This book examines the politics and narratives around so-called “superfoods” such as quinoa, kale and rooibos tea, discussing their links to intellectual property, marketing, venture capital and more.

This paper compares detailed nutritional properties of burgers made from a plant-based meat replacement (based on soy) and from grass-fed ground beef. It concludes that, although the macronutrient contents (e.g. protein, fat) of both options are similar enough that consumers reading nutrition labels may view them as nutritionally interchangeable, there are significant differences between the two in the levels of 171 out of 190 metabolites studied. 

This perspective article, co-authored by several Table members including Christian Reynolds, discusses the possibilities and challenges of using natural language processing and artificial intelligence to assess the nutritional and sustainability characteristics of recipes. The authors conclude that an interdisciplinary approach is necessary, combining artificial intelligence with expert domain knowledge.

This paper, by the Wellcome Trust-funded Oxford Livestock, Environment & People (LEAP) programme, finds that non-meat eaters, particularly vegans, have a higher total risk of bone fractures and some specific fracture types, such as hip fractures. After controlling for various confounding factors, the study finds that, relative to meat-eaters, vegans have a 2.31x higher risk of fractures; vegetarians have a 1.25x higher risk; and fish eaters have a 1.26x higher risk.

This paper examines the global nutrition transition and argues that coordinated action is necessary to reduce household food waste, decrease consumption of animal-source foods, limit the prevalence of overweight and eliminate hunger.

The UK’s Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN) reports that its members have distributed 175% more emergency food parcels during April 2020 than during April 2019. The data covers 112 organisations operating 213 independent food banks across the UK. The number of people supported by or referred to these food banks was 132% greater when comparing across the same time periods. 

This book looks at how local food biodiversity can help to improve nutrition. Chapters cover the impacts of poor diets, evidence for the role of biodiversity in supporting healthy diets, agroecology, public food procurement, youth-led innovations and reframing food systems narratives.

This commentary piece draws on the experience of nutrition labelling to explore whether environmental sustainability labelling on food products can encourage more sustainable food choices and contribute towards building a healthy, sustainable food system.

This book examines how communities of microorganisms (microbiomes) affect their multicellular hosts, including soil, plant, animal and human hosts. It discusses how microbiomes affect the behaviour, nutrition and disease susceptibility of their hosts.