The Nordic Food Policy Lab, which collects and curates Nordic food policy solutions responding to the UN Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals, has launched a new email newsletter, Frontiers of Food. The newsletter will contain the latest updates, thoughts and case studies on innovative food policy around the world.

This book, by Sirpa Sarlio, explores various aspects of the environmental, social and economic sustainability of the global food system, discusses health and sustainability aspects of specific foods including insects and meat substitutes and sets out options for promoting healthy and sustainable diets.

A sugar tax came into force in the UK on 6 April. Soft drinks manufacturers will be levied 18p per litre of drink that contains more than 5 grams of sugar per 100ml. Unsweetened fruit juices and milk are exempt.

FCRN member Corné van Dooren defended his PhD thesis at VU University Amsterdam on 20 March 2018 on the topic of optimising both nutritional quality and environmental sustainability of diets.

This book by Parke Wilde gives updated information on food policy in the United States. The second edition includes more detail on food justice and economic methods.

This article examines the toxicity of ‘adjuvants’ in pesticides. Commercial pesticide formulations contain the active ingredient and various other chemicals - adjuvants - such as surfactants, antifoaming agents, preservatives, solvents and dyes. Adjuvants are generally neglected by health risk assessments of pesticides in the United States and the European Union. This paper uses the examples of glyphosate and neonicotinoids to illustrate that adjuvants can result in pesticides being significantly more toxic than the active ingredient alone. The paper calls for changes in regulation.

This report from the Nordic Council of Ministers assesses two future food scenarios for the Nordic countries on the basis of nutrition and environmental impacts.

In this study, researchers investigated two message strategies – message framing and the refutation of misinformation – to evaluate their effectiveness in persuading consumers to reduce meat consumption and increase the intake of plant-based alternatives. The study also takes into account people’s prior beliefs (previous knowledge or factual beliefs) about the health and climate impacts of red meat consumption.

A former lobbyist for the Snack Food Association and the Corn Refiners Association (whose members make high-fructose corn syrup) has been granted a waiver of conflict of interest rules, enabling her to advise the US Department of Agriculture on dietary guidelines.