Healthy Living
Nutrition, dietary patterns, and what “eat better” actually means when the science is messier than the headlines.
Browse 412 articlesEvidence-based food science · Brussels
Translating food science into decisions people can actually make.
For 30 years, EUFIC has worked with researchers, policy-makers and citizens across Europe to separate evidence from noise — on nutrition, food safety, sustainability, and the misinformation that travels faster than either.
What we work on
Four areas, one method: read the evidence, then explain it.
What's in Food
Ingredients, additives, fortification, allergens — the chemistry behind the label.
Browse 287 articlesFood Production
From farm to factory: how Europe grows, processes and packages what we eat.
Browse 196 articlesFood Safety
Risk, contamination, regulation. What the data says vs. what's trending on social.
Browse 318 articles
Longread · Nutrition
What “ultra-processed” actually means — and why the term is doing more work than the science supports.
The NOVA classification was designed for population-level epidemiology, not grocery shopping. We trace how a research framework became a moral category, and what the cohort data actually shows about processing, ingredients, and health outcomes.
Continue readingRecent work
Updated weekly by our science writers and reviewed by independent researchers.
Polyphenols, plant diversity, and the limits of the Mediterranean diet score
Why the same eating pattern produces different metabolic outcomes across Southern European cohorts.
Listeria outbreaks in chilled ready-meals: what changed in EU surveillance
ECDC data from 2023–2025 shows a shift in serotype distribution. Producers and regulators are adapting.
Crop rotation, carbon, and the protein transition Europe keeps postponing
Modelling work from three Horizon Europe consortia converges on the same uncomfortable conclusion.
Food Facts · Misinformation Watch
What’s being said online vs. what the evidence shows.
Claim
“Seed oils cause inflammation and should be eliminated from the diet.”
Evidence
Randomised trials and meta-analyses of linoleic acid intake show no consistent inflammatory effect in humans. Replacing saturated fats with seed oils is associated with reduced cardiovascular events.
Read full analysisClaim
“Microplastics in food are a proven cause of cancer in humans.”
Evidence
Microplastics have been detected in human tissue, but no controlled study has established carcinogenicity in humans. EFSA classifies the risk as currently uncharacterised, not confirmed.
Read full analysisWe work with
Funded research consortia across the European Union.