In collaboration with Vital Strategies, a leading global public health organization, the Global Food Research Program at UNC has published ‘What’s in Our Food? A guide to introducing effective front-of-package nutrient labels.’ The new guide assists countries in taking up this cost-effective, high impact strategy to combat obesity. On Sept. 17, Barry Popkin, PhD, participated […]
Metanalysis shows obesity is a major risk factor for COVID complications
New analysis led by UNC-Chapel Hill’s Barry Popkin, PhD, shows that obesity plays a major role in the severity of consequences experienced by those who become infected with the coronavirus. Popkin, W.R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor in the Department of Nutrition at the UNC Gillings Global School of Public Health, is lead author of “Individuals […]
As Americans consume less sugar, consumption of sugar substitutes is on the rise
Though American households are purchasing fewer food and beverage products that are sweetened with sugar, they’re purchasing more products that include non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS) like aspartame, saccharin, rebaudioside A (reb-A) and sucralose. A new study from researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill published today (July 29, 2020) in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics […]
In response to nutrition warning labels, manufacturers reformulate unhealthy foods
Mandatory nutrition warning labels on packaged junk foods may lead manufactures to reformulate their products with less sodium and sugar, exposing consumers to fewer harmful nutrients in their diets. In new research published in PLOS Medicine, researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Chile found there were important […]
In Chile, television ads for unhealthy foods has dropped dramatically since 2016 regulations
Chile’s 2016 Food Labeling and Advertising Law has led to a significant decrease in the amount of child-directed television advertisements for foods and beverages high in calories, saturated fats, sugars, or sodium on channels with the largest Chilean youth audiences, suggesting that children in Chile are now less exposed to unhealthy food advertising. These findings […]
U.S. children are consuming less junk food, but it still dominates their diets
A recent analysis from researchers at UNC’s Global Food Research Program (GFRP) shows that, although U.S. children are consuming less junk food overall, their diets are still dominated by less healthy foods. Such results show the importance of sustained policy discussions surrounding how foods and beverages are marketed to children – and those who care […]
Adults in Mexico are consuming fewer soft drinks three years into its sugary-beverage tax
Three years after Mexico implemented a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, the country’s adults are drinking fewer soft drinks, according to new findings from an international team of researchers. The team examined the self-reported soft-drink intake of participants in the three phases of Mexico’s Health Workers Cohort Study – a self-administered survey on health and lifestyle […]
UNC researchers project positive gains for children a year after Mexico’s sugary beverage tax
New research finds that Mexico’s 10-percent tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB), implemented in 2014, could result in meaningful weight control for the country’s children and adolescents, particularly in those who had been high consumers of the beverages before the tax. Barry Popkin, PhD, is a co-author on “Body weight impact of the sugar-sweetened beverages tax […]
The problem with COVID-related vitamin C claims
Can high doses of vitamin C treat or prevent COVID-19? It’s a question posed frequently on social media and in the news, especially as a new clinical trial is underway in Wuhan, China to investigate vitamin C infusion for the treatment of severe 2019-nCoV infected pneumonia. The Global Food Research Project’s Lindsey Smith Taillie, PhD, […]
Innovative online grocery store model takes nutrition research to a new level
Researchers have developed a new online store that can be used for testing the impact of different policies and interventions on consumers’ purchasing behavior. Lola’s Grocery was designed to have the look and feel of a typical modern online grocery. Users can search for a bag of organic Gala apples or a carton of white […]
Sugary Drink purchases plunge following Chile’s new Food Law
A study by our GFRP team & our Chilean collaborators, published 11 Feb 2020 in PLOS Medicine, finds that Chile’s Law of Food Labeling and Advertising, implemented in 2016, was followed by a significant 23.7% decline in purchases of sugary drinks. This research, following changes in purchases of over 2000 households in Chile, is the […]
The double burden of malnutrition in The Lancet
A new approach is needed to help low- and middle-income countries reduce obesity and undernutrition at the same time as the issues become increasingly connected, according to the first paper in a four-paper report published in The Lancet. “We are facing a new nutrition reality where major food system changes have led the poorest countries […]
Ng quoted in USA Today article on proposed sugary drink tax in CT
Shuwen Ng is quoted in a USA Today article about the proposed statewide sugary drink tax in Connecticut, and the article presents an infographic sourced from our maps of sugary drink taxes throughout the world. Connecticut may become the first state in the country to tax sugar-sweetened beverages if Gov. Ned Lamont has his way. […]
Studies showing how food companies work to affect government policies
Barry Popkin is quoted in a New York Times article discussing two recently published studies that show how multinational food companies can affect nutrition and health policies that come from various governments. China’s fitness-is-best message, as it happens, has largely been the handiwork of Coca-Cola and other Western food and beverage giants, according to a […]
Peru enacts Front of Package Warning labels for “junk” foods
The Peruvian government has issued a final Advertising Warnings Manual to require warning labels on packages of and adverts for foods that contain high levels of sugar, saturated fat, and sodium, as well as those containing trans-fat. A letter of congratulations to the Peruvian Government from various top scientists, researchers, and professionals in the areas […]
CPC Fellows Popkin, Ng and Taillie receive funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies to evaluate the implications of policies on food purchasing patterns, diets, and health
The GFRP team has been awarded funding to study food purchasing patterns, diets, and health and how government policies about these can impact human health. The funding is provided by Bloomberg Philanthropies. Work is underway in Mexico and Chile in evaluating major food and nutrition policies, and the team is working with a number of […]
Healthier WIC food package leads to change in food-buying habits
A new study, led by Shu Wen Ng, published online in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, found that changes in the food choices and nutritional content of WIC packages has produced improvements in overall food purchase habits among program participants. The USDA made changes to the WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children) […]
GFRP Researchers quoted in Vox article covering success of junk food taxes
An article published January 17, 2018 on Vox highlights the successes of junk food taxes enacted in two countries (Mexico & Hungary), summarizes a recently published AJPH article from NYU & Tufts researchers making the case for a junk food tax, and quotes both Drs. Barry Popkin and Lindsey Smith Taillie on junk food spending […]
Colombia: Study predicts less sugary drink consumption with tax
GFRP researchers predict a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages in Colombia would lead to a decrease in purchases of those sugary drinks and a move toward healthier food choices in a new study published online December 20 in PLOS One. Juan Carlos Caro and team used data from the Colombia National Income and Expenditures Survey to estimate the price […]
Researchers ponder the saturated fat comeback as sodium, sugar decrease in processed foods
A Washington Post article highlights a new government report that shows many packaged food and beverage products enter and exit the marketplace in a short period of time, and from 2009-2012 the nutrients in such products changed. Food manufacturers have created new packaged products with less sodium and sugar, but more saturated fat than the […]