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While conventional nutrition research has yielded biomarkers such as doubly labeled water for energy metabolism and 24-h urinary nitrogen for protein intake, a critical need exists for additional, equally robust biomarkers that allow for objective assessment of specific food intake and dietary exposure. Recent advances in high-throughput MS combined with improved metabolomics techniques and bioinformatic tools provide new opportunities for dietary biomarker development. In September 2018, the NIH organized a 2-d workshop to engage nutrition and omics researchers and explore the potential of multiomics approaches in nutritional biomarker research. The current Perspective summarizes key gaps and challenges identified, as well as the recommendations from the workshop that could serve as a guide for scientists interested in dietary biomarkers research. Topics addressed included study designs for biomarker development, analytical and bioinformatic considerations, and integration of dietary biomarkers with other omics techniques. Several clear needs were identified, including larger controlled feeding studies, testing a variety of foods and dietary patterns across diverse populations, improved reporting standards to support study replication, more chemical standards covering a broader range of food constituents and human metabolites, standardized approaches for biomarker validation, comprehensive and accessible food composition databases, a common ontology for dietary biomarker literature, and methodologic work on statistical procedures for intake biomarker discovery. Multidisciplinary research teams with appropriate expertise are critical to moving forward the field of dietary biomarkers and producing robust, reproducible biomarkers that can be used in public health and clinical research.

BackgroundInternational comparisons of dietary intake are an important source of information to better understand food habits and their relationship to nutrition related diseases. The objective of this study is to compare food intake of Brazilian adults with American adults identifying possible dietary factors associated with the increase in obesity in Brazil.MethodsThis research used cross-national analyses between the United States and Brazil, including 5,420 adults in the 2007–2008 What We Eat In America, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and 26,390 adults in the 2008–2009 Brazilian Household Budget Survey, Individual Food Intake. Dietary data were collected through 24 h recalls in the U.S. and through food records in Brazil. Foods and beverages were combined into 25 food categories. Food intake means and percentage of energy contribution by food categories to the population’s total energy intake were compared between the countries.ResultsHigher frequencies of intake were reported in the United States compared to Brazil for the majority of food categories except for meat, rice and rice dishes; beans and legumes; spreads; and coffee and tea. In either country, young adults (20-39 yrs) had greater reports of meat, poultry and fish mixed dishes; pizza and pasta; and soft drinks compared to older adults (60 + yrs). Meat, poultry and fish mixed dishes (13%), breads (11%), sweets and confections (8%), pizza and pasta (7%), and dairy products (6%) were the top five food category sources of energy intake among American adults. The top five food categories in Brazil were rice and rice dishes (13%), meat (11%), beans and legumes (10%), breads (10%), and coffee and tea (6%). Thus, traditional plant-based foods such as rice and beans were important contributors in the Brazilian diet.ConclusionAlthough young adults had higher reports of high-calorie and nutrient-poor foods than older adults in both countries, Brazilian young adults did not consume a diet similar to Americans, indicating that it is still possible to reverse the current trends of incorporating Western dietary habits in Brazil.