Reviews & Analysis

Mouthfeel occurs at macro, cellular and molecular scales. Biophysical approaches, including atomic force microscopy, offer tools to explore the mechanisms of oral mechanosensation for informing food product development and outlining the definition of flavour.

Unlike nitrogen and phosphorus, potassium has received little attention despite being key to food security and ecosystem health. This Perspective proposes six actions concerning potassium deficiency, potash price volatility and potash mining.

Harmonization of front-of-pack nutrition labelling systems with national food-based dietary guidelines and the latest scientific evidence ensures the accuracy of the information provided to consumers. This Perspective presents the 2023 scientific committee’s update of the Nutri-Score nutrient profile model.

Biofortification was first proposed as a low-cost, sustainable technique to enhance the nutritional value of staple food crops. This Perspective argues that both the micronutrients and the types of crop biofortified need to expand under rapid dietary change and proposes strategies to integrate biofortification into the global food system.

Agricultural extension services are critical for food security and rural development but face several limitations—particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Based on real-life testing of GPT to generate technical advice for cassava farmers in Nigeria, this Perspective examines the shortcomings of this technology, as well as its potential to transform extension services.

The European Commission’s recent proposal for more sustainable use of plant protection products has raised concerns over the impact that reduced pesticide use could have on agricultural yields. This Perspective reviews some of the impact assessments informing policy developments and critically analyses their assumptions.

Terrestrial controlled environment agriculture (CEA) will have an increasingly important role in food production. By comparing the technical similarities between space controlled environment agriculture (SpaCEA) and CEA systems, the authors argue that the development of SpaCEA provides a proportionate approach to addressing the technical, environmental and economic challenges of conventional CEA design.

Nutrition resources are limited and recent cuts in governmental development funds have added urgency to the matter. Building on the broader costs of malnutrition for human health and the sustainability of food systems, this Perspective offers an overview of the nutrition-financing landscape and public spending, as well as new opportunities with private funding and other non-traditional sources of financing.

The links between food systems and gender-based violence (GBV) remain largely neglected in research and policy. Building on the analysis of GBV and systematic inequalities within food systems, as well as how specific food system contexts shape GBV risk, this Perspective proposes a five-point collaborative agenda to address GBV in food systems.

Edible insects contain dietary fibre in the form of chitin and its derivatives, as well as omega-3 fatty acids, but questions remain about how consumption impacts the gut microbiome and intestinal health. Although insect production may be useful to address food security, more human intervention studies are needed to explore their potential for broader health benefits.

Assumptions built into databases may influence research outcomes and practices. This Perspective identifies and analyses public agricultural data practices in the United States as an under-recognized lever for transformative food systems change.

Using a resilience heuristic to diagnose food systems will allow us to identify and relieve the underlying drivers of food system challenges. This perspective identifies four ‘aching points’ that are central points of tension in the local–global debate, and proposes transformative pathways towards more sustainable and resilient food systems.

Regulatory bodies exist at the science–policy interface. They must have robust and reliable mechanisms to avert regulatory capture, including ways to identify and address conflicts of interest.

Synergies between agroecology and nutrition are explored in this Perspective, with a view towards developing a framework to transform agroecology for improved nutrition.

Locally grown agricultural products have been increasingly replaced by their mass market equivalents with consequences for people and the environment. This Perspective explores how multifunctional landscape products can support human well-being and sustainability by examining seven case studies worldwide.

Inedible crustacean waste can be utilized for chitin and chitosan extraction. This Perspective reflects on recent developments in chitin extraction and explores future chitin and chitosan applications within and outside the food system.

This Perspective proposes a strategy for making Chinese food systems more sustainable, taking into account the interlinkages between agricultural production and food consumption across the supply chain and going beyond agriculture-focused perspectives.

Conventional nitrogen fertilizers are costly for human and environmental health. This Perspective discusses barriers and opportunities in designing enhanced-efficiency fertilizers and incorporating these alternative technologies into policy- and decision-making.

Achieving yield gains requires more insights into the deterministic pathways of crop yields. This Perspective proposes a wiring diagram as a platform to integrate knowledge of the interrelationships of physiological traits impacting wheat yield potentials and their interactions with the crop developmental stages that can be used to accelerate genetic gains through breeding.

Technologies from synthetic biology can be applied to traditional practices in winemaking. Possibilities beyond natural microbial communities exist to improve predictive capabilities for the winemaker vintage to vintage, and introduce new characteristics to wine.