Editorial

Melanie Brown, Editor

The theme for our March issue is nutrition and health, a topic of particular importance after the long winter lockdown that we have all experienced.

The complex role of the gut microbiome in health and nutrition is attracting considerable attention. New research is revealing links between diet, the microbiome and health. Knowledge about the role of specific microbial metabolites produced in the gut offers the potential to formulate microbiota‐directed foods, which can be designed to elicit a targeted metabolic response via the microbiota that can confer a health benefit to the host (p26). A method of improving the resistance of starch in bread to digestion has been developed, with potential to improve fibre content in the diet (p21).

Harnessing new technologies to help understand the complex mechanisms at play in the microbiome is leading to the expansion of personalised nutrition. A number of companies are now offering health and diet tracking services to consumers based on analysis data from blood, DNA and the microbiome, which is used to make personalised nutrition, fitness and lifestyle recommendations. This is likely to be an increasing trend, so it is important to ensure that nutritional advice is based on sound science.

Consumer choice is a key driver of global health and it is vital that consumers understand the need for new technologies to improve the sustainability and nutritional value of the foods they consume (p28). The importance of reducing our consumption of meat and increasing fruit and, in particular, vegetable consumption has been widely recognised. Campaigns are underway to encourage food producers and food service companies to make more vegetables readily available to consumers to improve the population's health (p32).

The task of transforming the food system and the nutritional value of foods is enormous and will require significant changes in behaviour on the part of consumers and food producers. An ambitious strategy is required to drive the necessary changes to reduce obesity and improve health, while at the same time increasing the sustainability of the food system (p4, p28, p32).

email mb@biophase.co.uk

Letters to the editor about any of the articles published in Food Science and Technology are welcomed.

中文翻译：

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社论和新闻

社论

梅兰妮·布朗（Melanie Brown），编辑

3月期的主题是营养与健康，这是我们所有人都经历了漫长的冬季封锁之后的一个特别重要的话题。

肠道微生物组在健康和营养方面的复杂作用正引起人们的广泛关注。新的研究揭示了饮食，微生物组与健康之间的联系。对肠道中特定微生物代谢产物作用的了解为配制微生物群定向食品提供了潜力，该食物可设计为通过微生物群引起针对性的新陈代谢反应，从而为宿主带来健康益处（p26）。已经开发出一种改善面包中淀粉抗消化性的方法，具有改善饮食中纤维含量的潜力（p21）。

利用新技术来帮助理解微生物组中起作用的复杂机制，正在导致个性化营养的扩展。现在，许多公司正在根据血液，DNA和微生物组的分析数据为消费者提供健康和饮食跟踪服务，这些数据可用于提出个性化的营养，健康和生活方式建议。这可能是一个增长的趋势，因此确保营养建议以可靠的科学为基础非常重要。

消费者的选择是全球健康的关键驱动力，至关重要的是，消费者了解对新技术的需求，以提高他们所食用食品的可持续性和营养价值（p28）。减少肉类消耗和增加水果，特别是蔬菜消耗的重要性已得到广泛认可。正在开展运动，以鼓励食品生产商和食品服务公司向消费者提供更多的蔬菜，以改善人们的健康（p32）。

改变食物系统和食物的营养价值的任务十分艰巨，需要消费者和食物生产者的行为发生重大变化。需要一个雄心勃勃的战略来推动必要的改变以减少肥胖并改善健康，同时增加食品系统的可持续性（p4，p28，p32）。

电子邮件mb@biophase.co.uk

欢迎就食品科技期刊上发表的任何文章给编辑致信。