THI Dec 11th 2024 Webinar Symposium
How Diet-Health Misinformation Gets Ultraprocessed: Exposing Hidden Agendas and Distorted Narratives
Wednesday, 11 December 2024
PST: 12:00-14:00 | EST: 15:00-1700 | GMT: 20:00-22:00
Speakers
Context
What happens when the science we rely on is manipulated, including by those we trust most?
Across the global food industry, a troubling reality is emerging. Companies across all sectors – meat, dairy, ultra-processed foods, and even plant-based alternatives – are leveraging trusted voices, including nutrition professionals, scientists, and reputable organisations, to push their agendas. By funding research, infiltrating policy discussions, and aligning with respected experts, they create an illusion of credibility that distorts science and public perception.
Paired with the rise of AI tools that generate polished but misleading narratives and systemic issues like gender biases in research, these tactics are reshaping the way we think about food, health, and sustainability. This isn’t just about isolated incidents – it’s a widespread issue affecting public health, planetary health, and the integrity of science.
Dietary guidelines and public health policies – tools designed to protect us – are being skewed to prioritise profit over people. Scientists and health professionals are left grappling with conflicting narratives, while the public is left navigating a minefield of misinformation.
This symposium, hosted by True Health Initiative, is your opportunity to confront this challenge head-on. We’ll expose how industries manipulate science, misuse trusted experts, and exploit media channels to shape policies and public behaviour.
This isn’t about targeting one industry – it’s about exposing the systemic manipulation that cuts across all sectors. From sponsoring biased studies to influencing the voices we trust most, industries are reshaping the narrative around diet and health.
For health professionals, scientists, journalists, and the public, this is a call to action: to recognise these tactics, share examples, and work together to protect the integrity of the science shaping our decisions.
Industries aren’t just funding biased research – they’re leveraging trusted professionals, respected scientists, and reputable organisations to push their agendas. By shaping public policies, distorting science, and amplifying misinformation, they’re influencing what we eat and how we think about health. Join world-renowned experts to uncover these tactics and take the first step toward protecting the integrity of public health and science.
Agenda
SESSION 1
START
PST: 12:00 | EST: 15:00 | GMT: 20:00
- 10 minutes
Welcome and Introduction: Us, Now, This Signature Issue
Speaker and Host: David Katz
This 2-hour event opens by addressing the escalating issue of how diet-health misinformation gets ultra-processed—with hidden agendas from corporate entities, industry associations, and lobbyists distorting research, public health guidelines, and media narratives. The introduction provides a brief overview of the agenda, setting the stage for expert-led discussions that expose the manipulation of diet-health information and its harmful impact on public and planetary health. Dr David Katz will serve as the emcee for the event, guiding the discussions and introducing the expert speakers throughout the symposium.
If we think about the signature challenge of our time, it really is the flow of misinformation and disinformation. It reverberates across personal health, public health, planetary health, and politics. Everything from coronary disease to climate change is contaminated by endless noisy nonsense in the realm of misinformation and disinformation. And there really are few novel remedies to address that.
- David Katz 
Dr. David Katz is a globally recognized authority in chronic disease prevention, health promotion, and nutrition. As the founding director of Yale University’s Prevention Research Center and past president of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, he has made groundbreaking contributions to public health and lifestyle medicine. Dr. Katz is the founder of the non-profit True Health Initiative, creator of Diet ID, and Chief Medical Officer for Tangelo, a leading food-as-medicine company. His innovative work has earned him multiple U.S. patents, including advances in dietary assessment tools.
With approximately 250 peer-reviewed publications and 19 authored books, including leading nutrition textbooks, Dr. Katz’s prolific contributions to the field have garnered numerous accolades, including three honorary doctorates. His current roles as a senior science advisor to Blue Zones and his pioneering efforts in health innovation underscore his enduring impact on global public health.
SESSION 2
PST: 12:10 | EST: 15:10 | GMT: 20:10
- 10 minutes
Advancing the Planetary Health Diet: Navigating Misinformation and Industry Pushback
Speaker: Walter Willett
Insights about the specific efforts to advance the planetary health diet, a sustainable approach to nutrition that balances human health with environmental stewardship. How these initiatives are confronting the headwinds of misinformation, driven by industry interests, that seek to undermine the adoption of evidence-based dietary strategies. How health professionals can support the planetary health diet despite these challenges, ensuring that both public health and environmental sustainability are prioritized.
I've created what I call a triangle of disinformation. We have the food industry, the media sensationalizing for attention, and unfortunately, some people in academia who make careers out of trashing others' work instead of doing good research. It's a Wild West of misinformation out there, and the average consumer is left confused.
- Walter Willett 
Prof. Walter Willett, MD is the most cited nutritional scientist in the world and a towering figure in epidemiology and public health. As a Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, he has spent over four decades advancing our understanding of diet and disease.
For 30 years, Dr. Willett chaired Harvard’s Department of Nutrition, leading transformative research efforts such as the Nurses’ Health Studies and Health Professionals Follow-up Study, which have involved nearly 300,000 participants and revolutionized dietary epidemiology.
A prolific author with over 2,000 scientific publications, Dr. Willett’s contributions include the foundational textbook Nutritional Epidemiology and several books for the public. His accolades include membership in the National Academy of Medicine and numerous international awards, reflecting his profound influence on the science and practice of public health nutrition.
Prof Willet co-chairs the EAT-Lancet Commission, pioneering research on Food, Planet, Health.
SESSION 3
PST: 12:20 | EST: 15:20 | GMT: 20:20
- 30 minutes
Sources of Distortion: Undue Influence on Health Policy and Public Perception
Panel: Tushar Mehta, Michael Jacobson, Ali Morpeth
Moderator: David Katz
A deep examination of how the food industry, particularly the meat, dairy, sugar, and ultra-processed food sectors, may exert undue influence on scientific research, skew public health policies, and manipulate media narratives to serve their interests. By uncovering these tactics with ‘insider’ insights, the session aims to shed light on the far-reaching, detrimental consequences of industry-driven misinformation on public and planetary health.
- Industry-funded research and its impact on scientific integrity and objectivity
- Lobbying tactics and media manipulation
- Case studies: Examples from the sugar and meat industries’ influence on public health guidelines to their advantage
Tushar Mehta
Michael Jacobson
Ali Morpeth
Dr. Tushar Mehta is a dedicated emergency medicine physician and co-founder of Plant-Based Data, where he leads health and nutrition science initiatives. His medical practice in Toronto is complemented by global volunteer efforts in India and Haiti, as well as his involvement in social justice causes, including youth mentorship and environmental conservation.
Dr. Mehta’s research focuses on the health benefits of plant-based diets and the environmental and food security challenges posed by animal agriculture. His work bridges the gap between medical practice and sustainability, making significant contributions to the advocacy of a healthier and more equitable food system.
Dr. Michael F. Jacobson, co-founder and long-time leader of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), is a pioneer in health advocacy with a Ph.D. in microbiology from MIT. Over four decades, he spearheaded campaigns that reshaped food policy, from banning artificial trans fats to introducing Nutrition Facts labels and calorie counts on menus.
Dr. Jacobson’s educational initiatives, including the widely circulated Nutrition Action Healthletter, have empowered millions of consumers. Among his many accolades are the FDA Commissioner’s Special Citation and the American Public Health Association’s Award for Advocacy in Public Health. Now, as the founder of the National Food Museum, Dr. Jacobson continues his lifelong mission of promoting health through education and systemic change.
Ali Morpeth is an award-winning Registered Public Health Nutritionist (RNutr) with over 15 years of experience shaping national and international research and policy on healthy and sustainable food systems. Her expertise bridges the critical intersection of health and sustainability, driving transformative change across sectors.
Ali’s groundbreaking contributions include her consultancy work with the World Health Organization, where she developed the world’s first Nutrient and Promotion Profile Model (NPPM) for commercial foods targeting children under age three. This pioneering framework has been adopted by Ministries of Health in multiple countries, as well as by WHO and UNICEF, to set regulations that improve the commercial marketplace and safeguard children’s health.
Building on this foundation, Ali has dedicated her career to integrating healthy and sustainable food systems. At WWF UK, she spearheaded policy development on sustainable diets, earning her the title of ‘Sustainability Nutritionist of the Year.’ Today, she leads an active consultancy practice, collaborating with organizations to drive systems change from farm to fork. Her work spans the entire value chain, delivering actionable strategies that prioritize both human and planetary wellbeing.
In the UK, Ali plays a prominent role in public health policy, focusing on improving access to healthy, sustainable diets for children. She serves as an advisor to multiple NGOs, a Policy Champion at AgriFoodNetwork+, and a Visiting Research Fellow at Leeds University. Her current research, funded by Which?, investigates the health and sustainability harms of commercial children’s foods and their links to the broader commercial determinants of health and planetary impact.
Ali’s dedication to creating equitable, sustainable food systems underscores her commitment to fostering a future where health and sustainability thrive in harmony.
SESSION 4
PST: 12:50 | EST: 15:50 | GMT: 20:50
- 20 minutes
Public Health and Nutrition Science at Risk: Understanding the Different Types of Misinformation
Speaker: Alex Ruani
This session delves into the escalating risks posed by various types of misinformation in diet and nutrition. It explores how these deceptive practices undermine public health, leading to misguided choices that harm both individual wellbeing and the environment.
- Re-defining misinformation in the context of diet, nutrition, and health
- Examples illustrating how these forms of deceptive information threaten public health, misleading the public to make the wrong choices for their health and the planet
- Strategies for discerning the severity of misinformation risk in order to support inoculation and debiasing efforts
Misinformation isn’t just about accuracy. It can be accurate but incomplete, omitting crucial details like adverse effects or contraindications, which can mislead people into making poor decisions for their health. Incomplete information can be just as dangerous as inaccurate information.
- Alex Ruani 
Maria Alejandra “Alex” Ruani is a leading authority in nutrition science education and a prominent researcher in diet and nutrition misinformation. As a doctoral researcher at University College London, her work focuses on misinformation’s impact on dietary behaviours, trust in sources, and decision-making, alongside developing inoculation tools to mitigate the risk of health harm.
Since 2012, Alex has been Chief Science Educator at The Health Sciences Academy, transforming professional nutrition education and leading the creation of 20+ professional certifications, 70+ continuing education courses, and 50+ reports that challenge misinformed beliefs about diet and health. Her efforts have enabled over 100,000 nutrition professionals worldwide to provide client-centred, evidence-based care.
An NBHWC Credentialed Coach trainer, Alex leads the Applied Behavioural Coaching Skills Program, equipping practitioners with the coaching gold standards set by the National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching. A member of the Royal Society of Medicine and a regular chair at Food Matters Live, she also teaches nutrition misinformation (detection, debiasing, mitigation) to medical and allied health professionals at leading universities and CPD events.
Alex’s work and commentaries are frequently featured in major media outlets such as The Times, BBC, and The Telegraph. An active member of the World Health Organization’s Fides initiative, she contributes to global efforts to combat nutrition-health misinformation. Through her pioneering research and pedagogical leadership, Alex continues to shape the future of nutrition science education, empowering practitioners and advancing efforts to tackle health misinformation worldwide.
SESSION 5
PST: 13:10 | EST: 16:10 | GMT: 21:10
- 10 minutes
Nutrition Under Siege: Industry’s Influence on Dietary Guidelines and Public Perception
Speaker: Christopher Gardner
The subtle yet pervasive ways in which the food industry influences public dietary guidelines and health recommendations. How the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee is grappling with misinformation, as industry-funded research continues to skew public health policies. The broader consequences of such misinformation on individual and planetary health, so that we can find out how to overcome it.
Misinformation and disinformation are rampant, heavily fuelled by social media. Lots of influencers out there, lots of folks with a vested interest in something they’re doing, providing this misinformation to huge numbers of people, creating confusion and messing things up.
- Christopher Gardner 
Prof. Christopher Gardner is a renowned researcher in nutrition science with over two decades of groundbreaking work investigating the health benefits of various dietary components and food patterns. He is the past chair of the American Heart Association Nutrition Committee and just completed two years of service on the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. As the principal investigator for numerous NIH-funded randomized controlled trials, Dr. Gardner has explored interventions ranging from vegetarian diets, soy, omega-3 fats, antioxidants, and Ginkgo biloba to popular weight-loss strategies. His NIH-funded DIETFITS study, which randomized over 600 participants to low-fat or low-carb diets over one year, has become a landmark publication in the field (JAMA, 2018), providing key insights into personalized approaches to weight management and metabolic health.
In recent years, Dr. Gardner’s research has expanded into three innovative areas of inquiry. His work in Stealth Nutrition emphasizes using non-health-related motivators—such as climate change, animal welfare, and human labor rights—to drive impactful dietary shifts. Through initiatives like the Food and Farm Camp, which engages children in sustainable food practices, Dr. Gardner is exploring ways to instill lifelong healthy eating habits from an early age.
His second area of focus is institutional food systems, where he has spearheaded efforts to transform food environments in universities, worksites, hospitals, and schools. A co-initiator of the Stanford-CIA (Culinary Institute of America) collaboration, Dr. Gardner has been instrumental in creating “living laboratories” across 70 institutions, demonstrating how delicious and sustainable food options can positively influence eating behaviors and drive systems-level agricultural change.
Prof. Gardner’s third area of inquiry centers on diet and the microbiome. His collaboration with Drs. Justin and Erica Sonnenburg at Stanford has led to groundbreaking studies, such as the Fe-Fi-Fo Study (Cell, 2021), which revealed how fermented foods can increase microbial diversity and reduce inflammation. His ongoing Maternal and Offspring Microbiome Study (MOMS) is a pioneering investigation into how maternal diets influence infant microbiomes, with long-term implications for early-life health and development.
Prof. Gardner envisions a transformative Food and Sustainability Initiative being developed at Stanford’s new School of Sustainability, leveraging Stanford’s unique strengths to address global crises in obesity and diabetes through innovative food system solutions. His work continues to inspire a new era of nutrition science, integrating health, sustainability, and equity.
SESSION 6
PST: 13:20 | EST: 16:20 | GMT: 21:20
- 30 minutes
Clearing the Fog: How to Reinforce Integrity and Transparency?
Panel: Kate Geagan, Anthony Warner, Sandee LaMotteModerator: Selena Ahmed A critical brainstorming session focused on actionable strategies to combat unethical industry influence and misinformation. Experts will provide offer insights into strengthening scientific integrity, advocating for robust policy reforms, and educating the public on media literacy to protect against deception.
- Reinforcing scientific integrity and objectivity
- Regulatory reforms and transparency
- Public education and advocacy
- Media literacy and consumer public health protection
Kate Geagan
Anthony Warner
Sandee LaMotte
Selena Ahmed
Moderator
Moderator
Dr. Selena Ahmed, PhD, Global Director of the Periodic Table of Food Initiative, is an esteemed scientist with two decades of experience in food systems research. As a former Associate Professor at Montana State University, she has advanced sustainable food practices through her work in agrobiodiversity, climate resilience, and Indigenous food knowledge.
Dr. Ahmed’s interdisciplinary expertise includes a Ph.D. in biology, an MSc in ethnobotany, and postdoctoral training in human clinical nutrition. Now based at the American Heart Association, she leads innovative projects that enhance food security and human health, bridging the gap between science, culture, and policy.
Kate Geagan, Director of Strategy for Food+Planet, is a visionary dietitian and award-winning author recognized for her expertise in sustainable nutrition. Her book Go Green Get Lean and columns in Clean Eating Magazine have inspired millions to adopt diets that benefit both health and the environment.
As a strategic advisor, Kate collaborates with purpose-driven organizations and startups to advance regenerative food systems. Her work has been featured in over 1,500 media appearances, including The Dr. Oz Show. With a career spanning impactful partnerships and innovative health programs, Kate is a trailblazer in shaping the future of sustainable eating.
Anthony Warner, known as “The Angry Chef,” is a biochemist-turned-chef and author committed to dismantling pseudoscience in food and nutrition. His acclaimed books, including The Angry Chef series, have earned prestigious awards and sparked critical conversations about diet myths and public health.
With a background in biochemistry from Manchester University and years of professional kitchen experience, Anthony now consults on food innovation and communication. Through his writings for The Sunday Times and New Scientist, he challenges misinformation and advocates for a science-based approach to food that celebrates its joy and diversity.
CNN digital writer Sandee LaMotte has been covering health and wellness for over 30 years, developing reporting expertise on such topics as sleep, brain health, longevity, the Mediterranean diet and the health impacts of ultraprocessed foods, artificial sweeteners, nanoplastics and microplastics and toxins in food from synthetic chemicals.
Sandee is a CNN original, part of a small, scrapy team of journalists that believed in Ted Turner’s vision of 24-hour news. Starting as a video editor and producer, over the next 20+ years Sandee and her teams won a duPont Columbia Silver Baton for “Iran: In the Name of God, Emmy awards for “Our Planetary Police,” “The People Bomb” and “Going on an Airplane;” a CINE Golden Eagle for “A Question of Ethics;” several Cable ACE and New York Film Festival awards, and a host of other national and international awards for investigative and long-form documentary videos. But it was when she went to work at WebMD that she fell in love with health journalism and has never looked back.
Since coming home to CNN a decade ago, Sandee has been honored to work with Dr. Sanjay Gupta on a three-part investigative series, “Justice for Rehma,” about spurious legal attacks on the medical diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome, which won a Deadline Club award; the failure of the FDA to protect consumers from food additives and take action on ultraprocessed foods; how baby food manufacturers knowingly sold baby food with toxic heavy metals; the ways minority youth are targeted by soda manufacturers; the search for a solution to the superbug crisis and more.
In her spare time, Sandee loves to paint with acrylics and alcohol ink, make pottery, dance, sing and travel. The mother of two grown children, she lives in Atlanta with her husband and two Siberian cats.
SESSION 7
END
PST: 13:50 | EST: 16:50 | GMT: 21:50
- 10 minutes
Closing Remarks and Next Steps
Speaker and Host: David Katz
Final Q&A and summary of key takeaways. Closing with a call to action and a preview of the larger 2025 event, encouraging continued involvement and collaboration.
Intended Audience
Who Is This For?
- Scientists concerned about research integrity
- Nutrition professionals navigating conflicting advice rooted in manipulation
- Health journalists striving to report ‘the truth’
- Engaged citizens, invested in transparency.
Why You Should Attend.
This symposium is more than just a discussion—it’s a critical opportunity to raise awareness, share insights, and contribute to a global understanding of how industries are shaping diet-health narratives. By attending, you will:
- Gain a deeper understanding of how misinformation distorts public health policies and dietary guidelines.
- Learn strategies to identify and counteract manipulation in your field or network.
- Connect with world-renowned experts and like-minded professionals who are passionate about protecting the integrity of science.
- Play an active role in building momentum for a larger, in-person event in 2025 that will drive actionable solutions.
Your participation can help expand the conversation—whether by sharing insights with your networks, uncovering new examples of industry influence, or collaborating on ways to tackle these issues head-on.
This is your chance to be part of the movement preparing for meaningful change.
This event sets the stage for the 2025 TrueHealthCon Summit, where global experts will tackle these issues on a larger scale. Together, we can restore trust in science and safeguard public health from undue influence.
Resources
- Lifestyle as Medicine: The Case for a True Health Initiative. David L Katz, Elizabeth P Frates, Jonathan P Bonnet, Sanjay K Gupta, Erkki Vartiainen, and Richard H Carmona. Am J Health Promot. July 2018.
- The 2024 state of the climate report: Perilous times on planet Earth. William J Ripple, Christopher Wolf, Jillian W Gregg, Johan Rockström, Michael E Mann, Naomi Oreskes, Timothy M Lenton, Stefan Rahmstorf, Thomas M Newsome, Chi Xu, Jens-Christian Svenning, Cássio Cardoso Pereira, Beverly E Law, Thomas W Crowther. BioScience. October 2024.
- Global adherence to a healthy and sustainable diet and potential reduction in premature death. Xiao Gu, Linh P Bui, Fenglei Wang, Dong D Wang, Marco Springmann, Walter C Willett. PNAS. Dec 2024.
- Diet-Nutrition Information Seeking, Source Trustworthiness, and Eating Behavior Changes: An International Web-Based Survey. Maria A. Ruani, Michael J. Reiss, and Anastasia Z. Kalea. Nutrients. Oct 2023.
- Susceptibility to COVID-19 Nutrition Misinformation and Eating Behavior Change during Lockdowns: An International Web-Based Survey. Maria A. Ruani and Michael J. Reiss. Nutrients. Jan 2023.
- Challenges and opportunities for better nutrition science. Tim D Spector and Christopher D Gardner. BMJ. June 2020.
- The Doha Declaration. The Global Alliance Lifestyle Medicine Leadership Forum, 2024. Feb 2024.
- Beyond misinformation: developing a public health prevention framework for managing information ecosystems. Atsuyoshi Ishizumi, Jessica Kolis, Neetu Abad, Dimitri Prybylski, Kathryn A Brookmeyer, Christopher Voegeli, Claire Wardle, Howard Chiou. Lancet Public Health. April 2024.
- The Science for Profit Model—How and why corporations influence science and the use of science in policy and practice. Tess Legg, Jenny Hatchard, Anna B. Gilmore. PLoS ONE. June 2021.
How Diet-Health Misinformation Gets Ultraprocessed: Exposing Hidden Agendas and Distorted Narratives
Wednesday, 11 December 2024
PST: 12:00-14:00 | EST: 15:00-1700 | GMT: 20:00-22:00
