Belgian health experts, scientists and food industry plead for healthier nutrition
New “Belgian Food Council for Prevention” calls for measures to prevent disease caused by poor diets
Diegem, 23 June 2026 – At the invitation of professional services provider and health industry expert PwC Belgium, leading Belgian doctors, scientists, dietitians, an insurer, public authorities, a youth representative and a retailer have joined forces in a new forum with a common purpose: empowering citizens to make healthier food choices and to make preventive healthcare more accessible, practical and enjoyable for everyone. This brand-new Belgian Food Council for Prevention has made several strong recommendations, including mandatory Nutri-Scores, a ban on marketing of unhealthy foods to children, fiscal tools and food literacy to educate citizens. “Belgium stands at a critical juncture, as the increasing incidence of preventable diseases, largely due to poor diets and unsustainable food practices, presents an urgent challenge to our society,” states Nathalie Parent, Partner at PwC Belgium.
Over the past 20 years, total health expenditure in Belgium has risen sharply, and a significant part of this growth is driven by the rising cost of healthcare. At a European level, the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases is projected to increase by 90% in 2050. One critical way to help reverse or slow these trends is effective and consistent preventive measures. The food ecosystem can play an important role by promoting healthier habits and giving people practical guidance to improve their health and reduce pressure on healthcare systems. A central driver of this is the way Belgians eat: dietary patterns have a major impact on our overall health and disease risk. Today, 49% of Belgians aged three and over are considered overweight and 18% are classified as obese. These figures underline the urgency of acting now to shape more sustainable and healthier eating behaviours.
Against this backdrop, PwC Belgium launched the Belgian Food Council for Prevention, which held its first meeting on 9 December 2025. The Council’s ambition is to empower citizens to make healthier food choices and to make preventive healthcare more accessible, practical and enjoyable for everyone.
Michèle Pacque, Senior Advisor Life Sciences and Healthcare at PwC Belgium, explains: “Prevention is the most cost-effective way of addressing the significant burden of cardiovascular diseases and major risk factors such as diabetes and obesity. Fortunately, the pathway to improvement is clear: by embracing prevention as a shared endeavour, we can transform our food environment, making healthy living the easiest, most enjoyable and most accessible choice for everyone.”
The vision of the Belgian Food Council for Prevention is to develop and implement an actionable plan that responds to the challenges outlined in this paper. With the support and collaboration of all stakeholders involved and based on multiple international references, the Council aims to have a concrete impact on the health of people living in Belgium. Building on its first meeting and through clearly defined calls to action, the council seeks to make food healthier and more accessible to all, to empower citizens to act, to educate and guide the population towards healthy nutrition and to foster new partnerships that enable our goals.
“The time for action is now,” says Nathalie Parent, Partner at PwC Belgium. “This is an opportunity to make prevention and sustainability the cornerstone of our national agenda, ensuring that each generation enjoys not only longer and healthier lives, but more fulfilling ones rooted in the transformative power of nutritious food and collective action.”
Some key recommendations made by the council:
General recommendations:
- Increase health and nutrition literacy at all levels of society to improve public health and reduce citizens’ exposure to harmful influences
- Provide citizens with nutrition and health education through all stages of life, starting at the prenatal stage
Food industry recommendations:
- Make healthy options more easily accessible in-store. Label products and store areas to facilitate citizens’ decision making. Remove junk food from checkouts to avoid unduly influencing consumers
- Promote and reward the purchase of healthy products
Policy recommendations:
- Develop and implement an integrated national nutrition plan with a strong focus on health prevention
- Strengthen regulations to set better standards for the Belgian food system. For instance, make Nutri-Score mandatory, ban advertising aimed at children (given their vulnerability) and enforce stricter product composition rules
- Use the revenue from fiscal tools (such as targeted taxes on junk food, ultra-processed foods and alcohol) to support the local food industry and sustainable, healthy food options
More information and recommendations can be found on
Food Council for Prevention - Manifesto.pdf
PDF 10 MB
Experts:
- Dr. Nicolas Berger – Sciensano
- Dr. Antoine Bondue– HU Brussels
- Dr. Anne Boucquiau – Société Belge des Médecins Nutritionnistes, Certificat Inter universités de Nutrition Clinique
- Benoit Collin – INAMI-RIZIV
- Dr. Bart Demyttenaere– Solidaris
- Laurence Doughan – FPS Public Health
- Kris Gillis – Vlaams Beroepsvereniging van Dietisten
- Veronique Leroy – Edenred
- Veronique Maindiaux– HE Vinci
- Dr. Ernst Rietzschel– UZ Ghent
- Dr. Ruud Saerens – Mutualités Libres Onafhankelijke Ziekenfondsen
- Dr. Anne Schaeken– CHC Liege
- Christelle Tchonang Ponka – Carrefour Belgium
- Fleur Van de Walle – Vlaamse Jeugdraad
- Virginie Vanesse – Union Professionnelle des Diététiciens de Langue Française
- Marie-Eve Velghe– HU Brussels
- Dr. Rik Willems – UZ Leuven
- Nathalie Parent – PwC Belgium
- Michèle Paque – PwC Belgium External Advisor
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