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This article provides a brief overview of the role of the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF). The Foundation is a charity set up in 1967 with the aim of promoting nutritional wellbeing by disseminating accurate information about diet and health. Unfortunately, many of the messages that the general public receive about diet and health are inconsistent and as such do not enable them to make positive changes to their dietary behaviour. The premature reporting of scientific findings in the media, particularly when these conflict with previous research, contributes to the confused messages and encourages the common perception of disagreement among scientists. The findings of any single study are unlikely to provide convincing evidence and any new research needs to be interpreted in the light of previous reports and any discrepancies addressed. One of the key roles of the Foundation is to independently review the totality of the evidence, to make a judgement about various dietary issues and to interpret the science in a format suitable for different audiences. Current work includes the provision of training and resources for teachers and health professionals and an information and consultancy service for consumers, the media, government and the food industry. Much of its work also involves producing literature and running conferences to disseminate up‐to‐date information about various nutritional topics to health professionals both in the UK and across Europe.

In 1988 a curriculum audit by the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) identified which subjects included food and nutrition in their syllabus. A framework for teaching food and nutrition within the national curriculum was devised by the BNF. The BNF and Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) launched the “Food – a fact of life” programme in 1989 and since then have developed resources for key stages 1 to 4. Discusses the place for food and nutrition teaching in the curriculum revised for England and Wales.

In recent years the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) has undertaken various schools education initiatives including the BNF/MAFF food and nutrition school programme entitled “Food – a fact of life”. Reviews the development of this programme and provides a detailed account of the latest unit of resources for pupils 11‐16 years. The unit, “Energy and Nutrients”, has been devised to integrate with curriculum requirements throughout the UK and is based on ten topics: energy, fat, protein, carbohydrate, vitamins, minerals, digestion, nutritional needs, alcohol and food composition. The unit comprises a range of pupils′ resources and an optional software program. It was evaluated in over 100 schools from 60 LEAs prior to being launched by the Food Minister on 27 April 1995. Includes a brief review of the BNF Food Technology Training Courses for teachers which are being part funded by the Department for Education.

The British Nutrition Foundation is an impartial scientific organisation and registered charity which aims to provide scientifically based information about nutrition, encourage nutrition research and promote nutrition education. It was established in 1967 and its Founder Members include a number of eminent scientists and well known companies. Today under the patronage of HRH The Princess Royal, we continue to receive active support from many of the UK's leading academic and medical scientists, and the financial contribution from our membership. The work of the Foundation has expanded considerably in recent years but our fundamental objective remains the same — to help individuals to understand the importance of good nutrition and to be able to utilise the knowledge by making informed dietary choices.

“It is generally accepted that the food industry must be scientifically based to cope with the problems, particularly of public health, which arise as new processes of growing, manufacturing, packaging and preserving food depart even further from traditional ways.”

With changes in the curriculum, science breakthroughs, consumer demands and the Government’s recent Green Paper on Our Healthier Nation, the British Nutrition Foundation’s National Nutrition Education Conference entitled “Emerging issues for the next millennium” informed delegates about emerging issues in nutrition and education.

Summarises the findings of the British Nutrition Foundation Task Force report Adverse Reactions to Food.