Excerpt

With baby boomers reaching their 50s and 60s and the growth rate of the U.S. population age 65 years and older expected to double over the next twenty years, the need to prepare for an expanding population of older adults has never been as urgent as it is now. The growing size and changing demographics of aging adults place new demands on the food supply, with older adults not only being more susceptible to certain foodborne illnesses or health complications caused by those illnesses but also likely to experience significant changes in dietary needs and nutrition. While there is still a great deal to learn about what constitutes an “optimal diet” for older adults, available evidence indicates that dietary needs change with aging as a result of sensory loss and other physiological changes, changes in food preparation, and other eating-related behaviors. The fast-growing nature of the U.S. older population also creates new communication challenges with respect to educating older adults about how to manage a nutritious diet, how to prepare and store food safely, and how to act in the event of a safety-related food recall. In recognition of these trends and challenges, the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM’s) Food Forum convened a one-and-a-half-day workshop in October 2009 to explore food supply issues of relevance to aging adults. Specifically, the purpose of the workshop was to address the questions: What are the future challenges to providing healthy and safe foods to aging populations, and what can be done to meet those challenges?

Contents

• The National Academies
• Planning Committee for Food Supply and Aging Populations
• Food Forum
• Reviewers
• Overview
• 1. Introduction
  • MAIN THEMES OF WORKSHOP DISCUSSION
  • OVERVIEW OF THE CHALLENGES TO ENSURING SAFE AND NUTRITIOUS FOODS FOR AGING POPULATIONS
  • FDA FOOD SAFETY AND NUTRITION ACTIONS AIMED SPECIFICALLY AT AGING POPULATIONS
  • QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION
• 2. Size and Demographics of Aging Populations
  • OUR AGING POPULATION
  • FOOD PREPARATION AND CONSUMPTION HABITS OF COMMUNITY-DWELLING POPULATIONS
  • QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION
• 3. Physiology and Aging
  • IMMUNE STATUS OF AGING POPULATIONS AND METHODS OF MODULATING SUSCEPTIBILITY
  • GASTROINTESTINAL SYSTEM CHANGES WITH AGE
  • SENSORY PERCEPTION CHANGES WITH AGING
  • QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION
• 4. Food Safety Concerns for Aging Populations
  • PATHOGENS OF CONCERN
  • CONTAMINANTS OF CONCERN
  • PROCESSING AND FORMULATION ADVANCES TO DECREASE FOOD SAFETY RISKS
  • PACKAGING AND STORAGE CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS TO DECREASING SAFETY RISKS
  • PANEL DISCUSSION ON IMPLICATIONS FOR REGULATORS, EDUCATORS, AND THE FOOD INDUSTRY
• 5. Nutrition Concerns for Aging Populations
  • DIET QUALITY ISSUES FOR AGING POPULATIONS
  • FUNCTIONAL FOODS AND AGING POPULATIONS
  • NUTRITIONAL MODULATION OF AGING AND AGE-ASSOCIATED DISEASES BY CALORIC RESTRICTION
  • FORMULATING FOR AGING BOOMER CONSUMERS
  • PANEL DISCUSSION ON IMPLICATIONS FOR REGULATORS, EDUCATORS, AND THE FOOD INDUSTRY
• 6. Communicating with Aging Populations
  • CONSUMER DESIRES, NEEDS, AND MOTIVATIONS
  • FOOD SAFETY MESSAGES: WHAT DO CONSUMERS HEAR?
  • COMMUNICATING WITH OLDER CONSUMERS DURING RECALLS
  • COMMUNICATING NUTRITION MESSAGES TO OLDER PERSONS
  • QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION
• 7. Future Challenges and Solutions to Providing Healthy and Safe Foods to Aging Populations
  • PANEL DISCUSSION
  • OPEN DISCUSSION
• References
• Appendixes
  • A Workshop Agenda
  • B Workshop Participants
  • C Speaker, Moderator, and Panelist Biographies
  • D Abbreviations and Acronyms

Rapporteurs: Leslie Pray, Caitlin Boon, Emily Ann Miller, and Laura Pillsbury

This study was supported by Contract No. HHSF22301004T (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Interagency Risk Assessment Consortium); AG-3A94-P-09-0172 and OEM-09-DC-01 (U.S. Department of Agriculture), N01-OD-4-2139 (National Institutes of Health), and HHSF22301005T (Food and Drug Administration) between the National Academy of Sciences. Additional support came from Abbott Laboratories, Campbell Soup, Cargill, Coca-Cola Company, ConAgra Foods, General Mills, Kellogg Company, Kraft Foods, Mars, McDonalds, Mead Johnson Nutrition, Monsanto, and PepsiCo.

Suggested citation:

IOM (Institute of Medicine). 2010. Providing Healthy and Safe Foods as We Age: Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the organizations or agencies that provided support for this project.

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.