Large nutritional and environmental improvements can be achieved across the product portfolios of major UK food and beverage manufacturers

Journal article

Food and beverage (F&B) manufacturers can support or hinder the transition towards a more sustainable food system. Yet, there is limited evidence about their potential to improve the nutritiousness and reduce the environmental impact of the F&B sector. Here we develop an approach to estimate the nutritional quality and environmental impact of the product lines of 44 major F&B manufacturers in the UK. We find considerable variation in terms of nutritional quality and environmental impacts across manufacturers operating within the same food retail category and within existing F&B product portfolios. We identify how changing the types of product sold by these manufacturers offers potential for nutritional and environmental benefits. For some of the F&B manufacturers assessed, changes to 10% or less of their product line could deliver more than half of the potential gains in nutritional quality or sustainability.

Authors: Hammond, E; Bandy, L; Milner-Gulland, EJ; Pechey, R; Rayner, M

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Nature Research
• Journal: Nature Food
• Publication date: 2026-09-16
• Acceptance date: 2026-08-06
• DOI: 10.1038/s43016-026-01420-2
• EISSN: 2662-1355
• ISSN: 2662-1355
• Language: English
• Keywords: Food industry; Food products; Product line; Environmental impact assessment; Quality (philosophy); Sustainability; Product (mathematics)