Wednesday, October 8, 2025
Researchers from the University of Nottingham and Tufts University have measured the risks of forced labor behind the ingredients of the recommended American diet, and hope their findings will inform how governments and institutions purchase food on a large scale.
Many Americans make food choices based on cost and nutrition, but personal values, such as animal welfare and environmental concerns, also determine what ends up on our plates. Now, with experts from the Nottingham Rights Lab and the School of Geography, Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutritional Science and Policy at Tufts UniversityIt showed that healthy eating can come at the expense of exploited workers in the food supply chain.
About the first study published today natural foodResearchers analyzed the ingredients of five diets. Recommended by the Federal Dietary Guidelines (Healthy American Diet, Healthy Mediterranean Diet, and Healthy Vegetarian Diet); 2019 EAT-Lancet Planetary Health Diet; and the current average American diet based on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
“All dietary patterns expose us to varying degrees of risk of forced labor, and we cannot make policy decisions and personal choices about our eating habits without understanding these risks.”
The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that approximately 28 million people worldwide, including throughout the United States, are currently subject to forced labor.
“Forced labor takes many forms, but most often traps workers in their jobs through isolation, dependence on employers, exploitative pay plans, and binding employment debt,” explains Jessica Decker Sparks, Ph.D., assistant professor at the Friedman School and corresponding author of the study. Forced labor can include intimidation, withholding wages, abusive living conditions, and even violence.
To assess the risk of forced labor among recommended healthy diets and the current American diet, researchers ranked more than 200 commonly consumed foods in the United States by risk rating based on where and how the foods are commonly grown, harvested, and processed.
“We found that the recommended healthy diet, depending on the mix of foods, may be associated with a higher or lower risk of forced labor than the diet Americans currently eat,” says Nicole Tichenor Blackstone, Ph.D., an associate professor at the Friedman School and a co-author of the paper.
The biggest differences came from the amount of fruit, dairy, and red meat people ate. Protein foods were the biggest contributor to forced labor risk across the five diets studied, but drivers varied.
Looking at livestock farming, researchers described the risks associated with slaughtering, meat processing, and producing feed for these animals. Fruits that must be harvested by hand (vs. machine harvested) or nuts that must be peeled by hand tend to be at higher risk of forced labor. And the fisheries industry is very high risk compared to many other food sectors.
A healthy Mediterranean diet high in plant-based foods and seafood with some dairy and red meat, and a healthy American diet with a balanced mix of relatively high amounts of dairy products and nutrient-dense foods, were found to be at greater risk of forced labor than the average diet today. In addition to red meat and dairy products, seafood also significantly increased risk in the Mediterranean pattern, with fruit also contributing to risk. Dairy products were the largest contributor to overall risk in the U.S. pattern.
In contrast, a healthy vegetarian diet, which includes beans, soybeans, nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and a planetary health diet, which is mostly plant-based and uses very little meat and dairy to reduce environmental impact, had a lower risk. Both of these diets have been shown to be very high risk due to nuts and seeds.
Switching food to individual plates may not end forced labor, but this research could have far-reaching implications. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans dictates what millions of children and adults eat through public programs like school lunches, and cities around the world are using the Planetary Healthy Diet to guide purchasing policies.
Researchers point out that programs like the Fair Food Program show how farm workers can drive real change when they have a seat at the table. This, combined with trade policies that block imports from forced labor, can help level the playing field so that companies that respect their workers are not undermined by exploitative practices abroad.
story credits
Additional information can be used in Dr. Bethany Jackson at the Rights Lab and the Department of Geography. bethany.jackson1@nottingham.ac.uk
Notes to editors:
About the University of Nottingham
97th in the world, 17th in the UK QS World University RankingsThe University of Nottingham is a founding member of the Russell Group of research universities. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience, and we pride ourselves on unleashing our students’ potential. We have a pioneering spirit expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has led us to establish campuses in China and Malaysia, part of a globally connected network of education, research and industry engagement.
Nottingham has been named Sports University of the Year. The Times and Sunday Times Good Universities Guide 2024 – This is the third time she has received this honor since 2018. Daily Mail University Guide 2024.
The university is one of the top universities in the UK in terms of research intensity, ranking 7th in the UK for research intensity according to REF 2021. The birthplace of discoveries such as MRI and ibuprofen, our innovations transform lives and solve global problems such as sustainable food supply, ending modern slavery, developing green transportation, and reducing dependence on fossil fuels.
The University is a major employer and industry partner both regionally and globally, and our graduates are the third most sought after by the UK’s top employers, according to High Fliers Research’s 2024 Graduate Market Report.
we are University of Nottingham The initiative, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, marks a pioneering collaboration between the city’s two world-class institutions to improve the prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing of the city and its local residents.
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