About this event
- Date and time Wed 10 Jun 2026 from 10:00am to 4:30pm
- Location Online
- Organised by Food and Health
Health and nutrition misinformation now spreads rapidly across digital platforms, shaping how people understand illness, diet, and treatment before they ever consult a clinician. Viral algorithms, influencer culture and emerging AI technologies amplify misleading claims about supplements, restrictive diets and “natural” cures, influencing patient expectations, complicating clinical care, and distorting food choices in ways that affect both individual and planetary health.
This one-day webinar brings together experts from medicine, nutrition, public health, and misinformation research to examine how health narratives are shaped by digital media, commercial influence and uncertainty in scientific communication. The programme focuses on practical insight into how misinformation circulates and how professionals can support clearer, evidence-based decision-making in clinical practice and public health.
Why attend?
- Hear from leading international experts, including Dr Jeanelle de Gruchy, Professor Giles Yeo MBE, Professor Marion Nestle, Professor Naomi Oreskes, and Professor Walter Willett
- Understand how digital platforms, algorithms and industry narratives shape health and nutrition misinformation
- Explore how misinformation affects patient expectations, trust and decision-making before clinical consultations begin
- Learn practical strategies to support evidence-based communication and reduce misinformation-related harms in healthcare and public health
Aims of the event
- Provide an evidence-based overview of how health and nutrition misinformation emerges and spreads across digital, clinical and public health settings
- Explore the roles of AI technologies, digital media and commercial influence in shaping health narratives
- Support professionals to recognise risks and apply practical approaches to limit misinformation-related harms
Learning outcomes
By attending this event, participants will be able to:
- Recognise how health and nutrition misinformation emerges, circulates and persists across digital and professional environments
- Identify misinformation-related risks that influence patient expectations, health decisions and public understanding of nutrition
- Apply evidence-based communication approaches to respond to diet and health misinformation in professional contexts
- Evaluate broader system-level factors, including digital platforms and industry influence, that shape health narratives
Who should attend?
This webinar is relevant to a wide range of professionals, including:
- Clinicians, including consultants, GPs and SAS doctors
- Nutrition professionals
- Public health practitioners
- Policymakers
- Professionals working in digital health and AI
- Academics and researchers working in health, nutrition and misinformation
- Allied health professionals
- Students and trainees
Agenda
View the programme
Morning session
Chair: Alex Ruani, Researcher in Health-Diet Misinformation Mitigation at University College London, Chief Science Educator at The Health Sciences Academy, Elected Council Member of the Royal Society of Medicine’s Food and Health Council
Welcome and introduction
Professor Greta Defeyter OBE, President of the Royal Society of Medicine Food and Health Council; Professor of Developmental Psychology, Department of Social Work, Education and Community Wellbeing at Northumbria University
Science under threat: Why honesty about uncertainty can help address misinformation and protect public trust
Dr Jeanelle de Gruchy, England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) Lead, President of the Association of Directors of Public Health
Beyond the hype: The biological cost of unfounded diet claims and nutrition myths
Pre-recorded: Professor Giles Yeo MBE, Honorary President of the British Dietetics Association (BDA) and Professor at the Medical Research Council Metabolic Diseases Unit, University of Cambridge
Risky supplements, self-testing, and algorithmic cures: Misinformation in the influencer economy
Deborah Cohen, Medical Journalist, Senior Visiting Fellow, London School of Economics
The rise of clinicians in the AI loop: Misinformation risk detection and mitigation in diet, nutrition, and health
Alex Ruani, UCL Researcher in Health-Diet Misinformation Mitigation
The empathy antidote: When connection is more powerful than correction in neutralising misinformation
Dr Rageshri Dhairyawan, NHS Consultant Physician and Honorary Senior Lecturer, Queen Mary University of London
Panel discussion
From algorithms to empathy: The next generation of misinformation response
Moderated by Dr Leigh Gibson, Honorary Senior Research Fellow, School of Psychology, University of Roehampton
Lunch
Afternoon session
Chair: Alex Ruani, Researcher in Health-Diet Misinformation Mitigation at University College London, Chief Science Educator at The Health Sciences Academy, Elected Council Member of the Royal Society of Medicine’s Food and Health Council
Welcome back and introduction
How junk food giants have controlled the narrative and censored young people
Farid from Bite Back
From big tobacco to big food: Enduring lessons from industry disinformation playbooks
Professor Naomi Oreskes, Henry Charles Lea Professor of the History of Science and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University
From food politics to what to eat now: A brief view of the updated US dietary guidelines and inverted food pyramid
Professor Marion Nestle, Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, Emerita, New York University
Addressing climate disinformation for healthier, more sustainable food systems
Professor Walter C. Willett MD Dr.P.H., Co-Chair of the EAT-Lancet Commission, Professor in Epidemiology and Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Panel discussion
Disinformation power and public reach
How nutrition science gets distorted by diet culture
Julia Belluz, Investigative Journalist
Dealing with nutrition misinformation in professional contexts
Zoe Griffiths RNutr FAfN, Founder of ZG Nutrition and Registered Nutritionist (Public Health)
Closing remarks
Annual general meeting
For section members only
Location
Online
Registration for this webinar will close at 9:00 am on Wednesday 10 June. You will receive the webinar link 1 hour before the meeting. Late registrations will not be accepted.
Webinar recordings will be available for registered delegates up to 60 days after the live webinar, via Zoom. The link will be sent 24 hours after the webinar takes place.
This webinar will be recorded and stored by the Royal Society of Medicine and may be distributed in the future on various internet channels.