The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), a nonprofit scientific organization committed to advancing the science of food and its application across the global food system, has released a white paper exploring solutions to reducing exposure to heavy metals in food. "Challenges, Risks, and Potential Solutions to Mitigate Heavy Metal Exposure” examines the causes and health effects of heavy metals in the U.S. food supply and explores how federal nutrition guidelines can better account for exposure to heavy metals, especially in vulnerable populations. The white paper also calls attention to mitigation strategies and highlights research, collaboration, and public health communication needs to better address the issue while also offering insight into how a global, interdisciplinary approach can expedite solutions.

“From farmers measuring soil concentration to consumers cooking at home, reducing dietary exposure to heavy metals is a challenge that will require all facets of the global food system to solve,” says IFT Chief Science and Technology Officer Bryan Hitchcock. “This white paper offers potential solutions to this issue that impacts every part of the farm-to-fork journey.” 

IFT has also released a collection of resources focused on heavy metals that includes research, articles, and insight from IFT’s vast resources, including its scientific journals, Journal of Food Science, and Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, as well as Food Technology magazine.

Access IFT's heavy metals content collection of articles here.

Related: IFT taps Univ. of Missouri's Christopher Daubert as president