{"id":443976,"date":"2026-01-28T23:51:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T23:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/443976\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T23:51:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T23:51:14","slug":"britons-overwhelmed-by-conflicting-advice-on-healthy-food-survey-reveals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/443976\/","title":{"rendered":"Britons \u2018overwhelmed\u2019 by conflicting advice on healthy food, survey reveals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Complicated and conflicting nutrition<\/a> advice is \u201coverwhelming\u201d consumers who are trying to make healthy choices<\/a>, according to a new survey.<\/p>\n

A poll<\/a> of 5,000 British adults and 200 nutritionists<\/a> found about two thirds of people (66 per cent) find healthy eating advice<\/a> confusing and want the government to provide a clear definition of \u201chealthy food<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n

While most people understand when something is high in salt or sugar<\/a>, terminology such as \u2018UPF\u2019 (Ultra Processed Food) is confusing consumers – with 88 per cent of people surveyed saying they don’t understand what UPFs are.<\/p>\n

The survey found 72 per cent of consumers view processed foods as unhealthy, and half actively avoid them \u2013 45 per cent still seek products with added benefits such as protein or fibre \u2013 which require some level of processing.<\/p>\n

But experts believe social media is to blame for bombarding consumers with conflicting nutrition advice, for example influencers urging people to eat a meat-only diet, while others say just eating plants is best.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s largely been driven by social media, where nutrition messages are often taken out of context, oversimplified, or deliberately sensationalised,\u201d Registered nutritionist Rob Hobson told the Independent. \u201cIn many cases, the loudest voices aren\u2019t coming from a public-health perspective at all but from people with alternative motivation,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A survey revealed adults find conflicting nutrition advice \u2018overwhelming\u2019 (stock image) (Getty\/iStock)<\/p>\n

The findings from food and beverage company Danone North Europe, come as the government has published an updated nutrient profiling model (NPM), which is used to calculate which products fall into the \u201cless healthy\u201d category and the associated restrictions on advertising them to children.<\/p>\n

The new model introduces a lower threshold for free \u2013 or added \u2013 sugars, plus those naturally present in syrups, honey, and unsweetened fruit and vegetable juices, smoothies, purees and pastes.<\/p>\n

This includes more desserts and foods that parents may mistakenly think are healthier options, such as some sweetened breakfast cereals and fruit-flavoured yoghurts marketed to children.<\/p>\n

A crackdown on junk food adverts came into effect this month banning adverts for \u201cless healthy\u201d food and drink that is high in fat, salt and sugar between 5.30am and 9pm, and online at any time – but this was based on guidelines which were more than 20 years old.<\/p>\n

However, the survey found 91 per cent of dietitian’s and nutritionists say the public is \u201coverwhelmed\u201d by conflicting nutrition advice. Experts believe the government should do more to make healthy eating simple.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition to clearer public health messaging, there needs to be stronger action on the marketing of ultra processed foods, especially when it comes to claims that lead people to believe a product is healthy, when in truth it is not,\u201d Kim Pearson, a nutritionist specialising in weight loss, told The Independent. <\/p>\n

She explained UPFs are foods that often come in a packet, contain more than five ingredients which include additives like thickeners, stabilisers, flavourings or preservatives. But there is no universally agreed definition.<\/p>\n

Food scientist Gunter Kuhnle from the University of Reading added UPF \u201cis a term that not even nutritionists and activists seem to be able to agree on\u201d and it can make people feel \u201cguilty about certain foods\u201d. Instead, he urged people to go back to basics.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the very old-fashioned and boring \u2018balanced diet\u2019 advice is probably a good start. Adding fruits and vegetables and making snacks an actual treat and not a regular occurrence is also a sensible idea,\u201d he told the Independent.<\/p>\n

Mr Hobson argued there are already clear, evidence-based dietary guidelines in the UK, but the advice is not followed.<\/p>\n

For example, only three portions of fruit and veg are eaten per day on average, not five and just 5 per cent of men and 2 per cent of women meet the 30g of fibre daily target.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe issue isn\u2019t a lack of guidance, it’s that people are being distracted by advice that feels more exciting, more extreme, or more headline-grabbing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: \u201cAs part of our shift from treatment to prevention, we encourage everyone to eat a healthier and more balanced diet. The Eatwell Guide is clear that, for most people, that\u2019s one consisting of plenty of fruit, vegetables and whole grains, and fewer foods high in saturated fat, salt and sugar.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s updated Nutrient Profiling Model will give the food and drink industry clarity as to which of their products are \u201cless healthy\u201d and may need reformulation. Only \u2018healthier\u2019 products should be marketed to give parents the full picture when making food and drink choices for their children.<\/p>\n

“We’re committed to making the healthier choice the easier choice and are restricting junk food advertising, putting more healthier products on shelves and stopping fast food shops from opening near schools.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Complicated and conflicting nutrition advice is \u201coverwhelming\u201d consumers who are trying to make healthy choices, according to a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":426662,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[64,63,1295,137,230545,15353,532,67869,230546,198329,30118],"class_list":{"0":"post-443976","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-food","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-healthy-choices","13":"tag-healthy-eating","14":"tag-nutrition","15":"tag-nutrition-advice","16":"tag-nutrition-messages","17":"tag-nutritionists","18":"tag-ultra-processed-food"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=443976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/426662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=443976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=443976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=443976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}