Nualtra: The Dietitian Cafe Nualtra

In today’s debate episode we’ll be discussing free school meals: where are we now and what more still needs to be done. As we’ve started the new school year, it’s one that sees all primary children in London receiving free school meals for a year in response to the cost-of-living crisis. In this episode, we talk to Isabel Rice, a registered dietitian and London food poverty campaigner coordinator at Sustain, and Dayna Brackley, a senior food policy consultant working on child health and nutrition at Bremner & co to discuss the role that school meals play in improving the health and quality of life of our future generation. We look at what’s currently being done to ensure that children get the energy and nutrition they need for their school day, and we also discuss how the cost-of-living crisis in the UK has affected the quality of school foods and whether free school meals are fully compliant with the school food standards.

Dayna is a Senior Food Policy Consultant at Bremner & Co, a small organisation working on child health and nutrition. Dayna works with campaigners, local governments, NGO’s and charities in the food system sector on projects looking to improve children’s nutrition across the lifecourse - from breastfeeding to higher education. She specialises on children’s experience of food within settings and institutions - early years childcare, school food and food in higher education.
Isabel joined Sustain in September 2022 to coordinate the London Food Poverty Campaign which highlights and encourages sustainable responses to food poverty. Isabel works closely with local authorities and food partnerships on measures to address the root causes of food poverty. She leads on the Good Food for All Londoners report, which benchmarks councils and aims to inspire leadership on food policy and practice in the capital.

Show Notes
Bremner and co - https://bremnerco.com/
School food review group - https://www.schoolfoodmatters.org/what-we-do/campiagns/food-policy/school-food-review
Sustain - https://www.sustainweb.org
London Food Link - https://www.sustainweb.org/londonfoodlink/
Mayor of London scheme free school meals - https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/what-mayor-does/priorities-london/free-school-meals
Fix Our Food - https://fixourfood.org/
Good Food for All Londoners - https://www.sustainweb.org/good-food-for-all-londoners/
Say Yes to School Food for All - https://www.sustainweb.org/school-food-for-all/
Sweden universal free school meals - https://microeconomicinsights.org/the-long-term-benefits-of-better-school-lunches/
PWC- Cost-benefit analysis of free school meals - https://urbanhealth.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/FSM-Full-Report.pdf
Impacts of local authority Universal Free School Meal schemes on child obesity and household food expenditure - https://www.iser.essex.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/files/misoc/reports/explainers/Impacts-of-local-authority.pdf#:~:text=Receiving%20universal%20free%20school%20meals%20reduces%20prevalence%20of,1.3%20and%201.4%20percentage%20points%20reduction%20in%20obesity
Child Poverty Action Group - Free School Meals - https://cpag.org.uk/fsm
School Food Standards - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-food-standards-resources-for-schools
School Food Review - The Superpowers of Free School Meals https://foodfoundation.org.uk/initiatives/superpowers-free-school-meals
End the postcode lottery - https://www.sustainweb.org/news/sep23-end-the-school-food-postcode-lottery/
Bite back - Food policy - https://www.biteback2030.com
School Food Matters - https://www.schoolfoodmatters.org
‘There’s only so much we can do’ School staff in England on the impact of poverty on children and school life - https://cpag.org.uk/sites/default/files/files/policypost/Education_Anti-Poverty_Coalition_Report_2023.pdf
BDA Food Factsheet: Eat Well, Spend Less - https://www.bda.uk.com/static/79f95550-641b-4523-8332b11175ddbf9e/Eat-well-Spend-less-food-fact-sheet.pd

In today’s interview episode we’ll be chatting with Alex Glover, a senior nutritionist at Holland & Barrett, all about his journey into nutrition, where he started, and how he got to work in the field of research and development for the largest health and wellness retailer in Europe. We’ll discuss the experience needed to get into this industry and what a day’s work looks like for Alex. We will then dive into the world of supplements including topics such as are they fad or science, and how you balance evidence-based research with consumer trends.

Alex started his career in nutrition at Holland & Barrett in 2018. At the same time, he went on to complete a master’s degree in clinical nutrition at the University of Aberdeen. He is passionate about public health, disease prevention, physiology & metabolism, performance & health supplements and has worked with numerous clients in weight management and preaches evidence-based nutrition. At Holland and Barret, he works with their customers both in store and now as part of the product formulation team. In his spare time, he likes to weightlift, hike, and of course, eat.

Show Notes
Holland & Barrett: https://www.hollandandbarrett.com/
LinkedIn: Alex Glover

In today’s interview episode, I’m delighted to be chatting to none other than the founder of Nualtra, dietitian Paul Gough. We’ll hear from Paul all about what led him to start Nualtra as well as the challenges he’s encountered over the years since Nualtra’s inception in 2012. Paul tells us about what it takes to launch medical nutrition products from ideation to market launch and the lessons he's learned on the way.

If you would like to connect with Paul you can find him here:

Instagram: @paulgough
Email: paul@nualtra.ie
www.nualtra.co.uk

Paul is also on LinkedIn if you would like to connect with him.

In today’s debate episode, we’ll be discussing ultra-processed foods. Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are a hot topic of conversation at the moment, not only in the nutrition world but also in the media – Everything from their definition to whether we should be cutting them out seems to be up for debate. So, following the publication of the British Nutrition Foundation’s position statement and SACN’s position statement on processed foods and health, we’re taking some time to dig into this topic with two experts - the BNF’s Nutrition Communications Manger Bridget Benelam and Registered Dietitian Dr Duane Mellor.

Dr Duane Mellor is a double award-winning registered dietitian and science communicator. They are the Aston Medical School lead for Nutrition and Evidence-Based Medicine. Having a background in clinical dietetics supporting people living with diabetes they moved into medical education when joining Aston University as well as being the Associate Dean for Public Engagement in the College of Health and Life Sciences. In this role they works to support high quality science and health communication alongside the wider engagement of communities in designing and developing healthcare programmes.
Duane has a keen interest in helping the people understand the science behind health related claims, so they can make more informed decisions about their own wellbeing. They are experienced in discussing a wide range of health topics across a range of media, from print through to television and radio.

Bridget Benelam BSc MSc, Nutrition Communications Manager.
After a BSc in Biochemistry (University of Manchester), Bridget studied for an MSc in Human Nutrition (King’s College London). From 2005-06 she worked at the Food Standards Agency, joined the British Nutrition Foundation in 2006 as a Nutrition Scientist. Bridget’s role at the Foundation is now focussed on the communication of evidence-based nutrition science to help people eat healthier and more sustainable diets.


Show Notes
British Nutrition Foundation position statement on the concept of ultra-processed foods (UPF): https://www.nutrition.org.uk/news/2023/position-statement-on-the-concept-of-ultra-processed-foods-upf/

SACN statement on processed foods and health: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sacn-statement-on-processed-foods-and-health

Duane Mellor twitter: @DrDuaneRD

In today's episode, Corrine is delighted to be chatting to Ellie Bain, senior nutritionist at Gousto, about being a registered dietitian in the food industry.
Ellie is a registered dietitian working as Senior Nutritionist at Gousto. After studying nutrition and dietetics at King's College London, she always had the intention of working in the food industry, rather than take the clinical route. She is a foodie who loves to cook and is passionate about making it easier for everyone to eat a healthier diet. Ellie started her career at Gousto as an intern, working in the recipe development team, she then became a recipe developer, focusing on healthier recipes and ranges and suggesting tips to make everything a bit healthier too (like reducing salt and adding veg). Now, as health and nutrition has become even more of a focus for Gousto she is full time nutritionist covering everything from nutritional analysis, health claims, PR and comms, reformulation, recipe guidelines and longer term health strategy.


Alongside her role at Gousto, Ellie is currently studying for a masters in Food Policy at City University and is on the committee of the BDA Industry Specialist Group as social media officer.


Show notes:
Gousto: https://www.gousto.co.uk
BDA Dietitians in Industry group information: https://www.bda.uk.com/specialist-groups-and-branches/dietitians-in-industry-specialist-group.html#:~:text=About%20us,in%20all%20areas%20of%20industry

This episode coincides with South Asian Heritage Month which runs from 18th July to 17th August every year in the UK and is an opportunity to celebrate, commemorate and educate about South Asian Culture and history.
Our guest today is Fareeha Jay RD.
Fareeha Jay is an anthropologist turned Dietitian based in Plymouth. She has been working as a Diabetes Specialist in the NHS for the last 6 years. Delivering educational sessions to people newly diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes.

Fareeha has a specialist interest in South Asian diets and provides specialist advice to South Asians across the globe. She is extremely passionate about providing the best available nutrition advice to the people with South Asian background which is what led her to develop the South Asian Eatwell Guide. It is now widely being used in many NHS trusts and various charity organisations.

She has expertise in healthy eating and sustainable diets for ethnic minority groups. She is also a dietitian with a high social media profile and uses evidence-based nutrition to support communication messages to the public, again focusing on ethnic minority groups, regularly featuring in print, broadcast, and social media. Fareeha Jay has a social media following from over 99 countries across the globe. She has built up a following of more than 700,000 on social media platforms.

She has the experience of conducting talks and workshops to schools, and community groups organisations like with Diabetes UK and Alzheimer’s research. Some of her recent work entailed talks on sustainable eating, planetary diet, immune optimisation, and healthy eating on a budget.

She has been writing blogs for My Nutriweb, Planet Nourish and Fuchsia as well as being a column writer for NHD-Network Health Digest, a magazine for dietitians, nutritionists and healthcare professionals.

Show Notes:

Fareeha’s Socials:
Website: https://www.fareehajay.com/
Instagram: @dietitian_fareehajay
Twitter: @FareehaJay
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fareeha-jay-457a34209/
Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1575269765877135/?hc_ref=ARRDlbL5nmNjRj2MT_Hd3gyQaDUMwnMiqKtrh5H2Xpm2FABLB5xGkrw6V5jVHsTIIQ8

The South Asian Eatwell Guide: https://mynutriweb.com/the-south-asian-eatwell-guide/