Nutrition rating system similar to the ‘Energy Star’ program needed for U.S. food labels, panel says

Front-of-package nutrition labels already exist on many foods in the U.S., but an Institute of Medicine (IOM) panel recently recommended standardizing and simplifying this information through a rating system modeled after the Energy Star program. “You shouldn’t have to be a nutrition scientist to make healthy food choices for your family,” says Matthew Kreuter, PhD, member of the IOM panel and director of the Health Communications Research Laboratory at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.

International Festival set for March 6

Song, dance and dishes from a variety of nations represented by students at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis highlight the 17th annual International Festival Sunday, March 6 at the 560 Music Center. The event, which is open to the public, begins at 5 p.m. with a food tasting of 11 different dishes. This year’s theme is “1 Community, A World of Traditions.”

Rafia Zafar receives Fulbright Scholar grant to lecture abroad

Rafia ZafarRafia Zafar, Ph.D., professor of English, of African & African American studies and of American culture studies, all in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to lecture abroad during the 2007 spring semester. She has been awarded the distinguished Walt Whitman Chair, which includes teaching an advanced undergraduate course and a graduate seminar at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.