August 2020

Developing & Testing Tools for Ranking Charitable Food

This project will develop and test tools to help food banks and food pantries rank food nutritionally through implementation of the Healthy Eating Research Nutrition Guidelines for the Charitable Food System (HER guidelines). The objectives are to: 1) Revise existing SWAP materials to align with the new HER guidelines and develop new materials to complete More

November 2025

The implications of banning synthetic food dyes on the food purchase quality of families with children

This study examines how removing synthetic dyes from the food supply impacts the nutritional quality of grocery purchases among families with children, focusing on the 7 dyes targeted by FDA for phase-out by the end of 2026 (some of which are required (i.e., red dye #3), while the removal of others are voluntary). Aim 1 More

November 2025

Measuring the impact of charitable food program cuts on the nutritional quality of foods

This study examines how sudden cuts to USDA programs supporting the charitable food system (i.e., The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement (LFPA)) affect the supply of healthy food available for distribution by food banks. Existing data from 15 food banks will be analyzed, and additional data will More