Professor Gallagher will be one of a number of independent experts on the UKNHCC, which was set up to provide scientific advice to the relevant UK authorities on the substantiation of scientific evidence underpinning nutrition and health claim applications. The relevant UK government authorities make decisions on whether to authorise nutrition and health claims.
The UKNHCC helps protect the public from misleading food marketing by ensuring that the scientific basis underpinning new nutrition and health claims will continue to be of the highest standard.
With over 90 peer-reviewed publications, Professor Alison Gallagher contributes to the research conducted within the Nutrition Innovation Centre for Food and Health (NICHE) at Ulster University. Her research interests resonate within the area of obesity and include development of risk factors for disease, low-energy/non-nutritive sweeteners and their potential impact on health, physical activity and health (including implementation of lifestyle interventions at key stages across the lifecycle).
A Registered Nutritionist (Public Health) and the first Fellow of the Association of Nutrition (FAfN) on the island of Ireland, Alison is an active member of the UK/Ireland Nutrition Society and was Honorary Programmes Secretary for UK Nutrition Society from 2010-2017. She co- Chaired the Scientific Committee for the Federation of Nutritional Sciences (FENS) 13th European Nutrition Conference (www.fens2019.org), held in Dublin in October 2019.
Professor Gallagher is co-editor of the Nutrition Society text book ‘Introduction to Human Nutrition’ (3rd edition). She is a passionate advocate for the European Nutrition Leadership Platform (ENLP), having first participated in the ENLP seminars in 1997 and being involved with this international leadership programme ever since, being the current Chair/President of the ENLP Board and co-Director of the ENLP Essentials seminar (www.enlp.eu.com).
Alison is also Chair of the Editorial Advisory Board of Nutrition Bulletin, a vice-chair of NI Chest Heart Stroke’s Scientific Research Committee and a member of the ISA Scientific Advisory Panel.
Professor Gallagher’s UKNHCC appointment will be for 2 years.