251: Supplements Standards and Food Safety with NSF's Sarah Krol and John Travis

In this episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition Podcast, host Lindsey Elizabeth Cortes interviews Sarah Krol, Vice President of Food and Nutrition at NSF, and John Travis, Principal Technical Manager at NSF. They discuss the complexities of nutrition and the importance of food safety and supplement standards.

Kroll and Travis emphasize the role of NSF in protecting and improving human health through rigorous testing and certification processes, particularly in the areas of supplements, food products, and cosmetics. They also touch on the evolving landscape of consumer demand for clean and safe products, and NSF's role in ensuring quality and safety in a variety of industries.

This episode provides valuable insights into how consumers can make informed choices about the products they use.

Episode Highlights:

• 01:22 The Impact of Period Pain on Women's Lives

• 03:01 Meet the Experts: Sarah Krol and John Travis

• 06:25 NSF for Sport: Ensuring Supplement Safety

• 09:21 The Importance of Certification and Standards

• 28:17 Addressing RED-S in Female Athletes

• 33:32 The Evolving Landscape of Supplements

• 34:29 NSF's Expanding Role Beyond Supplements

• 39:32 Food Safety and Consumer Awareness

• 43:03 Supply Chain Stressors and Adulteration Risks

• 45:36 The Rise of Sugar Substitutes

• 50:27 Lead in Protein Powders: Understanding the Risks

• 54:39 The Importance of Certification and Safe Consumption

• 57:37 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

John Travis has more than 25 years of experience in analyzing dietary supplements, utilizing techniques such as gas and high-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. His expertise in the analysis of dietary supplements for ingredients prohibited by antidoping organizations was instrumental in developing screening methods for NSF’s Certified for Sport program. These procedures help analyze and detect potentially harmful substances, contaminants and emerging drugs in dietary supplements. He joined NSF in 1995.

Sarah Krol is Vice President, Food and Nutrition at NSF is responsible for NSF’s global Food and Nutrition division, which includes primary food production/agriculture and fisheries, food manufacturing and distribution, product claims certifications such as Organics/Non-GMO (including NSF’s subsidiary Quality Assurance International), and nutrition and wellness (including supplements and cosmetics).

Resources and Links:

• For more information about the show, head to work with Lindsey on improving your nutrition, head to: http://www.lindseycortes.com/

• Join REDS Recovery Membership: http://www.lindseycortes.com/reds

• WaveBye Supplements – Menstrual cycle support code LindseyCortes for 15% off: http://wavebye.co

• Previnex Supplements – Joint Health Plus, Muscle Health Plus, plant-based protein, probiotics, and more; code CORTES15 for 15% off: previnex.com

• Female Athlete Nutrition Podcast Archive & Search Tool – Search by sport, condition, or topic: lindseycortes.com/podcast

• Female Athlete Nutrition Community – YouTube, Instagram @‌femaleathletenutrition, and private Facebook group

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