Table Talk

Do you understand what the various health claims on food packaging actually mean for your nutrition? If not, you’re not alone. Food health claims can be confusing to shoppers and manufacturers alike, with regulations muddying the waters and consumers in different countries being skeptical around the claims brands make. How can the health claims on food be simplified, in a way that is transparent and understandable for everyone? Joining host Stefan Gates this week is Professor of Sociolinguistics, Rodney Jones from the University of Reading. Funded by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, Rodney is the lead of the Health Claims Unpacked project, which is looking at how language around health claims can be improved to make them more appealing and understandable. Why do Italian consumers prefer to buy products with no health claims, why do some manufacturers in France simply not bother to use them, and how do linguistics affect our impression of the benefits of the food we eat? Join the conversa

The global ice cream market is expected to hit $75bn by 2024 and to maintain growth brands are constantly having to innovate new recipes and flavours, while responding to changing consumer demands prompted by challenges including Covid-19 and climate change. Is changing consumer demand leading to a surge in plant-based, healthier and more sustainable ice cream? To find out we’re joined by the true experts in the field, Tetra Pak and Mintel. Tetra Pak equipment and lines are responsible for the production of as much as 50% of the world’s ice cream, and Mintel are the world’s leading market intelligence agency tracking consumer opinions and trends to develop an understanding of what consumers want and why.  About our guests Torben Vilsgaard, Ice Cream Academy Manager, Tetra Pak Torben Vilsgaard is Ice Cream Academy Manager at Tetra Pak, the leading producer of ice cream equipment. In this role, Torben focuses on performance and quality. His work entails starting up the Academy, where he plans and execut

In this day and age we’ve got apps for everything - travel, making new connections, and of course to help us improve our mental and physical health and well-being. With research showing how important gut health is to mental and physical health, will digital apps to improve your gut health be the next in your download queue? Our guest on this podcast, our second in a series focused on mHealth, certainly thinks so. We’re joined by André Sommer, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Cara Care. Andre will explain why personalised gut health insight is so important, how it can help improve our health, and what the future could look like in the mHealth space. Join the conversation on Table Talk. About our guest André Sommer, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Cara Care Cara Care is a Berlin-based HealthTech startup, founded in 2016 by Andre Sommer, Dankrad Feist, Jesaja Brinkmann and Orest Tarasiuk. The business is run by a team of nutritionists, psychologists and other medical experts helping to create a truly holistic, specialist a

The UK Government National Food Strategy, led by Henry Dimbleby the founder of restaurant chain Leon, has submitted a set of recommendations to help the nation become healthier, reduce obesity and become more sustainable. Will the strategy form the foundation of a healthier future? Or do we need to look deeper at key issues that face our dysfunctional food system? The Table Talk Podcast has spoken to the leading voices in the country to find out how we can fix our broken food system, and build a secure future. In this episode we look back to conversations with Tim Lang, Professor of Food Policy at City University London’s Centre for Food Policy, Jo Churchill MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Prevention, Public Health and Primary Care, Chris Venables, Head of Politics, Green Alliance and Dr Michael Clark, Researcher, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford to discuss the scale of the problems the UK faces, what the government proposes to do to fix them, and whether meat and

This week we once again explore the UK Environment Bill, and how it will impact food brands and manufacturers. Following last weeks look at deforestation, we now turn our attention towards packaging. With the bill placing more responsibility on producers to make changes to their packaging in order for them to be easily recyclable, we look at how food brands will need to adapt to help the environment. Joining us are two experts in packaging and sustainability Martin Hyde, Policy Leader, Comply Direct and Julian Hunt, Vice President Public Affairs & Communications, Coca Cola European Partners. They explain what the new legislation means for the environment and how food brands will need to adapt. Join the conversation on Table Talk. About our panel Martin Hyde, Policy Leader, Comply Direct Martin is the dedicated Policy Leader at Comply Direct Ltd, responsible for engaging members in environmental legislation and regulation change, informing both internal and external stakeholders on key policy devel

The UK Environment Bill aims to ensure that UK-based companies are transparent about their supply chains and their impact on deforestation and proposes fines for those who don’t adhere.  What will this new legislation mean for food and drink brands, why is it important, and does it go far enough? Joining Table Talk this week to share their views are Sam Lawson, Founding Director, Earthsight, Alice Lucas, Advocacy and Policy Manager, Fairtrade Foundation and Robert Sheasby, Chief Executive, The Agricultural Industries Confederation. About our panel Sam Lawson, Founding Director, Earthsight Earthsight is a non-profit organisation committed to harnessing the power of primary investigative research and reporting to bring attention to pressing issues of human rights and environmental justice. We aim to get to the core of an issue, using a range of investigative research methods to obtain first-hand, documented evidence of crimes against both people and the planet which is irrefutable and impossible to

With traditional farming using 77% of agricultural land, but only providing 18% of the world's calories, it's clear our food system is fairly dysfunctional. 69% of the EU's protein-rich feed, such as soya, is imported, contributing to a growing climate crisis. With 1kg of insect protein using 99.4% less land than soy, the main ingredient in animal feed, will the insect farming offer a sustainable solution for the future? To find out, we speak to Keiran Whitaker, Founder and Director, Entocycle. Entocycle is a British insect farming startup that directly addresses all of these scary inefficiencies in our current food system. The company takes a ‘circular economy’ approach to production, it takes in pre-consumer food waste such as spent coffee grounds and beer grains and utilises insect’s natural bio-conversion process to convert this waste into natural, protein-rich insects to feed animals. Join us for a fascinating look into the potential for insect farming in the UK, and the positive impact it can have on o

Professor Robert Thomas is leading the Phyto-V study to understand the impact of gut health on COVID-19. The purpose of the study is to determine if nutritional interventions could help shorten the severity or duration of illness for those infected with the virus. In this latest Table Talk we sit down to talk to Professor Thomas to find out all about this new study. Whilst it is widely known about the gut health brain axis, the gut health lung pathway is less known. The study explores whether phytochemicals and probiotics have a role to play in aiding faster recovery from Covid. We'll explore the results to date and what this means for our diet, what food we should be eating, and how we it affects severity and duration of COVID-related illness. It's a fascinating look further into the world of gut health, join the conversation on Table Talk. About Professor Robert Thomas Professor Robert Thomas is a full time NHS Consultant Oncologist at Bedford and Addenbrooke's Hospitals, a teacher at Cambridge Universi

Could mobile health apps, known as mHealth, be the answer to managing food allergies for those who live with them? Millions of patients suffering from allergic diseases may benefit from mHealth innovations. The European Academy of Allergy & Clinical Immunology created a task force to assess the development and future potential of ICT in the field of allergy. Food allergy apps could play a significant role for different stakeholders, including patients and patient organisations, GPs and the food industry. Joining Table Talk to explain the opportunities, the potential, and the risks around food-allergy supporting mHealth are James Gardner, Allergy Nurse Consultant, Great North Children’s Hospital and Professor Michael Rudenko MD, PHD, FAAAAI, Allergy Consultant, Specialist in Allergy and Immunology, Medical Director and Founder of London Allergy and Immunology Centre. We explore this expanding sector and take a look at what the future might hold for mHealth and food allergy management. About our guests J

Health and wellbeing has become central to many of our lives with health-conscious consumers demanding natural products made with pure and simple ingredients. Immune health has garnered particular attention owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and the desire for people to choose functional foods that help support their immune system. The Caribbean has historically been a tropical haven for a range of plant-based or natural ingredients. It’s therefore no surprise that the region is seeing a surge in demand for these natural products. With increased demand, the question of sustainability becomes of paramount importance, not only in terms of preserving the quality and potency of the product during production, but also ensuring farmers and local communities are not compromised or marginalised but in fact benefit from the surge in demand. In this podcast we hear from academics, food and drink industry experts and Caribbean exporters on the functional benefits of seamoss, more commonly known as Irish moss, turmeric, mo

The Health Survey for England 2019 estimates that 28% of adults in England are obese, with a further 36% categorised as overweight. For children, 9.9% of 4-5 year olds are obese, growing to 21% by the time they reach 10-11. It's clear that obesity is a major problem in the country, but what are the psychological factors that influence obesity? Can an understanding of psychology help when trying to change the way we interact with food? Joining us to discuss this is Dr Lisa Newson, BSc (Hons), MSc, D Health Psyc. CPsychol. Reader in Applied Health Psychology, Health Psychologist, Liverpool John Moores University. Dr. Newson provides a comprehensive background on the psychological factors that come into play, how they affect the way we make food choices, and what can be done to turn the tide for the future. About Dr. Lisa Newson Dr. Lisa Newson, BSc (Hons), MSc, D Health Psyc. CPsychol. Reader in Applied Health Psychology, Health Psychologist, Liverpool John Moores University. Dr Newson is a Reader in Applie

With a growing climate crisis, and population, food and beverage brands are facing the difficult question of how to produce more while impacting the environment less. The need to utilise our natural resources sustainably has never been greater, and on this podcast we look back at conversations we've had with three well-known brands who are putting sustainability at the heart of their organisations. We speak to David Wilkinson, Senior Director Agriculture, PepsiCo Europe, Anna Pierce, Director of Sustainability, Tate & Lyle, and Katie Leggett, Sustainability Cheerleader, Innocent Drinks to find out how their brands are approaching their sustainability challenges in order to improve their credentials within their organisations and supply chains. Join the conversation on Table Talk. About our panel Anna Pierce, Director of Sustainability, Tate & Lyle Anna Pierce is the Director of Sustainability at Tate & Lyle, a 160-year-old business-to-business ingredient supplier. She is working to refocus the

With the active lifestyle and sports nutrition markets growing exponentially, how will this group of consumers meet their dietary needs sustainably in the future? Insect cultivation uses a fraction of the land, energy and water required for traditional farming, and has a significantly lower carbon footprint. Crickets produce up to 80% less methane than cows and 8-12 times less ammonia than pigs, for example. Could insect protein be the sustainable solution for the climate-conscious active lifestyle consumer? Our guests on this episode of the Table Talk Podcast both think so. We're joined by Tim Boote, Founder, Protein Rebel and Antoine Hubert, Chairman & CEO, Ÿnsect, to hear how insects offer an alternative, sustainable source that is less impactful when compared to meat and dairy and offers a protein and vitamin-rich punch. Join the conversation on Table Talk. About our panel Tim Boote, Founder, Protein Rebel Tim is the founder of clean and sustainable sports nutrition brand, Protein Rebel. Launched

In the next 5 years, the top 20 global consumer packaged goods companies are expected to experience slower growth than their smaller category competitors. As consumer expectations and behaviours have shifted in recent years, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, food and beverage brands need to search for growth in new ways and different places. Will innovating and disrupting the establishment be the secret to growth for food brands, or will new partnerships and category convergence create the biggest opportunities?   To help us answer these questions and more, we speak to global professional services company and technology leader Accenture to gain their perspective on the future landscape for food and beverage brands. Joining host Stefan Gates are Oliver Grange, Managing Director for Consumer Goods Strategy at Accenture and Giles Hanson, Director for ?WhatIf! Innovation, part of Accenture, to share their insight and predictions on how food brands will achieve growth in a new consumer landscape.   About our p

It sounds cliche, but COVID-19 has completely changed the way many of us think about nutrition, what we need to support our immune health, and the relationship we have with food. Combined with the one in 20 who've had COVID experiencing a prolonged loss of taste and smell due to the virus, it's clear that the impact of COVID on nutrition and our enjoyment of food has been pronounced. In this episode of the podcast we look back at two key discussions we've had in a series of podcasts focused on how nutrition and our enjoyment of food has been impacted by COVID. In a fascinating look at COVID-related loss of taste and smell we join Barry Smith, Professor, Institute of Advanced Studies, University of London to hear about the latest research on the phenomena, and what can be done to help those who are suffering because of it. Then we join Philip Calder, Professor of Nutritional Immunology and Head of School of Human Development and Health at the University of Southampton to discover what we now know about how nu

Global soils are the source of all life on land but their future looks bleak. Our soils are in crisis. Their health is declining to the extent that we are just one generation away from a soil system that is unable to meet the needs of the people that depend on it. We urgently need to find solutions to reverse the damage we've done to our soil in order to protect humanity in the future. In this episode we're joined by three experts in the field to find out the scale of the problem we face and what we need to do to save our soil. Joining host Stefan Gates are Professor Chris Collins, Programme Coordinator, Soil Security Programme, Dr Felicity Crotty, Lecturer in Soil Science, Royal Agricultural University and Richard Bardgett, Professor of Ecology, The University of Manchester. Join the conversation on Table Talk. About our panel Richard Bardgett, Professor of Ecology, The University of Manchester Richard Bardgett is British ecologist and Professor of Ecology at The University of Manchester. He graduated fr

The Table Talk Podcast has had the pleasure of talking to passionate innovators from across the world of food, drink and nutrition. With plant-based food achieving significant growth in the past few years, the producers, platforms and personalities in the plant-based sector are among the biggest drivers of innovation and NPD in food. In this collection, we look back at three guests who've been doing their part to impact the way we view compassionate eating, and to offer tasty, healthy alternatives to traditional animal proteins. Meet Derek Sarno, co-founder of Wicked Healthy, LLC, and Executive Chef & Director of Plant-Based Innovation for Tesco PLC, to hear about his journey supporting plant-based innovation at Tesco, Chris Kerr, Founding Partner, CIO, Unovis Partners; CIO New Crop Capital; Co-Founder, Gathered Foods (US), to find out how he's helping to promote seafood alternatives to reduce the impact on our oceans, and Ria Rehberg, CEO of Veganuary to hear how the annual vegan pledge has managed to h

The pandemic has changed our day-to-day behaviours and following a year of lockdowns and restrictions consumers have adapted to new routines that have seen them spend more days and nights at home. With food at the heart of these new rituals, brands and manufacturers have tapped into the need for their customers to have indulgent experiences to break the monotony, with meal kits, subscription services, and delivery on demand taking the place of restaurants as consumers seek out indulgence and new experiences. With lockdown easing, what's next for brands and retailers who are providing these at-home indulgent experiences? Will people rush back to their previous habits of eating out, or will a new hybrid model take over? Joining Table Talk to discuss this fascinating subject is Suzanne Robinson, Director for Innovation in Consumer Goods and Retail at ?WhatIf!, an innovation agency that’s part of Accenture. She'll explain how consumer rituals have changed, what trends are developing and will continue to grow ove

Oliver Bennett is a 28-year-old British driver who made his debut in the British Rallycross Championship in 2016 and fought for the title in the following season. Oliver is also the co-founder of Xite Energy, a brand bringing nootropic energy drinks to the mass market. Popular among Gen Z and E-sports athletes, nootropics support healthy brain function and mental ability. This podcast looks at the growing world of nootropics, as we chat to Oliver about why Xite entered the market and how the sector has developed, and will continue to grow. Why are so many E-sports athletes and Gen Z consumers embracing nootropics for cognitive health, and what can we expect from brands like Xite in the future? Join the conversation on Table Talk. About Oliver Bennett Oliver Bennett is a 28-year-old British driver with experience in rallycross competitions. In 2016 he made his debut in the British Rallycross Championship and the following season he fought for the title. He also made his debut in the FIA World Rallycross Cha

The UK government is looking to ban all TV and online advertising for food and drink that are categorised as high in fat, sugar, or salt in an attempt to reduce obesity. What will this ban mean for the food industry, and will it have the impact that the government hopes it will? To explore this question we bring together two experts in the field, Stephen Woodford, Chief Executive, Advertising Association and Phil Smith, Director General, ISBA. We discuss what the implications of the band are for manufacturers and brands, and we investigate the facts around advertising and obesity in order to determine how effective the ban might be. Join the conversation on Table Talk. About our panel Stephen Woodford, Chief Executive, Advertising Association Stephen was appointed CEO of the Advertising Association in 2016. The AA promotes the role and rights of responsible advertising and its value to people, society, businesses and the economy, and all the key trade bodies, commercial media owners and tech platforms ar