Putting food in the frame

Putting food in the frame builds on the work of FrameWorks UK and our partners Impact on Urban Health and Public Health Scotland to change the conversation about health and food.

Based on original qualitative framing research, this briefing sets out more ways to talk about health and food, to shine a light on the wider factors that shape how we eat – and avoid triggering individual blame or stigma.

Since carrying out earlier research on framing health and food, ultra-processed food has become a topic of growing public concern and salience. We wanted to understand: could this open up more opportunities to reframe health and food so that the focus is on the food environment and the role of corporations and government, rather than on children and parents?

In 2025, we carried out further framing research to identify whether shining a light on ultra-processed food could improve communications on health and food – and, if so – what may be the most efficacious ways of framing it.

We also explored how other terms for describing food, such as ‘healthy/unhealthy food’, ‘foods high in fat, sugar and salt’, and ‘junk food’ influenced people’s thinking – including whether any of these terms trigger stigmatised thinking about people eating these foods.