SynthesisNature food2026
A meta-analysis assessing the effectiveness of demand-side interventions for sustainable food consumption and food waste reduction.
Synthesis in Nature food, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- The Need for Realistic Behavior Modeling in Life Cycle Assessment.Environmental science & technology · 2026Article
- Transport Motorization and Household Food Waste in Rural China: Direct-Weighing Evidence of a Nonlinear Association.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Spatiotemporal trends in food deserts, food swamps and food environments around schools in Wallonia, Belgium (2008-2024).Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2026Article
- Meta-analysis on comparative impact of behavioral, information, and monetary interventions on energy-efficient appliance adoption.PNAS nexus · 2026Article
- Driving sustainable change: A systematic map of behaviorally informed interventions to promote sustainable mobility behavior.PNAS nexus · 2025Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Shifting consumers towards more sustainable food consumption and avoiding food waste have been identified as key levers in mitigating food systems-related climate change impacts. Here we conducted a machine-learning-assisted systematic review and meta-analysis of 306 effect sizes from 110 articles, covering over 2.4 million observations, to assess the effectiveness of demand-side interventions targeting actual or incentivized behaviours. On average, we find small effect sizes across both food consumption and food waste interventions. Effect sizes vary substantially across intervention types, with certain choice architecture interventions, such as availability and defaults, driving much of the overall effect in both domains, while incentives also show promise in reducing food waste. These effects remain robust even after accounting for severe publication bias, which notably reduces average estimates for other intervention types. Sensitivity analyses further underscore the need for future research to systematically identify when, how and why interventions are effective.
Indexed as
Identifiers
41554891What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.