A consumer’s perspective
Since this controversy affects so many people personally, with respect to their health, we thought it important to include the perspective of a consumer who has experienced beneficial effects from …
Course: Engaging with Controversies in the Food System
A regulatory perspective
In 2006, EU decision makers adopted a Regulation on the use of nutrition and health claims for foods, including probiotics. This video (hosted on YouTube) explains the processes involved in …
Q&A with a probiotics producer
In this interview with Antonio Del Casale, from Microbion, we ask about the legal status of probiotics, how they are developed and if probiotics is a sustainable industry. The full …
The market for probiotics
The European market size for probiotics (led by France, Spain, Italy, and Germany) exceeded USD 630 million in 2017. [1] The traditional probiotic market is dominated by foods such as …
Probiotics, prebiotics, microbiotas and fermented products
The number of different terms that apply to foods containing microorganisms is quite confusing. So let’s start by distinguishing between them. Firstly, let’s look at the difference between the terms …
Newsreel: Probiotics
This mock news video introduces the final controversy you’ll be exploring on this course, probiotics: fad or superfood? They are a great example of re-discovering the health-giving properties of food …
A food company’s perspective
Nutella is made by Italian company, Ferrero. It is a delicious ‘chocolate’ spread made of sugar, milk, cocoa, hazelnuts, lecithin (soy), vanillin (an artificial flavour) and palm oil, which is …
Q&A with an action organisation
In this article, Billy Rwothungeyo interviews Frank Muramuzi, Executive Director of the National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE), on the impact of palm oil growing in Uganda. What work is …
A lobbying organisation’s perspective
WWF was instrumental in getting a small number of palm growers, manufacturers (including Unilever) and retailers (including J Sainsbury) to join together in 2004 to set up the Roundtable on …
A government’s perspective
The government of Malaysia considers its significant investment in palm oil over the past 40 years to be the backbone of its narrative of successful rural poverty eradication and national …
What’s the issue?
Over the past two decades, global growth in palm oil production has been rapid and in direct response to ever-increasing demand for palm oil in both the food and energy …
Where does palm oil come from?
The oil palm tree (Elaeis guineensis) is native to West Africa and there is evidence of its use as a staple food crop dating back 5,000 years. [IUCN] It was …
What is palm oil and why is it so useful?
Palm oil is extracted from the palm fruit, which grows on the African oil palm tree (Elaeis guineensis). ©T.K. Naliaka [CC BY-SA 4.0] Palm oil (and palm kernel oil) are …
Newsreel: Palm oil
This mock news video introduces the second controversy you’ll be exploring on this course: palm oil. The environmental and societal problems caused by palm oil production are making headlines across …
Tips for finding reliable information online
Do you know how to find reliable information online? We’ve all heard of fake news. But when it comes to food and health stories, which sources can we trust? Sometimes …