Researchers at Iowa State are helping improve the world’s nutrition, one food at a time.

The Center for Designing Foods to Improve Nutrition (CDFIN) is tackling the issue of how to effectively aid health through food and dietary supplements.

“We want to make a definite impact on health,” said Paul Flakoll, director of CDFIN and professor of food science and human nutrition.

The center is moving in a direction to impact human well-being with many projects, like raising cattle to contain healthier fatty acids, according to the CDFIN Web site, www.cdfin.iastate.edu.

“There are two tests, a DNA test and a genetic sires test,” Flakoll said.

He said the DNA test is used to identify markers in the DNA of the cattle.

The genetic sires test looks at the sire, or father, of animals with certain desirable fatty acids and how they may maintain that fatty acid content. The sires test is used to breed cattle with those fatty acids.

Flakoll said research is also being conducted regarding behavioral components that cause consumers to choose certain foods.

“We look at social and economic barriers that may cause malnutrition,” he said.

The Plant Sciences Institute has recently gotten involved with CDFIN, which is also run by the College of Agriculture and College of Family and Consumer Sciences, said Stephen Howell, director of the Plant Sciences Institute.

The profits of this research may not be realized today, but the future holds promise, he said.

“Someday, there may be a tofu that will help with a degenerative disease,” Howell said.

CDFIN is divided into multiple departments that focus on different areas of food research, according to the CDFIN Web site. For example, the Botanical Dietary Supplement division is designed to research commonly used dietary supplements like echinacea and St. John’s Wort.

“We’re trying to put a little science behind it,” said Diane Birt, professor and chair of food science and human nutrition.

Birt said she has begun research on dietary supplements this year. Birt said while St. John’s Wort has been researched for 20 years, echinacea has not, so they are doing a lot of foundational work with echinacea.

Through research, Birt said, they hope to find new uses for the supplements and improve their understanding of the chemical makeup of those supplements.

“I saw it as a way Iowa state could make a strong contribution,” Birt said.

Research projects are ongoing, said Flakoll. Once a year, a call for ideas is made and most of the ideas are from the faculty, he said.

Although the Center is primarily designed for research, it also participates in education through guest lectures, funding of graduate students and a new plasma screen in the Center’s foyer, Flakoll said.