As global food systems evolve in complexity and scale, consumers are demanding clearer, more reliable nutritional information to guide their dietary choices and understand the health implications of their food consumption. In response to this pressing need, the American Heart Association (AHA) has launched its second annual data visualization challenge under the Periodic Table of Food Initiative® (PTFI), aiming to innovate and streamline how food and nutrition information is communicated. This initiative stands at the cutting edge of nutritional science, leveraging molecular data and advanced bioinformatics to unlock new dimensions of food quality and health impact.
Titled “Future Food + Nutrition Facts,” the 2025 data visualization challenge invites interdisciplinary teams spanning public health, nutrition science, food systems, bioinformatics, and policy to reconceptualize how nutritional data is presented. By harnessing the extensive molecular profiles housed within the PTFI database—one of the world’s most sophisticated open-access food composition datasets—participants are tasked with transforming intricate biomolecular and environmental information into actionable insights. These insights aim to serve a broad audience, ranging from individual consumers to policymakers and industry leaders.
At the heart of this challenge lies an ambitious translational goal: moving beyond traditional nutrient labels and caloric values to reveal the biomolecular complexity embedded in foods. The PTFI database contains detailed molecular signatures of thousands of edible plants and animals globally, integrating data on ingredient composition, nutritional content, as well as geospatial and environmental metadata that describe how and where food is cultivated. This holistic approach not only captures nutritional quality but also connects food to biodiversity and sustainability considerations, ingraining planetary health into dietary decision-making processes.
Selena Ahmed, Ph.D., global director of the PTFI and dean of Food EDU at the AHA, emphasizes the collaborative nature of this initiative. “We seek to bring scientists, designers, farmers, and nutrition experts together to translate complex molecular food data into intuitively understandable formats,” she explains. The goal is to empower daily food choices that optimize both personal health outcomes and ecological sustainability through more precise, data-driven nutritional guidance that resonates across diverse cultural contexts.
What sets this challenge apart is its focus on visual communication as a medium for scientific translation. Participants gain access to comprehensive scientific profiles from the PTFI’s database, challenging them to design visuals that encapsulate not just nutrient quantities but also molecular diversity, sustainability footprints, and cultural dimensions of food. Winning entries will set new standards for how nutritional quality is measured and visualized, potentially reshaping the landscape of consumer food labeling, policy development, and scientific research.
John de la Parra, Ph.D., director of Food Initiatives at The Rockefeller Foundation, highlights the unprecedented scientific capability underpinning the challenge. “For the first time, we can detect and quantify the full chemical diversity present in the world’s edible biodiversity,” he notes. Yet, the challenge extends beyond data acquisition to the crucial task of communicating this complexity in ways that inform actionable decisions at multiple levels—from individual dietary choices to systemic policy reforms.
The challenge is open to participants worldwide, subject to local laws, and features two distinct submission tracks: a general design category aimed at creative communicators and a specialized research track for scientists proposing detailed technical summaries. A substantial $40,000 prize pool awaits top winners, including a $20,000 grand prize, underscoring the initiative’s commitment to innovative, impactful visualizations that could redefine food science communication paradigms. Winners will also receive prominent exposure during a PTFI Science Symposium planned for 2026, as well as featured placements across digital channels reaching diverse stakeholders in the food system.
Critical evaluation criteria for submissions include scientific rigor, imaginative creativity, accessibility, and real-world relevance, ensuring that solutions are both credible and practical. Importantly, entering the challenge entails no costs, democratizing access to this cutting-edge platform. An upcoming webinar will provide detailed guidance and submission protocols, fostering engagement and collaboration across disciplines ranging from molecular biology to graphic design.
The PTFI reflects a broader movement in nutrition science, one that recognizes food as a multifaceted chemical matrix whose impact transcends traditional metrics like calories and macronutrients. Integrating high-resolution molecular profiling with environmental and cultivation data creates a new frontier for understanding how food systems interact with human health and ecosystems. This initiative aligns with global efforts to address the intertwined challenges of malnutrition, food insecurity, climate change, and biodiversity loss by reimagining how food quality is defined and communicated.
Supporting this visionary project are major funders including The Rockefeller Foundation, RF Catalytic Capital Inc., the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and others, highlighting the significance attributed to transforming food data into meaningful action. The PTFI is managed collaboratively by the American Heart Association and the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), both leaders in health and sustainable agricultural research. Their combined expertise ensures scientific rigor and translational impact, positioning the initiative to influence food systems globally.
In a world facing escalating health and environmental crises, the PTFI challenge exemplifies how advances in molecular science and data visualization can converge to drive better-informed food choices and policies. By unlocking the hidden chemistry of food biodiversity and presenting it through compelling, accessible visuals, the initiative aims to empower individuals and institutions alike to foster healthier, more sustainable diets. This groundbreaking endeavor represents a pivotal step toward a future where food information is as dynamic and complex as the food itself, seamlessly bridging science, design, and societal needs.
For those interested in contributing to this transformative effort, registration details and challenge guidelines are available through the initiative’s webinar and official platforms. This open call to innovators marks a rare opportunity to shape the future of nutrition science communication, addressing one of the most urgent public health challenges of our time with creativity and data-driven insight.
Subject of Research: Molecular composition and visualization of food nutritional data.
Article Title: New Data Challenge Invites Innovations to Visualize the Molecular Complexity of Food and Nutrition for Future Health
News Publication Date: October 9, 2025
Web References:
- American Heart Association newsroom: https://newsroom.heart.org/news/new-data-challenge-could-reimagine-future-food-and-nutrition-facts
- Periodic Table of Food Initiative official site: https://foodperiodictable.org/
- Rockefeller Foundation initiative info related to food: https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/
References:
Seligman, H.K., et al. “A systematic review of ‘food is medicine’ randomized controlled trials for Noncommunicable Disease in the United States: A scientific statement from the American Heart Association.” Circulation 152(4), July 29, 2025. doi:10.1161/cir.0000000000001343
Keywords: Nutrition, Food security, Molecular food profiling, Data visualization, Biomolecular food composition, Sustainable food systems, Food biodiversity
