Clearing up confusion: Expert talks research and knowledge gaps into healthy and sustainable diets

24 Nov 2023 --- While ongoing consumer interest in healthy and sustainable diets exists, scientists point to a gap in understanding these complex topics. At the recent Free From Food show in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Nutrition Insight met up with Dr. Jenneke Heising, program director at Wageningen University and Research, to examine ongoing discussions and how research aims to expand knowledge on what is healthy.

She highlights that following dietary guidelines has the most significant effect on health.

“I think our diet contains too many cookies, sugary drinks and chocolate — it’s becoming part of our normal consumption. At the same time, the portion sizes are increasing. While these products can fit perfectly in your diet, consumers must make choices, which is difficult for people.” 

According to Heising, discussions on what is healthy in food arise from unclear definitions, with people, companies and scientists assigning different meanings to what is healthy. 

She urges that communication needs to be improved: “For the general public, I think many people are confused because what is healthy and sustainable? They want a simple answer, but if we give consumers a logo that doesn’t tell the whole story.”

The food system also needs to be changed, underscores Heising. Companies, especially smaller brands, need help selling their stories of how their products are healthy or sustainable. 

Processed foods 
Heising sees a similar confusion in the definitions of “processed foods.” While she agrees that refined products are unhealthy, as these contain fewer nutrients with extra energy, she cautions that “processing” is too broad and creates confusion among consumers.

“At home, people wash, cut and cook vegetables before consuming them. You do the same thing that is done in a factory, and the factory environment doesn’t make it unhealthy.” 

Heising cautions that the term “processing” is too broad and creates confusion among consumers.“We need to agree as policymakers and scientists on definitions. For example, there are different definitions for dietary fiber from chemical, nutritional, and legal perspectives, which differ in the EU and the US. So how can the consumer know what it means?” 

Heising adds that food labeling focuses on one specific “healthy” detail. For example, a product label concentrates only on its fruit content, while these contain sweeteners and healthy compounds.

Consumer understanding  
Heising highlights that understanding what is healthy among consumers can take a long time. 

“I saw a study comparing what consumers thought was dangerous to their health about 30 years ago. At the time, e-numbers were the biggest concern, while people thought an unbalanced diet was less important. Meanwhile, scientists said that food safety and unbalanced diets were the most important issues.” 

The study was repeated in 2008, when researchers found that consumers agree more with scientists. When the researchers repeated the investigation last year, consumers learned that e-numbers are not very unhealthy, but an unbalanced diet is a problem. 

Making food healthier  
Heising warns that as manufacturers attempt to make food products healthier, this may also affect a product’s shelf life. 

“For example, if you remove salt or sugars, then you change the texture of a food and the water activity — a measure for the available water present for microorganisms to grow.” 

In a powder, microorganisms cannot grow because there’s no water available for them. In products with high amounts of salt or sugar, such as in a jam, there is also limited water available for microorganisms. 

“But if you remove salt or the sugar, the water activity becomes higher, and a product’s shelf life can also become shorter,” Heising cautions.

She highlights that it’s not only about a product’s taste or texture. In product reformulation, companies also need to consider the shelf life and product safety when they remove or add components. 

Healthy, clean label, plant-based and natural were the key themes at this year’s Free From Food fair in Amsterdam.Sustainability communication  
In sustainability, Heising asserts that it is challenging to communicate this complex topic to consumers without creating confusion. 

“We should educate what is sustainable and which elements we analyze. It can be about greenhouse gas emissions, water use and social sustainability, such as human rights and child labor.” 

She suggests that an independent organization should determine sustainable practices and how products score on those, highlighting that international standards do not check the term or claim “sustainable.” 

Heising notes that reducing food waste is a critical issue in sustainability. She applauds digital pricing systems that help prevent food waste by giving discounts to products close to their sell-by date. 

“We could prevent food waste much more if we can already start from the beginning and, based on the quality of the food, separate and direct foods in a specific direction.” 

In addition to food waste, she urges that “we need to move toward more plant-based products, or at least reducing animal-based products. These do not have to be eliminated, but we need to eat less.” 

Ongoing research 
Heising details that several ongoing and upcoming research projects are assessing healthy and sustainable foods at Wageningen University and Research, for example, looking at alternative proteins, such as insects. 

“Insects are alternative protein sources, but we need to study their safety as insects may also carry viruses,” she explains. “Moreover, if we need to use high levels of energy or water to extract protein from insects, it may also not be sustainable.” 

“You don’t want to produce isolates if you go toward alternative protein sources. Preferably, you want the whole source. We’re studying the properties of that.”  

Next year, the university also plans to explore plant-based meat analogs for their impact on health in the EXPLAIN project. In this project, researchers will conduct a controlled dietary human clinical trial — providing all meals to participants — to evaluate the health impact of current meat analogs compared to meat regarding cardiometabolic health and microbiota. 

Moreover, the project aims to re-engineer meat analogs for health by improving formulation and process, directed by an in-vitro health assessment. 

By Jolanda van Hal