Role of staple cereals in human nutrition: Separating the wheat from the chaff in the infodemics age
| Main author: | Erenstein, Olaf |
|---|---|
| Other authors: | Poole, NigelDonovan, Jason |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Online access: |
Click here to view record |
| id |
eprints-36502 |
|---|---|
| recordtype |
eprints |
| institution |
SOAS, University of London |
| collection |
SOAS Research Online |
| language |
English |
| language_search |
English |
| description |
Background: Staple cereals always have been important dietary components, yet recent debates on their role in human diets are riddled with myths and misinformation. Scope and approach: This article examines the informational controversies, particularly about wheat, and reviews the evidence. The discussion centers on three nutritional cereal debates: i) ‘empty calories’, ii) over-consumption, and iii) how ‘free-from’ fads confound dietary transitions. Key findings and conclusions: This article makes two principal points, that i) advances in nutrition are a complex, slow process, and that ii) they can be easily confounded and undone by misinformation. Hence we suggest that more consumer-oriented work is needed—including behavioral approaches and political economy—in order to improve the quality of information, communication and dietary decision making. There is a clear need to tackle nutritional misinformation given the costs of inaction and the need to formulate a coherent agri-nutrition agenda. |
| format |
Journal Article |
| author |
Erenstein, Olaf |
| author_facet |
Erenstein, Olaf Poole, Nigel Donovan, Jason |
| authorStr |
Erenstein, Olaf |
| author_letter |
Erenstein, Olaf |
| author2 |
Poole, Nigel Donovan, Jason |
| author2Str |
Poole, Nigel Donovan, Jason |
| title |
Role of staple cereals in human nutrition: Separating the wheat from the chaff in the infodemics age |
| publisher |
Elsevier |
| publishDate |
2022 |
| url |
https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/36502/
|