South African lecturer challenges dietetics societies over ultra-processed food congress sponsorship

Tamryn Frank has launched a petition calling for an apology and a ban on future industry sponsorship of national nutrition events.

Vera Castillo

Food is Medicine Writer

Stands on 7 placed sources from 3 publishers.

Lecturer challenges dietetics societies over congress sponsorship AI illustrationhow this picture was made

Tamryn Frank, senior lecturer at the University of the Western Cape's School of Public Health, stated on 2026-10-09 that it is a conflict of interest for two national dietetics bodies to host a congress sponsored by ultra-processed food companies.^[1] Frank created a petition with support from Amandla.mobi calling for the Nutrition Society of South Africa and the Association for Dietetics in South Africa to ban ultra-processed food companies from all future congresses and issue an apology.^[2] The challenge arrived alongside a wave of new published research examining links between diet, obesity and long term health outcomes published the week of 2026-10-15. On 2026-10-15, researchers led by Erikka Loftfield of the US National Cancer Institute published a cohort study on ultra-processed food and colorectal cancer in PLOS Medicine.^[3] A 2026 Nordic registry study led by Karolinska Institutet researchers, published in JAMA Surgery, found bariatric surgery reduces obesity-related cancer risk regardless of patient age or sex.^[4] A separate longitudinal cohort study using electronic health records from the TriNetX network evaluated the association between bariatric surgery and incidence of dementia and Parkinson's disease in patients with obesity.^[5] That study also observed similar associations between bariatric surgery and reduced incidence of cardiovascular disease, obesity-associated cancers, and all-cause mortality.^[6] University at Buffalo researchers published a 2026 randomized controlled study in Frontiers in Public Health evaluating food prescription programs for food-insecure adults over 65.^[7]

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What this stands on

Tamryn Frank, a senior lecturer at the University of the Western Cape's School of Public Health, stated on 2026-10-09 that it is a conflict of interest for the Nutrition Society of South Africa and the Association for Dietetics in South Africa to host a congress sponsored by ultra-processed food companies. · Daily MaverickSouth Africa
A petition was created by Tamryn Frank with the help of Amandla.mobi calling for the Nutrition Society of South Africa and the Association for Dietetics in South Africa to ban ultra-processed food companies from future congresses and issue an apology. · Daily MaverickSouth Africa
On 2026-10-15, researchers led by Erikka Loftfield of the US National Cancer Institute published a cohort study on ultra-processed food and colorectal cancer in PLOS Medicine. · Medical Xpress
A 2026 Nordic registry study led by Karolinska Institutet researchers, published in JAMA Surgery, found bariatric surgery reduces obesity-related cancer risk regardless of patient age or sex. · Medical Xpress
A longitudinal cohort study using electronic health records from the TriNetX network evaluated the association between bariatric surgery and the incidence of dementia and Parkinson's disease in patients with obesity. · Nature
The study also observed similar associations between bariatric surgery and reduced incidence of cardiovascular disease, obesity-associated cancers, and all-cause mortality. · Nature
University at Buffalo researchers published a 2026 randomized controlled study in Frontiers in Public Health evaluating food prescription programs for food-insecure adults over 65. · Medical Xpress

The one we could place publishes from South Africa. 2 could not be placed by their address. None is an official body: that part stands on reporting, not on the underlying document or transcript.