The Joe Wicks “Killer Bar” Debate - and What It Reveals About Our Food System

Joe Wicks’ recent Channel 4 documentary “The Killer Bar” has sparked huge debate across the UK - about ultra-processed foods, food regulation, and the way we communicate nutrition to the public.

While the documentary shines an important light on our national diet, it also raises questions about how we drive change. Can fear and shock tactics genuinely improve public health, or do they risk deepening confusion and mistrust?

In the same week the show aired, I attended a major food industry event. The contrast was striking - impressive innovation around sustainability and technology, but almost no conversation about health. It reminded me that we can’t fix our broken food system if health and industry continue to work in silos.

If we want food that’s good for both people and planet, collaboration - not condemnation - is the way forward.

I explore this in more depth, looking at the science, the psychology, and the policy implications, in my latest Substack essay:

Read the full piece here on my Substack.