Gateway to multifaceted food science and nutrition challenges

The science of food has evolved significantly over the last two decades with numerous specialized journals available to promote scientific communication. While most journals continue to push for cutting-edge technologies in order to boost their impact factor, it is important to point out that the full impact of research conducted in food science and nutrition cannot simply be represented by a count of short-term citations. It has become clear that integrated research to interpret the interface between food science and nutrition is critical to attaining a full understanding of functional foods. Additionally, many countries are still in dire need of appropriate technologies to add value to their abundant agriculture products and byproducts, while developed countries are seeking better, more sustainable agricultural practices. Such efforts are time intensive and need a proper outlet to be shared with as wide an audience as possible; we therefore proudly introduce a new open access journal to promote continuous development and stimulate rapid, effective communication. It is my vision for Food Science & Nutrition to be the all-inclusive, multidisciplinary hub for these integrated efforts. I am delighted to welcome you to Food Science & Nutrition, a new open access, multidisciplinary journal that aims to publish high-quality and high-impact original research on food science and nutrition. Interwoven by the globalization of our food supplies, food safety and security enters a new era with many intrinsic challenges and opportunities. Globalization concurrently rises with the “buying-local-eating-local” trend of today’s organic-seeking consumers, leading to increasingly complex factors to be studied. In both global and local arenas, the interface between food science and nutrition inevitably starts to take precedence over traditional, singlefield research. Plenty has been published about functional ingredients and nutraceuticals, but not enough about the bioavailability of such ingredients. For instance, in vitro benchtop analytic protocols do not fully address the issue that the same phytochemical recovered from different plants may have different bioavailability. More bio-based assays would need to be developed to gauge the effectiveness of each of the functional ingredients, and these studies should be published. Characterization of the biocompatibility of the wide variety of nutraceuticals is another area of research that should be thoroughly investigated and represented in the literature. Furthermore, there is an increasing need for vertical integration of food science and nutrition from farm to fork and beyond. Food safety control of fresh-cut produce needs to begin on the farm with effective strategies for pathogen control in soil and surrounding environment throughout the processing and distribution chain in order to minimize food-borne outbreaks. System-wide assessment is needed to identify food safety risks for effective interventions. Rapid detection of food-borne pathogens needs to work with a broad range of food matrices, now packaged in increasingly versatile materials. Frontline detection of adulterations is of significant importance, as outbreaks resulting from food-borne pathogens in one part of the world understandably lead to worries in the global marketplace. These challenges have inherent political implications, and relevant research advancements in the areas of food science and nutrition are worthy of open-minded, academic discussion. We must gather more direct evidence before we can make wise recommendations for food safety regulations that can effectively protect today’s global food supplies. I am excited to present our field with the opportunity to collaboratively tackle these global issues by way of publishing in an open access platform, providing global access to the most important research findings in food science and nutrition. Food Science & Nutrition is committed to speed and innovation in research communication and to maximizing the visibility of each published article. Furthermore, because it is an open access, online-only journal without