SPHHP researcher part of international team tackling food safety, nutrition

A UB faculty member is part of an international team of experts across a range of fields — from toxic metals to microplastics to pesticides — who are working to address food safety and nutrition globally.

Katarzyna “Kasia” Kordas, associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions, was invited by representatives from the World Health Organization (WHO), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to participate in a technical meeting over the summer in Vienna, Austria.

Kordas researches the effects of exposure to multiple chemicals and toxic metals, such as lead and arsenic. Since 2006, Kordas has been working with colleagues in Montevideo, Uruguay, on a longitudinal study that seeks to understand the cognitive and behavioral effects of low-level exposure to multiple chemicals in school children. Kordas and her team will soon be publishing research from Uruguay on how children who had elevated lead levels early in their primary school years were more disinterested in learning and had lower engagement with their schoolwork later on.

In Vienna, she joined experts from 14 countries to confront a growing challenge for which there has not been much research: the complex and compounding links between food-borne hazards, food safety and human nutrition.

In a recap of the three-day meeting, the IAEA noted that food-borne hazards and nutrition have long been treated as separate issues. “But contaminants like mycotoxins, heavy metals, pesticide residues and microplastics do more than threaten food safety — they also impair growth, gut health, hormone regulation and nutrient absorption. Left unaddressed, these threats can contribute to stunting, chronic diseases and widespread malnutrition,” the agency said.

“Unsafe food and poor nutrition are each a problem on their own, but together, they represent a monumental public health crisis,” IAEA Deputy Director Najat Mokhtar said in opening the landmark meeting.

Kordas gave a presentation on heavy metals in foods and what researchers currently know about how food contamination affects children’s health.

“For some metals, like mercury, the effects are more well known because there is a single, important food source, that being seafood,” says Kordas. “But for other metals where the sources are more dispersed, it is more difficult to pin down how much exposure children are getting from foods, and what the health effects are of these exposures.”

She notes that rice, which is an important source of arsenic, is a good example of a highly consumed food in the United States and globally that significantly contributes to a toxic metal exposure for millions of people. However, she adds, “We just don’t have a clear understanding yet in terms of what the effects are on children’s health as a result of arsenic exposure. An additional layer of complexity is that foods give us sustenance. Especially in resource-poor settings, it may be very difficult to tell people to stop eating a culturally beloved food that is a staple in their diet.”

Other discussions focused on how food-borne hazards may affect the food supply, and how they affect food safety and human health outcomes in the short, medium and long term.

“It is so important for scientists with technical expertise to be not just ‘in the room’ but at the podium contributing to these discussions,” says Pauline Mendola, chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health. “Kasia’s international reputation in the area of food safety, specifically dietary contaminants that can harm children’s health, is a point of pride for UB.”

The group has continued to meet since the initial session in Vienna, and Kordas says there are plans to publish a review paper and then further develop research projects aimed at tackling these issues.

“It was very gratifying to have representatives from these important agencies like IAEA and the WHO coming together to talk about these issues,” Kordas says, adding that there was a diverse group of researchers from Africa, Europe and Asia. “It was interesting to learn about the issues different regions of the world are grappling with and prioritizing. I’m looking forward to continuing this work and contributing more to our understanding of the links between food-borne hazards, nutrition and human health.”