Grain-based foods are rarely painted into a flattering light.

From the perils of gluten to the revived nutritional standing of butter and other foods heavy in saturated fat, it seems that whenever there is news coverage about eating and health these days, it never, ever favors flour-based foods. Against this backdrop, investors in the Grain Foods Foundation should be heartened by traction the group has seen as it begins disseminating findings from research conducted over the past year or so.

Yanni Papanikolaou, a researcher with Nutritional Strategies, Inc., said the group’s well-grounded research presentations casting grain-based foods in a new light have been well received at numerous influential scientific conferences around the world. At one, the G.F.F. was nominated to a special award. The judge singled out the paper as the entry “most likely to positively impact public health.”

Yanni Papanikolaou

Mr. Papanikolaou said he has been heartened by the open-mindedness with which the findings have been greeted. At the same time, he warned that the path ahead will not be an easy one.

“Nutrition as a field is still very much in its infancy,” he said. “The last 40 or 50 years what we’ve learned is remarkable. We still have so much to discover. It can be a very frustrating time.”