Leading nutritionists and food scientists from the University of California, Davis, will discuss foods that promote health and may prevent disease Tuesday, Dec. 11, at COPIA: The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts in Napa.

The daylong seminar, "Scientific Perspectives on Antioxidants for Sustaining Health," is for food industry representatives. It also is open to the public. Speakers will focus on various food products made from plants that are thought to lower the risk of disease by preventing oxidation of potentially harmful compounds in the body.

In addition to the UC Davis researchers, the program will feature speakers from the food industry, Ohio State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The event is sponsored by UC Davis' California Institute of Food and Agricultural Research.

"This one-day event will offer a perspective on antioxidants and health that cannot be communicated by anyone other than the scientists who perform the research," said Sharon Shoemaker, director of the UC Davis food research institute. "UC Davis researchers have a well-deserved reputation for discovering the scientific reasons behind the health benefits of fruits and vegetables."

Louis Grivetti, a UC Davis nutrition professor and authority on food, geography and history, will be the featured speaker during a 12:30 p.m. gourmet lunch and winetasting. Grivetti will discuss "Chocolate as Food and Medicine in Ancient and Colonial Mexico."

Chocolate is one of many foods derived from plants that contain antioxidants, a class of naturally occurring chemical compounds, including vitamin E, that have been studied by UC Davis researchers since the 1950s for their potential health benefits. For example, certain antioxidants are thought to lower the risk of coronary heart disease by preventing fatlike substances in the bloodstream from oxidizing and clogging the arteries.

Also discussing chocolate will be Carl Keen, a professor and chair of the UC Davis nutrition department. He will speak at 11:15 a.m. on "Chocolate: Things My Mother Never Told Me," reviewing the effects of chocolate as revealed by contemporary nutrition research.

Other topics to be addressed by UC Davis researchers include:

-- "College Initiative in Foods for Health," presented at 8:35 a.m. by Neal Van Alfen, dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences;

-- "Antioxidants: Past, Present and Future," presented at 8:45 a.m. by Edwin Frankel, a faculty member from the food science and technology department;

--"Flavonoid Mechanisms in Cancer Prevention," presented at 9:15 a.m. by Alyson Mitchell, a faculty member from the food science and technology department;

-- "Unraveling the Myths: What We Know and Don't Know About Antioxidants in Wine and Foods," presented at 9:45 a.m. by Andrew Waterhouse, a faculty member in the viticulture and enology department;

-- "Wine and Health: Will a Glass a Day Keep the Doctor Away?" presented at 10:45 a.m., by Susan Ebeler, a faculty member in the viticulture and enology department;

-- "Genomics and Metabolomics: New Markers for the Evaluation of Antioxidants," presented at 11:45 a.m. by Bruce German, a faculty member in the food science and technology department;

-- "Effect of Antioxidants on Infection: Are More better?" presented at 2:30 p.m. by Charles Stephensen, an adjunct faculty member in the UC Davis nutrition department and a U.S. Department of Agriculture scientist in USDA's Western Human Nutrition Research Center at UC Davis.

COPIA is located in Napa at 500 First St. The center was conceived and funded by Robert and Margrit Mondavi, who recently established the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science at UC Davis. More information about COPIA is available online at http://www.copia.org/home.html.