program. Tobie Blanchard
- From a career with casinos, an assistant professor in the School of Nutrition and Food Sciences, took a circuitous path to nutrition and dietetics.
