NEW RESEARCH PROJECTS
Moving Beyond Detection: Understanding Exposure and Its Effects on Human Health
Identifying contaminants is only the first step. We must also understand how much people are exposed to, how these compounds interact, and what their combined effects may mean for human health.
Clean Food Solutions Research Institute is developing several expanded research initiatives in collaboration with universities, analytical laboratories, and scientific partners.
A. Expanded Food Supply Surveillance & Population Risk Assessment
We aim to expand our current research to thousands of food samples representing a broader range of food commodities, manufacturers, geographic regions, and commonly consumed ingredients.
This larger investigation will help us:
- Determine the prevalence and distribution of regulated and emerging mycotoxins.
- Identify recurring multi-mycotoxin contamination patterns.
- Evaluate dietary exposure using age-specific food consumption and body-weight data.
- Conduct population-level exposure and risk assessments, with particular attention to infants and children.
- Identify gaps in existing food safety regulations and surveillance.
Our goal is to generate the data needed to better understand dietary mycotoxin exposure across the U.S. food supply.
B. Human Cell Line Research: Investigating the Biological Effects of Mycotoxins
In collaboration with university research laboratories, we aim to investigate how individual and combined mycotoxin exposures affect human cellular function.
Proposed studies include human intestinal epithelial and neuronal cell models to investigate:
- Intestinal barrier integrity and permeability.
- Tight-junction disruption and epithelial injury.
- Cellular toxicity and cytolysis.
- Oxidative stress and glutathione depletion.
- Mitochondrial dysfunction and cellular energy metabolism.
- Inflammatory signaling and cellular responses.
- Potential additive or synergistic effects of multiple mycotoxins.
An important priority is investigating combinations and concentrations that reflect actual contamination patterns identified in our food testing.
These studies will help address a significant research gap: the biological effects of chronic, low-level exposure to multiple foodborne mycotoxins.
C. Developing Better Public Food Safety Guidelines
Scientific findings must ultimately translate into practical information that people can use.
We are working toward developing evidence-based food safety resources that help families, healthcare professionals, and food producers better understand and reduce unnecessary exposure to foodborne contaminants.
Our objectives include:
- Providing research-based guidance on food selection and ingredient sourcing.
- Improving awareness of mycotoxin contamination in everyday foods.
- Identifying effective storage, transportation, and processing practices that reduce contamination.
- Highlighting the importance of independent third-party laboratory testing.
- Translating emerging scientific evidence into practical recommendations for consumers.
We believe food safety information should be accessible to everyone, not just those with the resources to seek it out.
HELP ADVANCE THE RESEARCH
Better Food Safety Begins With Better Science.
We cannot improve what we do not measure, and we cannot fully understand what we have not studied.
Independent food safety research requires laboratory testing, advanced analytical equipment, university partnerships, and continued scientific investigation.
Your support helps Clean Food Solutions Research Institute expand independent research into foodborne mycotoxins, investigate the effects of combined exposures, and develop evidence-based resources that benefit families and future generations.
We believe knowing what is in your food should be a right, not a privilege.
Support Independent Research. Help Build a Safer Food Supply.