Why opt for a quick unhealthy bite when there are so many healthy alternatives? Does it matter how long we chew our food? And how do you actually conduct research into food intake? During the Opening of the Academic Year 2025–2026, Wageningen University & Research (WUR) served visitors a taste of innovative food research.
The theme of the opening was 'Food for health, what really works'. Wageningen University & Research has a long history of nutritional research, emphasised Sjoukje Heimovaara, President of the Executive Board: "Wageningen's journey in nutrition began at the start of the last century. Since then, we have grown into a world leader in human nutrition, health and sustainable food systems."
Nutritional problems range from obesity and disease to nutrient deficiencies and malnutrition. "Worldwide, more than 600 million people suffer from food shortages. This is not because we don't produce enough, but due to mismanagement and conflict. In some conflicts, hunger is even used as a weapon," Heimovaara said about this pressing issue that sparks heated debate. "These terrible crimes must stop."
In her opening address, Heimovaara announced the Gerrit Grijns Fund, set up to stimulate nutritional science. The aim is to raise at least two million euros in donations within four years to support groundbreaking initiatives. The fund is named after Wageningen professor Gerrit Grijns: co-discoverer of vitamin B and founder of modern nutritional science.
Supermarkets
The complexity of our nutritional challenges was highlighted by Maartje Poelman in her presentation on Public Health Nutrition. This discipline combines insights from nutrition, health sciences and the social sciences, covering both undernutrition and obesity. Poelman showed that our food environment plays a major role in health and inequality. Although food is abundantly available in the Netherlands, the majority of supermarket and hospitality offerings are unhealthy: over 80% of products do not contribute to a healthy diet. This has serious consequences, since environment often determines what people eat, not just individual choices.
One example is the legal restriction on salt levels in bread under Dutch food law. For an individual, this may seem a small adjustment, but on a population scale it reduces salt intake and helps prevent cardiovascular disease. According to Poelman, such environmental measures are far more effective than individual advice alone, as they reach everyone. "The healthy choice becomes the easy choice."
SnackBox
Technology is transforming nutrition research, as Guido Camps demonstrated. Traditional methods such as questionnaires and food diaries are often inaccurate and miss the real-life context of eating. That is why WUR, together with OnePlanet, is developing innovative measuring tools to reliably record food consumption in daily life. Camps explained: "In this way we also capture a lot of data about the social aspect of eating - information we would normally dismiss as 'noise'."
Examples include the SnackBox, a smart container that precisely records when and how much someone eats, and a sensor tray that automatically registers meals without requiring participants to log anything. With such technologies, a complete sensor ecosystem is emerging that allows researchers to monitor eating behaviour in practice, link it to emotions, and even create digital twins of someone's snacking patterns.
Texture and eating speed
Ciarán Forde began his lecture with the primary purpose of human food intake: eliminating deficiencies and optimising diets to prevent chronic diseases. According to him, this requires food that is accessible, affordable, acceptable and sustainable. In practice, however, it depends on what people actually choose to eat, the amount they consume, and how often they eat. "If we understand these three aspects of eating patterns, we can make great strides in promoting healthy and sustainable diets."
He then explored the role of food texture and its effect on energy intake, using the example of a crusty baguette versus a soft slice of bread. In the RESTRUCTURE project, participants were tested to see whether meal texture and eating speed could explain why people consume more calories from so-called ultra-processed foods. The results showed that participants consistently consumed fewer calories when the texture slowed down their eating, without feeling less full or satisfied.
The findings suggest that sensory signals such as texture play a key role in regulating portion size and long-term intake, offering new opportunities to design foods that help prevent overeating..
Dean of education
Rector Magnificus Carolien Kroeze, in her formal opening of the academic year, thanked Arnold Bregt for his work as Dean of Education, a role he held for eight years. On 1 September he handed over the baton to Dick de Ridder, who has been a member of the Board of Education since 2021. Kroeze also noted the start of Peter Ploegsma as a new member of the Executive Board. Ploegsma takes on the Finance, Business & Services portfolio from Rens Buchwaldt, who has been absent for medical reasons since 1 July. Kroeze concluded: "I look forward to working with all of you on the challenges ahead. Let's shape responsible change - and let's do it together."
Watch the Opening Academic Year
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