TealHelix Project

09/09/2026

🌱 TealHelix has completed its second year!

It has been a year of strong scientific progress, European collaboration, and moving research closer to real-world impact.

🔎 From mapping the sustainability labeling landscape and conducting consumer research across 11 European countries to developing new frameworks and preparing tools such as LabelGuide, we are gaining valuable insights into how consumers navigate sustainability information.

🚀 Now, as we enter Year 3, we’re moving into an exciting phase of co-creation, testing, and implementation, including the upcoming Go Green Hub workshops across the Baltic region.

Read the full press release here and follow TealHelix as we move into the next phase of the project:

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation programme under Grant Agreement number no. 101136955 and from the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author...

31/08/2026

📌 The 4th TealHelix Newsletter is now out!

We are pleased to share the latest edition of the TealHelix newsletter, bringing together recent developments, achievements, and activities from across the project.

Read it here: https://mailchi.mp/b5c848297d23/tealhelix-4th-newsletter

26/08/2026

📬 The next TealHelix newsletter is coming soon!

A new edition packed with updates from across the project, from our General Assemblies (the last and upcoming) in Riga and Vilnius and the successful project review, to the BOKU University’s Gold Award, our first publication, the Beyond_the_Label campaign, and the launch of the LabelGuide App.

You’ll also find the latest Practice Abstracts, Vision4Food project EU project EU video, and the CUES Project Project webinars

📖 Catch up on what’s happening across TealHelix and discover what’s next!
Subscribe here:

TealHelix Project Email Forms

19/08/2026

📖 Our first project publication is out!

We’re excited to share the first publication from the TealHelix Project, led by Leonore Lendl-Lewisch and Petra Riefler at the BOKU University.
The study presents the Perceived Importance of Food Sustainability (PIFS) Index, a new 43-item measure capturing five dimensions of food sustainability: , , , , and .

Validated across five EU countries, the index offers a holistic way to understand what aspects of food sustainability matter most to consumers.

📖Read it here: https://tealhelix.eu/results-resources/

29/07/2026

☀️ Happy Summer Holidays from the TealHelix team!

Looking for fresh insights this summer? Deliverable 2.2, written by White Research, explores what drives sustainable food choices across Europe, based on responses from 2,767 consumers in 11 EU countries.

📄 Explore the findings and our other project deliverables to discover what is shaping the future of sustainability labelling: https://tealhelix.eu/results-resources/

22/07/2026

🏷️ More labels don't always lead to better decisions.
Consumers are increasingly exposed to nutrition scores, sustainability claims, and certifications. But what happens when these labels send different, or even conflicting, messages?

Research shows that conflicting front-of-pack labels can create confusion without improving purchase decisions. Instead of helping consumers, multiple labels may increase cognitive effort and reduce confidence in choosing a product.

This highlights an important challenge: it's not just about providing more information; it's about providing clear, understandable, and meaningful information.

At TealHelix, we are exploring how smart and personalised food labelling can strengthen sustainable food literacy, helping consumers interpret food information and navigate increasingly complex food environments with greater confidence.

📖 Effective food labelling isn't about adding more labels; it's about making information easier to understand and use.
Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195666325002089

15/07/2026

📖 Food literacy has long been associated with healthy eating. But is that enough?

Traditionally, food literacy has focused on developing the knowledge and skills needed to:
🔹 understand nutrition information;
🔹 interpret food labels;
🔹 prepare and store food safely; and
🔹 make informed dietary choices.

These competencies remain essential. However, today's food choices also have implications for climate, biodiversity, resource use, food waste and social equity.

This is why researchers increasingly advocate for sustainable food literacy, an approach that broadens food literacy to include the environmental, social and economic dimensions of food systems.

At TealHelix Project, we are exploring how innovative food information, and smart labelling can support consumers in navigating this complexity, enabling decisions that are informed not only by health, but also by sustainability.

📚 Research suggests that integrating sustainability into food literacy can strengthen consumers' ability to critically evaluate food information and understand the wider impacts of their choices.

Read more: https://tealhelix.eu/

Source: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/2/459

08/07/2026

🥗 Food literacy is no longer just about nutrition. Knowing how to read a nutrition label is important.

But today's consumers are also expected to understand carbon footprints, biodiversity impacts, food waste, ethical sourcing, and sustainability claims. This broader set of competencies is known as sustainable food literacy, the ability to interpret food information within environmental, social, and economic contexts.

At TealHelix Project, we are exploring how smart food labelling can support this shift, helping consumers make informed decisions in an increasingly complex food environment.

📌 Food literacy helps us understand what we eat. Sustainable food literacy helps us understand what our food choices mean.

02/07/2026

🔎 Can consumers make sustainable choices if they don't trust sustainability information?

This question guided the TealHelix presentation by Cecilia D'Acunto (from SAFE- Safe Food Advocacy Europe) during our joint webinar with CUES EU Project and Infoodmation (SciFoodHealth).

Preliminary research reveals a fragmented landscape of labels, inconsistent methodologies, vague terminology, and greenwashing, all of which contribute to declining consumer trust.

Based on a literature review and interviews with stakeholders from EU institutions, international organisations, academia, and industry, the project highlights that trustworthy communication goes beyond clear labels. It requires credible and verifiable claims, transparent governance, effective enforcement, and communication that empowers rather than manipulates consumers, particularly vulnerable groups.

As EU legislation on sustainability claims continues to evolve, one message is becoming increasingly clear: building trust is not only about providing more information, but about ensuring that information is reliable, understandable, and accountable.

Watch the webinar here:

"Less Enabling, More Structuring: The Role of Consumers in Sustaina...

26/06/2026

📣 Check your calendars - 3 days left!

Join us this Monday for the online policy webinar: Less Enabling, More Structuring: The Role of Consumers in Sustainable Food Policy in the EU

Together with experts from the CUES EU Project, TealHelix Project, and Infoodmation Project (SciFoodHealth), we'll explore:
✅ The role of consumers in sustainable food policies
✅ Sustainability communication, trust, and food misinformation
✅ How structural measures can make sustainable choices more affordable, accessible, and achievable

Plus, we'll launch a new publication on sustainable food consumption policies.

📅 Monday, 29 June 2026
🕒 14:00–15:00 CEST
💻 Online

Register here: https://tealhelix.eu/event/cues-joint-webinar-understanding-what-shapes-sustainable-consumer-behaviour/

European Research Executive Agency (REA)

Consumers are often expected to drive the transition towards more sustainable food systems through their everyday choices. But is information alone enough?