Industry Watch
03 March 2026
In a new study, researchers from Harvard, the University of Michigan and Duke University examined how the design, marketing and distribution of ultra-processed foods mirror those of industrial tobacco products.
They found that ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are engineered to heighten reward and accelerate delivery of reinforcing ingredients, driving compulsive consumption and disrupting appetite regulation. They identify this as a growing challenge for health policy.
As UPFs share key engineering strategies adopted from the tobacco industry, such as dose optimisation and hedonic manipulation, researchers suggest these parallels should inform how we classify and regulate UPFs. They say that policy tools that helped reduce tobacco-related harm should now be adapted to address the public-health threat posed by UPFs.
24 February 2026
Lindsey Marston, the BDA’s Policy and Campaigns Manager, explores how recent changes to legislation represent ‘a critical evidence-based shift towards food policy that strengthens the food environment and protects people, especially children, from unhealthy food promotion’.
Talking about why this matters for the profession, she says:
They help reshape the food environment.
The measures help reduce exposure to unhealthy foods.
They support efforts to close health inequalities.
17 February 2026
The 39th Annual Medical & Scientific Conference 2026 - Advancing CVD Prevention, will take place from Tuesday, 30 June to Thursday, 2 July 2026 at the East Midlands Conference Centre (Nottingham), marking an exciting new venue for 2026.
The leading conference for medical, scientific, healthcare and student attendees with an interest in lipids, atherosclerosis, cholesterol conditions, cardiovascular disease and nutrition, involved in primary and secondary care or industry.
22nd December 2025
GNOME has been developed through a joint commitment between the Physicians Association of Nutrition (PAN) International and NNEdPro Global Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health.
GNOME will act as a global hub and observatory for the generation of evidence, knowledge sharing, policy discussion, and capacity development in medical nutrition education.
GNOME will be released in phases, it will begin with regional activity and then extend gradually to support global collaboration, learning, and impact.
26th November 2025
Researchers at the University of Nottingham’s School of Psychology carried out a food categorisation task which involved 168 participants from the UK.
The study participants classified various supermarket food products into environmental impact categories which they defined and labelled themselves. The study participants were then shown each food product's scientific impact estimate on the environment and they stated whether they were surprised by how low or high each impact was.
The study findings showed that there were a number of misconceptions surrounding the environmental impact of food.
