Food featured by social media influencers in Europe: a cross national study across 16 countries
Abstract
Background: The expansion of social media has transformed the food information environment shaping dietary behaviours. Influencers are a key component of the commercial determinants of health, shaping food preferences, norms and consumption. However, comparable evidence on food related influencer content in Europe is limited. As part of INFOODMATION, this study analysed food related posts across 16 EU countries, including ∼165 influencer accounts per country.
Methods: Social media posts (Instagram, TikTok and YouTube) were collected through the Influencer Monitor, a digital monitoring system for influencer advertising between June-August 2025. A total of 540,605 European social media posts were collected and analyzed. A dictionary approach was used to assess the proportions of social media posts that included food, brands and marketing. Core- and non-core foods categories were extracted.
Results: Of all food related posts (n = 23,985 (4.4% of all posts)), influencers in all countries featured non-core foods significantly more frequently than core-foods. Only 13.6% (n = 3263) mentioned exclusively selected core food categories, including vegetables (8.5%), fruits (6.2%), nuts/seeds (1.3%), and legumes (1.1%). In total, 31.7% (n = 7602) featured non-core food categories, including candies/sweets (16.2%), pastries/cakes (15.4%), sugar sweetened beverages (6.3%), alcoholic beverages (5.1%) and savory snacks (4.8%). Meat-related posts were four times more present than meat-free posts (8.8% vs. 2.0%). In the food posts that contained marketing disclosures (9%, n = 2163), influencers mentioned non-core foods ((n = 879 (41%)) significantly more often than core foods (n = 570, (16%)).
Conclusions: Non-core foods are featured and promoted more frequently by European influencers than core foods. These findings provide empirical evidence to support effective regulation, including marketing restrictions and platform governance, to support healthier digital food environments.
Key messages: • European influencers’ food posts more often feature non-core foods (31.7%) than core foods (13.6%), and more often meat (8.8%) than meat-free products (2.0%).
• Insight into EU prevalence of foods featured and promoted by influencers informs health policy by revealing exposure levels, setting priorities, and guiding targeted regulation.
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BibTeX
@article{poelman2026food,
title = {{Food featured by social media influencers in Europe: a cross national study across 16 countries}},
author = {MP Poelman and SMM Wolfswinkel and E De Vries and SC Boerman},
journal = {The European Journal of Public Health},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.1338},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.1338},
note = {CC BY-NC 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Food featured by social media influencers in Europe: a cross national study across 16 countries
AU - MP Poelman
AU - SMM Wolfswinkel
AU - E De Vries
AU - SC Boerman
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - The European Journal of Public Health
DO - 10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.1338
UR - https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.1338
AB - Background: The expansion of social media has transformed the food information environment shaping dietary behaviours. Influencers are a key component of the commercial determinants of health, shaping food preferences, norms and consumption. However, comparable evidence on food related influencer content in Europe is limited. As part of INFOODMATION, this study analysed food related posts across 16 EU countries, including ∼165 influencer accounts per country. Methods: Social media posts (Instagram, TikTok and YouTube) were collected through the Influencer Monitor, a digital monitoring system for influencer advertising between June-August 2025. A total of 540,605 European social media posts were collected and analyzed. A dictionary approach was used to assess the proportions of social media posts that included food, brands and marketing. Core- and non-core foods categories were extracted. Results: Of all food related posts (n = 23,985 (4.4% of all posts)), influencers in all countries featured non-core foods significantly more frequently than core-foods. Only 13.6% (n = 3263) mentioned exclusively selected core food categories, including vegetables (8.5%), fruits (6.2%), nuts/seeds (1.3%), and legumes (1.1%). In total, 31.7% (n = 7602) featured non-core food categories, including candies/sweets (16.2%), pastries/cakes (15.4%), sugar sweetened beverages (6.3%), alcoholic beverages (5.1%) and savory snacks (4.8%). Meat-related posts were four times more present than meat-free posts (8.8% vs. 2.0%). In the food posts that contained marketing disclosures (9%, n = 2163), influencers mentioned non-core foods ((n = 879 (41%)) significantly more often than core foods (n = 570, (16%)). Conclusions: Non-core foods are featured and promoted more frequently by European influencers than core foods. These findings provide empirical evidence to support effective regulation, including marketing restrictions and platform governance, to support healthier digital food environments. Key messages: • European influencers’ food posts more often feature non-core foods (31.7%) than core foods (13.6%), and more often meat (8.8%) than meat-free products (2.0%). • Insight into EU prevalence of foods featured and promoted by influencers informs health policy by revealing exposure levels, setting priorities, and guiding targeted regulation.
SN - 1101-1262
SN - 1464-360X
ER -