Pub Date : 2025-03-25DOI: 10.1038/s43016-025-01154-7
This month, Nature Food presents a Focus issue on the recent evolution of food environments, their influence on individual food choices and efforts to reduce their impact on public health.
{"title":"Food environments and human health","authors":"","doi":"10.1038/s43016-025-01154-7","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43016-025-01154-7","url":null,"abstract":"This month, Nature Food presents a Focus issue on the recent evolution of food environments, their influence on individual food choices and efforts to reduce their impact on public health.","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":"6 3","pages":"215-215"},"PeriodicalIF":23.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-025-01154-7.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143699047","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-03-25DOI: 10.1038/s43016-025-01127-w
Laurence Daoust
Reduced access to healthy diets, combined with the pervasiveness of ultra-processed foods, pose severe consequences for public health and the environment. Francesco Branca, former director of the World Health Organization’s Department of Nutrition and Food Safety and invited professor of public health at the University of Geneva, reflects on our current food environment and the need to steer it towards people’s nutritional needs rather than market interests.
{"title":"Nutrition first","authors":"Laurence Daoust","doi":"10.1038/s43016-025-01127-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43016-025-01127-w","url":null,"abstract":"Reduced access to healthy diets, combined with the pervasiveness of ultra-processed foods, pose severe consequences for public health and the environment. Francesco Branca, former director of the World Health Organization’s Department of Nutrition and Food Safety and invited professor of public health at the University of Geneva, reflects on our current food environment and the need to steer it towards people’s nutritional needs rather than market interests.","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":"6 3","pages":"228-229"},"PeriodicalIF":23.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143695454","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
‘Food is Medicine’ has been increasingly accepted in the US healthcare system. Developing and implementing such programmes globally could advance mental health, improve providers’ experiences and stimulate positive change in the food and agricultural sectors.
{"title":"‘Food is Medicine’ to advance mental health and build resilient food systems globally","authors":"Ronit Ridberg, Caroline Owens, Meng Wang, Lizbeth Moreno Loaeza, Lu Wang, Cecilia Gerard, Dariush Mozaffarian","doi":"10.1038/s43016-025-01145-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43016-025-01145-8","url":null,"abstract":"‘Food is Medicine’ has been increasingly accepted in the US healthcare system. Developing and implementing such programmes globally could advance mental health, improve providers’ experiences and stimulate positive change in the food and agricultural sectors.","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":"6 3","pages":"223-227"},"PeriodicalIF":23.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143677882","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Recognizing front-of-pack nutrition labelling (FOPL) as an important tool for promoting healthier diets, the European Commission announced in 2020 that it would propose legislation for mandatory, harmonized FOPL as of 2022. Among existing FOPL schemes that could be used to that end, Nutri-Score (a summary, colour-coded system) stands out as the most widely adopted since 2017, with studies documenting its effectiveness in various contexts. Here we argue that stakeholders with conflicts of interest used contestable lobbying tactics and instrumentalized evidence against Nutri-Score, contributing to the European Commission’s failure to propose legislation. We call for an EU–wide FOPL scheme to be chosen on the basis of evidence-based, transparent policy processes that readdress power imbalances and create the trust required for genuine democratic debate. Front-of-pack nutrition labelling is increasingly adopted as a tool to promote healthier diets. This paper reviews major front-of-pack labelling schemes in the EU with a focus on Nutri-Score, offering a critical assessment of the policy process led by the European Commission on the topic and underscoring the need for it to be more transparent and evidence-based.
{"title":"Ten years of Nutri-Score front-of-pack nutrition labelling in Europe","authors":"Chantal Julia, Nikhil Gokani, Serge Hercberg, Amandine Garde","doi":"10.1038/s43016-025-01141-y","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43016-025-01141-y","url":null,"abstract":"Recognizing front-of-pack nutrition labelling (FOPL) as an important tool for promoting healthier diets, the European Commission announced in 2020 that it would propose legislation for mandatory, harmonized FOPL as of 2022. Among existing FOPL schemes that could be used to that end, Nutri-Score (a summary, colour-coded system) stands out as the most widely adopted since 2017, with studies documenting its effectiveness in various contexts. Here we argue that stakeholders with conflicts of interest used contestable lobbying tactics and instrumentalized evidence against Nutri-Score, contributing to the European Commission’s failure to propose legislation. We call for an EU–wide FOPL scheme to be chosen on the basis of evidence-based, transparent policy processes that readdress power imbalances and create the trust required for genuine democratic debate. Front-of-pack nutrition labelling is increasingly adopted as a tool to promote healthier diets. This paper reviews major front-of-pack labelling schemes in the EU with a focus on Nutri-Score, offering a critical assessment of the policy process led by the European Commission on the topic and underscoring the need for it to be more transparent and evidence-based.","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":"6 3","pages":"239-243"},"PeriodicalIF":23.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143608145","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-03-12DOI: 10.1038/s43016-025-01142-x
Anna H. Grummon, James W. Krieger, Marissa G. Hall
Unhealthy diets contribute to one in every five deaths in the United States, yet federal policy action to improve dietary quality has been limited. We argue that researchers and advocates should engage in state and local food policymaking, which offers an important complementary avenue for creating healthier food environments and improving diet quality. We outline key questions researchers can address to inform local and state policymaking and provide practical tips on how they can engage with the policy process. Finally, we present a case study of researcher engagement with the New York City Sweet Truth Act policy process. Federal policy action to improve the healthiness of food environments in the United States has been limited. This Perspective calls for the involvement of researchers and advocates in food policymaking at the state and local levels and shows how this can be achieved at each stage of the policy process.
{"title":"How and why researchers and advocates should engage with state and local food policymaking","authors":"Anna H. Grummon, James W. Krieger, Marissa G. Hall","doi":"10.1038/s43016-025-01142-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43016-025-01142-x","url":null,"abstract":"Unhealthy diets contribute to one in every five deaths in the United States, yet federal policy action to improve dietary quality has been limited. We argue that researchers and advocates should engage in state and local food policymaking, which offers an important complementary avenue for creating healthier food environments and improving diet quality. We outline key questions researchers can address to inform local and state policymaking and provide practical tips on how they can engage with the policy process. Finally, we present a case study of researcher engagement with the New York City Sweet Truth Act policy process. Federal policy action to improve the healthiness of food environments in the United States has been limited. This Perspective calls for the involvement of researchers and advocates in food policymaking at the state and local levels and shows how this can be achieved at each stage of the policy process.","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":"6 3","pages":"232-238"},"PeriodicalIF":23.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143598936","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-03-10DOI: 10.1038/s43016-025-01144-9
Kathryn E. Bradbury, Sally Mackay, Gary Sacks
Global food systems are dominated by large corporations that are primarily driven by the goal of maximizing profits and shareholder value. Strengthening corporate accountability to promote health, equity and environmental sustainability is a critical part of recalibrating current corporatized food systems.
{"title":"Improvement of corporate accountability can re-calibrate corporatized food systems","authors":"Kathryn E. Bradbury, Sally Mackay, Gary Sacks","doi":"10.1038/s43016-025-01144-9","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43016-025-01144-9","url":null,"abstract":"Global food systems are dominated by large corporations that are primarily driven by the goal of maximizing profits and shareholder value. Strengthening corporate accountability to promote health, equity and environmental sustainability is a critical part of recalibrating current corporatized food systems.","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":"6 3","pages":"220-222"},"PeriodicalIF":23.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143583063","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-03-10DOI: 10.1038/s43016-025-01129-8
Barry Popkin, Shu Wen Ng, Lindsey Smith Taillie
The food industry has created ultra-processed food-like products that disrupt nature’s biological matrix and exploit our innate preferences for sugar, salt and fat — with the goal of encouraging overconsumption and maximizing profit. Increases in obesity, other nutrition-related non-communicable diseases and environmental harms have occurred as a result. Only major political commitments and the adoption of healthy food policies will curb ultra-processed food’s negative impact on global planetary and human health.
{"title":"The mismatch between biological needs and the modern food industry","authors":"Barry Popkin, Shu Wen Ng, Lindsey Smith Taillie","doi":"10.1038/s43016-025-01129-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43016-025-01129-8","url":null,"abstract":"The food industry has created ultra-processed food-like products that disrupt nature’s biological matrix and exploit our innate preferences for sugar, salt and fat — with the goal of encouraging overconsumption and maximizing profit. Increases in obesity, other nutrition-related non-communicable diseases and environmental harms have occurred as a result. Only major political commitments and the adoption of healthy food policies will curb ultra-processed food’s negative impact on global planetary and human health.","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":"6 3","pages":"216-219"},"PeriodicalIF":23.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143582717","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-03-04DOI: 10.1038/s43016-025-01138-7
Martin White
The emergence of ultra-processed foods is closely connected to the commercialization of food systems. Limiting their unrestrained growth may be critical to improving human and planetary health.
{"title":"Challenges for regulatory responses to ultra-processed foods","authors":"Martin White","doi":"10.1038/s43016-025-01138-7","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43016-025-01138-7","url":null,"abstract":"The emergence of ultra-processed foods is closely connected to the commercialization of food systems. Limiting their unrestrained growth may be critical to improving human and planetary health.","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":"6 3","pages":"230-231"},"PeriodicalIF":23.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143538988","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-03-03DOI: 10.1038/s43016-025-01134-x
Tailane Scapin, Helena Romaniuk, Alison Feeley, Karla P. Corrêa, Roland Kupka, Clara Gomez-Donoso, Liliana Orellana, Adyya Gupta, Gary Sacks, Adrian J. Cameron
Retail food environments influence food purchasing and dietary patterns. A global analysis of the food retail landscape allowing comparisons across geographical regions is therefore needed to tackle diet-related non-communicable diseases. Here we examine trends in retail food environments from 2009 to 2023 across 97 countries, exploring associations with changes in obesity prevalence. Increases were observed in the density of chain outlets, grocery sales from chain retailers, unhealthy food sales per capita and digital grocery sales; non-chain outlet density and the ratio of non-chain to chain outlets declined over time. South Asia and low- and middle-income countries overall experienced the most rapid transformation. Changes in retail environments and the prevalence of obesity were found to be positively correlated. As retail environments become increasingly digital and dominated by large chains, important implications for diets and health should be expected, particularly in lower-income countries. Understanding the impact of retail food environments on human health is key to food systems transformation. This study examines global trends in retail food environments over the past two decades, showing that changes in these environments are associated with the prevalence of obesity.
{"title":"Global food retail environments are increasingly dominated by large chains and linked to the rising prevalence of obesity","authors":"Tailane Scapin, Helena Romaniuk, Alison Feeley, Karla P. Corrêa, Roland Kupka, Clara Gomez-Donoso, Liliana Orellana, Adyya Gupta, Gary Sacks, Adrian J. Cameron","doi":"10.1038/s43016-025-01134-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43016-025-01134-x","url":null,"abstract":"Retail food environments influence food purchasing and dietary patterns. A global analysis of the food retail landscape allowing comparisons across geographical regions is therefore needed to tackle diet-related non-communicable diseases. Here we examine trends in retail food environments from 2009 to 2023 across 97 countries, exploring associations with changes in obesity prevalence. Increases were observed in the density of chain outlets, grocery sales from chain retailers, unhealthy food sales per capita and digital grocery sales; non-chain outlet density and the ratio of non-chain to chain outlets declined over time. South Asia and low- and middle-income countries overall experienced the most rapid transformation. Changes in retail environments and the prevalence of obesity were found to be positively correlated. As retail environments become increasingly digital and dominated by large chains, important implications for diets and health should be expected, particularly in lower-income countries. Understanding the impact of retail food environments on human health is key to food systems transformation. This study examines global trends in retail food environments over the past two decades, showing that changes in these environments are associated with the prevalence of obesity.","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":"6 3","pages":"283-295"},"PeriodicalIF":23.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-025-01134-x.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143532913","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-13DOI: 10.1038/s43016-025-01126-x
Jin Zhao, Na Li, Xiaoguang Yang, Zhanxiang Sun
{"title":"For the protection of black soils","authors":"Jin Zhao, Na Li, Xiaoguang Yang, Zhanxiang Sun","doi":"10.1038/s43016-025-01126-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43016-025-01126-x","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":"6 2","pages":"119-120"},"PeriodicalIF":23.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143401194","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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