Publications

Lancet Series: Ultra-Processed Foods and Human Health

The Lancet released a 3-paper series on Ultra-Processed Foods and Human Health on 18 November 2025. This series examines the growing prevalence of Ultra-Processed Foods (UPFs) in diets worldwide and highlights the association between UPF consumption and many non-communicable diseases.

The series reviews the rise in UPFs in diets globally, and the rise is driven by powerful global corporations that employ sophisticated political tactics to protect and maximise profits. Diet deterioration worldwide is an urgent public health threat that requires policies and advocacy coordination to regulate UPFs and improve access to whole foods and minimally processed foods. It is insufficient to rely on only education and behaviour change by individuals. The series provides a different vision for the food system with emphasis on local food producers, preserving cultural food transitions, and economic benefits for communities.

Read the Lancet Series on Ultra-Processed Foods and Human Health

ATNi’s New Publication: Applications of AI in Nutrition Research White Paper

The Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNi) has released a white paper titled Applications of AI in Nutrition Research. The report outlines the potential roles of artificial intelligence in supporting nutrition research, particularly in enhancing the efficiency of data collection and analysis. It also emphasises the value of pilot projects, which, despite requiring significant time and resources, generate rich datasets that can guide the more targeted use of AI in the field.

Overall, the paper serves two key purposes. First, it provides a roadmap for ATNi’s integration of AI into its mission—leveraging data-driven accountability, strategic partnerships, and innovative tools to drive improvements in nutrition across global food systems. Second, it acts as a knowledge-sharing resource for research organisations, offering guidance on how to navigate the opportunities and challenges of AI adoption while promoting responsible, evidence-based innovation.

Please click here to view the White Paper in full.

Stockholm Food Forum: Engage. Act. Transform.

The Stockholm Food Forum, the world’s leading science-based convening for food systems transformation, is set to take place from October 3rd to 4th.

Convened by EAT and co-hosted by the Government of Sweden, this global platform is where knowledge meets action to shape a healthy, sustainable, and just food future. It’s a vital meeting place for global thought leaders—from science, politics, business, and civil society—all committed to enacting real change in how the world produces, distributes, and consumes food.

A Major Scientific Milestone

A major highlight of the Forum will be the joint launch by EAT and The Lancet of the 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission.

This release is a significant update to one of the most widely cited food systems reports of the past decade. The 2025 Commission tackles a fundamental and urgent question: how do we feed a growing global population within planetary boundaries, all while ensuring justice and equity are central to the food systems transformation?

The launch of the 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission will set a new scientific benchmark for achieving a just and sustainable food future.

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IAEA NAHRES Newsletter No. 22

The Nutritional & Health-related Environmental Studies Section is excited to share its eNewsletter. 

In this issue:

  • Invitation to participate in IAEA-organized symposium and lecture at the IUNS-ICN from 24-29 August 2025
  • New training and education opportunities on stable isotope methods
  • New Lancet publication on the need to update human energy requirements
  • New results suggesting that dietary intake plays greater role than reduced energy expenditure in the elevated prevalence of obesity associated with economic development
  • Recorded webinar on the urea breath test for Helicobacter pylori infection diagnosis as part of the Community of Practice activities
  • Fifth episode of Nuclear in Nutrition Interview Series with a focus on adverse environmental exposures and nutrition linkages 
  • Success story on how nuclear techniques support the diagnosis of osteoporosis and sarcopenia in Mauritius’s elderly
  • Success story from Kenya highlighting the set-up of an obesity task force to develop national body weight management guidelines
  • New IAEA-supported research projects launched on optimizing human milk intake research and improving nutrition and clinical outcomes for patients receiving radiotherapy

Visit here to read the full newsletter.

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Insights from FAO report : The state of research on the interaction between food additives, the gut microbiome and the host

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) recently published a report on how food additives can affect the gut microbiome and our health. In today’s diets, many processed foods are present and additives are a big part of them.

The report explains to readers that gut microbiome is made up of trillions of bacteria living in our digestive system. These microbes help with digestion and immunity. When the balance of these microbes is disrupted (also known as dysbiosis), it can lead to problems such as obesity, diabetes and inflammation.

The report also explains what food additives are. Additives are substances added to food to make it taste better, last longer or make the food look more appealing. Here are a few examples of additives :

  • Emulsifiers
  • Sweeteners
  • Preservatives

Some of these additives might disturb the gut microbiome. For example, certain emulsifiers and sweeteners have been linked to reduced bacterial diversity and inflammation in animal studies.

This report shows that while not all additives are harmful, some may negatively affect gut bacteria. However, there isn’t enough research in humans yet, only in animals (such as germ-free mice for example). More studies are needed to understand how different additives impact gut health.

FAO suggests doing more long-term studies on humans, using better technology to study the microbiome and updating food safety rules to include microbiome effects. It also calls for more research to help guide safer food choices and regulations in the future.

For more information, check out the report.

Call for Papers – Special Issue on Nutritional Epidemiology: Advances in Cancer Prevention and Nutritional Management in Revista Chilena de Nutricion

The Revista Chilena de Nutricion, a peer-reviewed open access journal indexed in Scopus, SciELO, LILACS, and Clarivate Web of Science, is pleased to announce a Call for Papers for its upcoming Special Issue on Nutritional Epidemiology: Advances in Cancer Prevention and Nutritional Management.

This special issue will explore the most recent scientific advances on the role of nutrition in cancer prevention, treatment, and post-treatment care. We welcome original research articles, reviews, and short communications that contribute to the understanding and application of nutritional epidemiology in oncology, from both clinical and public health perspectives.

Key Details:

  • Submission deadline: June 30, 2025
  • Editor-in-Chief: Dr. Diego Garcia Diaz
  • Guest Editors: Dr. Carlos Celis-Morales (University of Glasgow) and Dr. Solange Parra-Soto (Universidad del Bío-Bío)
  • Publication fee: USD $300
  • Languages accepted: English or Spanish

This special issue provides an excellent platform for researchers and professionals to share their work on how nutrition can be leveraged to reduce cancer risk and improve outcomes. Don’t miss this opportunity to contribute to a vital and rapidly evolving field.

Call for Papers and submission details:
https://revistachilenadenutricion.com/call_for_papers

Karger Publishers Releases Free-Access eBook “Healthy Aging”

Designed for doctors and health enthusiasts, “Healthy Aging” contains surprising scientific discoveries and practical guidance on nutrition, healthy sleep, maintaining a social network and physical fitness to contribute to longevity.

The newly released eBook Healthy Aging simplifies the complex process of aging with helpful insights and guidance underscored by scientific discoveries to support people of all ages. Contrary to previous assumptions, the way we age depends primarily on the lifestyle we choose and less so on our genes. This book encourages readers to take control over the aging process in simple, well-defined ways. 

Written under the direction of Prof. Dr. Reto W. Kressig, Medical Director of the FELIX PLATTER University Centre for Geriatric Medicine, Basel, Switzerland, in collaboration with specialists from the fields of nutrition and sports science, theology, neurology, psychiatry, neuropsychology and geriatrics, this guidebook provides up-to-date knowledge on the mainstays of healthy aging.

Bibliographic Details 
Healthy Aging: A Guidebook for Doctors and Health Enthusiasts
Edited by Reto W. Kressig
ISBN electronic: 978-3-318-07395-9

The eBook is now available for download at karger.com/books/book/6026/Healthy-AgingA-Guidebook-for-Doctors-and-Health

New background information on the derivation of the German Food-Based Dietary Guidelines

Building upon two Federation of European Nutrition Societies (FENS) workshops on food-based dietary guidelines (Tetens et al., BJN 2020, Schäfer et al. BJN 2021), the German Nutrition Society conceptualized an optimization algorithm to derive their 2024 food-based dietary guidelines. The first methodological study focusing on the choice of food groups, the selection of an appropriate mathematical function and the comparison of different food groups is out now in PLOS One: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0313347

FAO New Publication: Sustainable nitrogen management in agrifood systems

Nitrogen is an essential element in the natural environment, forming critical compounds necessary for all living organisms. As it cycles through air, soil, and water, nitrogen is fundamental to ecosystem functionality. However, improper management of nitrogen in agrifood systems can degrade air, water, and soil quality, while excessive extraction from soils leads to soil degradation, biodiversity loss, and exacerbation of climate change.

This FAO report provides a comprehensive overview of nitrogen’s role, and the challenges associated with its use in agrifood systems. It explores solutions for improving nitrogen management in crop and livestock systems to enhance nitrogen use efficiency while reducing pollution. Additionally, it highlights the potential of circular bioeconomy approaches to optimize nitrogen management and minimize nitrogen losses. By adopting balanced nitrogen practices, agrifood systems can be transformed to ensure food security, improved nutrition, and sustainable livelihoods for farmers while minimizing negative environmental impacts.

Read Full Report

GAIN 2024 Food Systems Countdown Report

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) published the Food Systems Countdown Report 2024. This groundbreaking report is based on the peer-reviewed publication in Nature Food titled: Governance and resilience as entry points for transforming food systems in the countdown to 2030. 

Food systems are under significant pressure, grappling with widespread malnutrition, low wages and poor working conditions in food-related jobs, and the environmental toll of food production on planetary health. To address these challenges, a fundamental transformation of food systems is urgently required to better align them with social and environmental objectives.

The Food Systems Countdown Initiative is a global, interdisciplinary scientific collaboration that monitors this transformation. It regularly updates data on 50 food system indicators and conducts thematic analyses on critical food system issues. Such monitoring can help align decision-makers around key priorities, incentivise action, hold stakeholders accountable, sustain commitment by demonstrating progress, and enable course corrections.

The 2024 Countdown publications assess changes in indicator values since 2000, highlighting trends that reflect progress—or setbacks—towards desired outcomes. The findings reveal some reasons for optimism: globally, 20 of the 42 indicators with available time trends have improved on average. However, seven indicators have significantly worsened, and 15 show no notable progress, underscoring the need for accelerated efforts to achieve key global targets.

To read more, visit The Food System Countdown Initiative 2024 Publications page on the GAIN website.