Transforming the Food Industry to Support Healthy Consumer Choices

In late November, Upfield hosted a Symposium on Dietary Lipids and Public Health, in partnership with FoodBev Media. This drew experts from across the globe to join a conversation about consumer confusion, “good fats” and “bad fats,” and the food industry’s role in supporting public health.

Key points of consensus from a panel that included Prof Antonis Zampelas (Agricultural University of Athens, University College London), Prof Ingeborg Brouwer (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) and Dr Elke Trautwein (Kiel University) were:

1. The need to move to a more plant-based food system, to protect and promote public health.
2. Support for increased consumer education to clarify guidance around “healthy fats” and “bad fats,” through national dietary guidelines and clear visual aids.
3. A call for regulation to place plant-based foods on an equal footing with meat and dairy, by stopping exemptions vis-à-vis product labelling and disclosure.

“Consumers are confused by multiple studies making conflicting health claims about saturated fats. These are often meta-analyses conducted without paying attention to the nutritional context of the studies and can vastly misinterpret the data and the quality of research,” said Ingeborg Brouwer, Professor of Nutrition for Healthy Living, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam. “To ensure consumers are not confused by conflicting messages, we must ensure our claims are based on the totality of evidence as judged by experts in the field of nutrition and health.”

The session was broadcast via live webinar where a recorded version remains online, and participants hope it will be instructive in helping the food industry use insights from public health experts to inform product development and communication with consumers.

The symposium was an active example of the food industry learning from academia in the public health field, and paves the way for clear, accurate consumer education in future, the company said. Additionally, Upfield Global Director of Scientific Affairs Paul Whitehouse called for further collaboration between the private and public sectors, and with academia, to support consumers in making healthy choices and decreasing the risk of diet-related chronic disease.