How food industry funding shapes nutrition science has barely been studied. What exists shows severe distortion.
In 44 beef and heart disease trials, for example, zero industry-funded studies found unfavorable results, and zero independent studies found favorable ones (López-Moreno et al. 2025).
Thousands of studies examine how pharma funding biases drug research. How many examine food industry funding of nutrition research? As of 2018, eleven (Nestle, 2019). A comprehensive review since found industry-sponsored studies are 30x more likely to report results favoring the sponsor (NAS, 2023).
14. The digest also includes headlines on news across markets, industry and health and nutrition. iffs.earth/wp-content/u...
13. Sixty-five companies are quietly blending plant protein into conventional meat products, reducing beef content by 30-50% while cutting costs and maintaining consumer satisfaction.
Food System Innovations (Industry report) static1.squarespace.com/static/673fa...
12. Food causes 17% of household emissions in San Mateo County (CA) but appears in only 3 of 19 Climate Action Plans - staff simply don't know where to start. This report's progression model is worth replicating.
Sustainable San Mateo County Indicators Report sustainablesanmateo.org/home/indicat...
11. Global finance flows harming nature outpace those protecting it by 33:1. IPBES’ report, approved by 150 governments, confirms that agriculture is among the sectors doing the most damage. Voluntary action won't close the gap.
Jones et al. (IPBES Secretariat)
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.15369060
10. Groundbreaking analysis finds that EU subsidies directed 580x more money to beef and lamb than to legumes in 2020, with animal foods capturing 77% of the entire CAP budget. CAP subsidies accounted for 96% of beef & lamb producer income.
Foodrise Policy Report
foodrise.eu/wp-content/u...
9. Converting all 1.5 billion ha of global cropland to conservation agriculture, the authors argue, is the most scalable, ready-to-deploy agricultural practice for returning to within planetary boundaries.
Rockstrom et al. (Global Sustainability)
DOI: 10.1017/sus.2025.10045
8. Willingness to reduce meat consumption didn't vary by age, income, or education in the United Arab Emirates, suggesting redesigning food environments will create more impact than awareness campaigns.
Cheikh Ismael et al. (Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems) DOI: 10.3389/fsufs.2026.1622234
7. Nearly half of US adults don't know processed meat is classified in the same cancer-risk category as tobacco. Once aware, 64% support warning labels.
PCRM / Morning Consult National survey (n=2,202) pcrm.widen.net/s/vpq8fcgxff...
6. Seven different methods for measuring the EAT-lancet diet produced different conclusions about micronutrient adequacy. The debates about plant-forward diets often reflect measurement disagreements vs. reality.
Stubbendorff et al. (Lancet Planetary Health)
DOI: 10.1016/j.lanplh.2025.101416
5. A commercial fishing ban on the Yangtze River tripled fish biomass & halted seven decades of biodiversity decline within two years. The strongest evidence to date that structural intervention can reverse ecological collapse.
Xiong, et al. (Science)
DOI: 10.1126/science.adu5160
4. The first RCT data on biological micronutrient status finds fortified PBMAs consistently more nutrient dense than animal-based meats; the latter did not generate a significant increase in the status of a single nutrient.
Fu et al. (Clinical Nutrition)
DOI: 10.1016/j.clnu.2026.106610
3. Across the world, whole-food plant-based diets consistently cost 16-40% less than omnivorous diets. The bigger obstacle: high-income country consumers believe the reverse is true.
Goldman & Nagra (Academia Nutrition & Dietetics)
DOI: 10.20935/AcadNutr8137
2. The most rigorous global deforestation attribution model to date finds that cattle pasture drives 42% of all commodity-driven deforestation & over half its carbon emissions.
Singh & Persson (Nature Food)
DOI: 10.1038/s43016-026-01305-4
1. Grasslands & wetlands are disappearing at ~4x the rate of forests, with two-thirds of that destruction tracing back to livestock supply chains. The most comprehensive supply-chain evidence yet that land governance must look beyond deforestation.
Lesiv et al. (PNAS)
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2521183123
Key takeaways from our second monthly digest, featuring some of February's most impactful and interesting studies, reports and news.
February's evidence hits hardest on land and money.
iffs.earth/wp-content/u...
11. News links - see report for URLs iffs.earth/wp-content/u...
10. According to industry, meat waste costs retailers around $94bn a year - nearly a fifth of the $540bn global food waste bill. Yet, the opportunities for plant-based alternatives barely feature in the solutions.
Avery Dennison Industry Report
www.averydennison.com/en/home/unlo...
9. UK consumption of meat has fallen over 20 years, but growing exports prop up production. Cutting demand alone won't cut emissions - production must fall too to meet environmental goals.
Green Alliance Policy Report
green-alliance.org.uk/publication/...
8. Five low-cost, widely available herbs and spices (black cumin, garlic, fenugreek, amla, and cinnamon) demonstrate cholesterol reductions comparable to dietary fiber interventions.
Goldman, D. & Nagra, M. (Academia Nutrition & Dietetics)
doi.org/10.20935/Aca...
7. Small farms (20ha or less) supply around a third of all food consumed in high-income nations, complicating transition narratives & highlighting critical policy gaps for food security.
Taherzadeh et al. (Nature Food)
www.nature.com/articles/s43...
6. Dynamic social norm messaging, like "more people are choosing plant-based", can increase the likelihood of people choosing a plant-based meal by almost 20%.
Edwards et al. (Food Quality & Preference)
doi.org/10.1016/j.fo...
5. Equitable food systems have been systematically undermined. 114 publications spanning 80+ years show corporations gained binding trade protections, while food security & nutrition governance stayed voluntary & under-resourced.
Slater et al. (Globalization & Health)
doi.org/10.1186/s129...
4. Not all ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are equal: health risks concentrate in animal-based products while plant-based UPFs show protective associations, including decreased cardiovascular and diabetes risk.
Kahleova, H. et al. (BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health)
doi.org/10.1136/bmjn...
3. Zero of 12 countries (accounting for >50% of the global population) provides enough vegetables or nuts, while there is an oversupply of animal products. A mismatch between food supply & nutrition needs that four policy levers can help fix.
Fischer et al. (Health Affairs)
doi.org/10.1377/hlth...
2. Removing EU VAT breaks on meat could cut food-related environmental damage by up to 5.7% at a net cost of just €5-11 per person/yr when revenue is redistributed. An immediately deployable policy lever.
Plinke et al. (Nature Food)
www.nature.com/articles/s43...
1. 78% of EU and UK fixed agricultural assets are linked to animal-sourced foods, creating up to €255 billion in risk exposure, depending on the pace of dietary transition towards more plant-forward diets.
Kortleve et al. (Nature Food) www.nature.com/articles/s43...
Key takeaways from our new “Studies & Reports of the Month” digest, featuring some of the most impactful and interesting studies, reports and news of the month.
February's digest coming soon.
iffs.earth/wp-content/u...
📈Oil prices are spiking after escalation around Iran.
🥣 Food prices likely next.
1/2 the world’s calories depend on synthetic fertilizer made from fossil #gas – 1/4 of that trade passes through the Strait of Hormuz.
This is a food access issue.
👉 #FuelToFork
ipes-food.org/report/fuel-...