Tallinn, Conference on nutrition, food information and innovation

Tallin held the conference entitled "Positive Nutrition: Consumer Information and Healthy Diets - Evidence and Challenges in Front-of-Pack Labelling", organised by the Embassy of Italy in collaboration with Cambridge Food Science and focused on the role of consumer information, eating patterns, innovation in the food sector and nutritional policies aimed at promoting healthier lifestyles.

Opening the conference, the Italian Ambassador to Tallinn, Stefano Catani, emphasised the importance of strengthening scientific and cultural dialogue between Italy and Estonia on the topics of food and health, highlighting how food embodies culture, identity, science, innovation and public health, and how Italy is committed to promoting balanced, evidence-based nutritional policies across Europe.

During the debate, which featured contributions from Roberta Re (Cambridge Food Science), Luca Piretta (Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome), Anna-Liisa Tamm (Tartu University of Applied Health Sciences), Kristel Vene (Tallinn University of Technology) and Daniela Martini (University of Milan), the speakers emphasised the need to base nutritional policies on sound scientific foundations and to consider diet as a whole, within the food cultures of different communities, avoiding approaches limited to individual nutrients.

The importance of providing consumers with accurate and comprehensive information was also highlighted, whilst avoiding oversimplifications that might distort their understanding of eating patterns.