Roberta Alessandrini

Profile

I am an Honorary Research Fellow at Queen Mary’s Centre for Public Health and Policy. I have a background in dietetics (University of Naples) and global health nutrition (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine). In the past, I worked in East London delivering NHS funded projects (Cook4Life, MyWeigh) focussing on obesity prevention and treatment in adults and children. I also worked at the European Commission Joint Research Centre (Italy) as part of the Expert Panel on Nitrogen and Food on several projects on sustainable and healthy food systems.

My PhD project evaluated the health impacts of a calorie and saturated fat reformulation strategy in manufactured foods available in the UK. Professors Feng He and Graham MacGregor supervised my doctoral project.

I am on Twitter: @RobertaNutr

I am on LinkedIn: Roberta Alessandrini

Research

Research Interests:

I am interested in policies and strategies promoting healthier and more sustainable food environments. In the most recent years, I worked on product reformulation as this approach, if correctly implemented by governments and the food industry, can reduce intakes of saturated fat, salt, sugar, and excess calories in the entire population.

I am also very interested in strategies aimed at reducing animal-sourced food consumption as this can positively impact animal welfare and reduce dependence from the livestock sector. I am particularly interested in understanding the role of alternative proteins (plant-based, fermented, and cultured products) in healthy human diets.  

Publications

Please click through to see a complete list of Roberta's publications.

Featured publications

Alessandrini R, Brown MK, Pombo-Rodrigues S, et al. Nutritional Quality of Plant-Based Meat Products Available in the UK: A Cross-Sectional Survey. Nutrients 13, 4225 (2021).

Alessandrini R, He FJ, Ma Y et al. Potential impact of gradual reduction of fat content in manufactured and out-of-home food on obesity in the United Kingdom: a modeling study. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 113, 1312 (2021).

Sanz-Cobena A, Alessandrini R, Bodirsky BL et al. Research meetings must be more sustainable. Nature Food 1, 187 (2020).

Temme EH, Vellinga RE, de Ruiter H [et al, including Alessandrini R]. Demand-Side Food Policies for Public and Planetary Health. Sustainability 12, 5924 (2020).

Alessandrini R, He FJ, Hashem KM et al. Reformulation and Priorities for Reducing Energy Density; Results from a Cross-Sectional Survey on Fat Content in Pre-Packed Cakes and Biscuits Sold in British Supermarkets. Nutrients 11, 1216 (2019).