Articles in 2025

This year’s conflicts have further exposed the political nature of the global food crisis, inviting reflection on how this shapes the practice and the outcomes of scientific research.

This study applies a global food and land system modelling framework to quantify the impact of 23 food system measures on 15 outcome indicators related to public health, the environment, social inclusion and the economy—from today until 2050.

The global community’s most authoritative estimates of how many people go hungry in places that are suffering food emergencies exhibit substantial and widespread undercounting. Given other shortcomings in humanitarian response systems, underestimates are understandable.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification system is the global method for classifying food insecurity severity and allocating humanitarian aid. An evaluation of 10,000 Integrated Food Security Phase Classification subnational analyses from 2017 to 2023 indicates that food severity might have been undercounted.

Identifying diets that are nutritious, affordable and low impact is key for food systems transformation. A recent study shows how changes in food policy and choice can most cost-effectively support healthier and more sustainable diets worldwide.

Identifying low-cost options for a healthy diet is an essential step towards allowing all people to meet their nutritional needs. This study measures the frontiers of the lowest available cost and greenhouse gas emissions for a healthy diet in 171 countries, as well as healthy diets reflecting consumption patterns in each country.

Microrobotics is an emerging innovation with promising applications in food safety, quality control and processing. This Review highlights recent advances in microrobotic design, materials and actuation strategies, and discusses their potential applications, limitations and integration in the food industry.

Extreme heat is intensifying occupational risks across global agriculture, yet adaptation efforts remain disproportionately crop-centric. Existing frameworks largely ignore the physiological limits, economic constraints and structural exposures faced by frontline labourers. A shift towards climate-resilient mechanization, quantified health-loss integration and redistributive adaptation policy is essential to safeguard the human foundation of food systems.

This study examines associations between sugar- and artificially sweetened beverages or proteomic signatures and adverse liver outcomes using UK Biobank data. The findings highlight the potential benefits of reducing sweetened beverage intake for liver health.

Addressing nutrition and climate resilience together requires transdisciplinary participatory action research with clear impact pathways for systems change that starts from the ground up. The concept of ‘crops that nourish’ is proposed here to offer a new mode of pursuing agricultural development. It involves iterative co-creation between farmers and researchers that prioritizes local needs and agency, human health, resilience and sustainability through a focus on opportunity crops.

The High Seas Treaty, key to the conservation of international waters, will come into effect in January 2026. The full implications for food systems remain to be explored.

Bacterial richness is a key driver of soil organic matter stability, as it promotes the formation of more thermodynamically stable yet less diverse compounds, thereby playing a central role in sustaining long-term soil carbon storage.

Soil organic matter stability is critical for long-term soil health and carbon sequestration. This study reveals that increased bacterial richness enhances soil organic matter thermostability by driving a trade-off between molecular diversity and thermodynamic stability.

Food fortified with iron has the potential to correct iron deficiency and associated anaemia, yet it remains challenging to ensure acceptable iron absorption without compromising the sensory properties of the modified food. Stable oat protein nanofibrils carrying ultrasmall iron nanoparticles deliver highly bioavailable iron with minimal changes in colour and taste, offering a promising strategy for global iron fortification.

We demonstrate that bovine fibroblasts can undergo spontaneous immortalization after 500 days in culture, without genetic modification or p53 inactivation. These rare events provide a safe, stable and economically viable cell source that overcomes key barriers to cultivated beef production.

Recent policy changes in the USA have reignited long-standing debates surrounding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). This Review assesses the potential impact of these changes and identifies priorities for further improving SNAP’s effectiveness and reach.

Bovine fibroblast cell line generation without genetic modification is characterized. A technoeconomic analysis demonstrates the potential for price-competitive, scaled-up cultivated beef production.

Food system transformations need nuanced approaches to modelling future outcomes. This Review explores current challenges and outlines paths forward for food system transformation modelling, with an emphasis on diversification of the approaches used and integration into decision-making processes.