Experts urge EU to redesign food systems to spark a healthy food transition
BRUSSELS, 27 April 2026 – Leading health and food system experts from FEAST, EuroHealthNet and EAT, together with the MEP Interest Group on Health Inequalities, Prevention and Risk Factors, are urging EU institutions to overhaul Europe’s fragmented food policies.
After a high-level dialogue hosted by at the European Parliament, they called for stronger alignment between farming, health and investment policies to ensure everyone can access affordable, healthy and sustainable diets.
“Diabetes and obesity are rising fastest among the most vulnerable, yet we are still treating the symptoms instead of the causes. We cannot keep asking individuals to make harder choices every day while leaving unhealthy environments unchanged.”
MEP Manuela Ripa
Co-Chair of the Interest Group
They warn that Europe’s food environment is driving poor health outcomes, with ultra-processed foods now making up 27% of daily calorie intake and contributing to rising levels of obesity and noncommunicable diseases such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes. The group argues that current EU approaches still focus too heavily on individual responsibility, while failing to address the commercial and structural forces shaping what people eat.
The experts are calling for action to incentivise healthy food choices, strengthen regulation on marketing, improve public procurement and school food standards, and ensure EU funding under the CAP and the next Multiannual Financial Framework delivers clear health and equity outcomes.
The experts set out the following priorities for action:
- Incentivise the nutritious choice: use fiscal measures, public procurement, school schemes and zoning policies to make healthy and sustainable diets the default.
- Prioritise healthy and sustainable eating: use the EU’s Vision for Agriculture and Food, and the Safe Hearts Plan to reduce reliance on UPFs.
- Balance power: protect public policy from commercial conflicts of interest.
- Tie investment to health: align the CAP and urban development grants with clear health and equity benchmarks.
- Track progress: include meaningful food and health-related indicators in the MFF to track how EU spending delivers visible results for all.
EuroHealthNet Policy Précis
Tackling Ultra-processed food for a healthier and just food system
