IFIS food and health information

By carefully assessing various aspects of research, such as methodology, data collection and analysis, researchers can ensure their scientific study’s validity and robustness. Achieving quality research is essential to produce reliable and credible findings. Critical appraisal is a vital stage of this process, where researchers evaluate a study's strengths and weaknesses.

Analysing the Mediterranean diet’s nutritious and broader health benefits three decades after it entered the food landscape reveals new insights for both athletes and non-athletes. Often tipped as one of the leading diets to optimise nutrition, researchers and consumers have been aware of the Mediterranean diet (MD) for more than 30 years. As its name suggests, the MD comes from thetraditional diets of countries along the Mediterranean Sea.

When we think of academic research, we often picture peer-reviewed journal articles and books published by well-known authors. But there's a whole world of valuable research that doesn't follow this traditional route. Enter, grey literature.

Research findings from The Periodic Table of Food (PTFI) identified 1,650 foods required to undergo molecular analysis to progress health and environmental knowledge. In 2024, a scientific paper published in Nature Food by the Periodic Table of Food Initiative (PTFI) revealed a critical gap in scientific understanding of the foods we eat. The Periodic Table of Food (PTFI) identified a list of 1,650 foods for molecular analysis to progress nutrition and planetary health.

When world leaders gathered in Belém for COP30 to sign the Belém Declaration on Hunger, Poverty and People-Centred Climate Action, they placed humanity at the heart of the climate agenda. The declaration recognises that climate change is deepening hunger and poverty, threatening livelihoods, and eroding hard-won progress on global development. But the path to a sustainable future is not straightforward. To meet both planetary and human needs, societies must navigate difficult trade-offs.

Here at IFIS Publishing, we’ve refreshed our mission, vision, and values. Not because we’ve changed, but because the world around us has. There’s more information than ever, and less time to sort through it. AI tools are becoming common in research and education, but they often prioritise speed over substance and rarely offer the transparency or reliability that rigorous science demands. In food, health, and nutrition, fields that directly impact human lives, trust isn’t optional. It’s essential.

IFIS is delighted to present our new podcast, Digestible: Breaking Down Food Science. In the inaugural episode, we review research trends from 2024 including transformative food technologies, gut health, and plant-based foods. Innovations in Health and Sustainability This episode covers cutting-edge breakthroughs in food science, from nanotechnology and 3D printing to the crucial role of microbiomes in health.

At IFIS Publishing, we recently undertook an analysis of how global food security research has evolved over the past five years. Drawing on data from FSTA®, the Food Science & Technology Abstracts database, our study examined longitudinal trends in the subject terms attached to thousands of peer-reviewed papers published between 2021 and 2025. Tracking those descriptors tells a story about how research attention has shifted.

In an era where advancements in food security and sustainability are paramount, bridging the knowledge gap is essential for a better food future. Discover how IFIS and Research4Life are making a difference. The Importance of World Food Day and Its 2024 Theme World Food Day, observed on 16th October, highlights the significance of food security and the global challenges surrounding it.

On 29 September we observe the UN International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste. Last year, we highlighted the crucial contributions of food scientists in tackling this issue. This year, we will examine the additional progress made and how food researchers, producers, and others can sustain this momentum and build on existing research.