Mary L'Abbé

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WHO Collaborating Centre for Nutrition Policy for Chronic Disease Prevention

At a Glance

• Dr. L'Abbé's work aims to provide an evidence base to support sound public health nutrition policy.
• Current research areas include nutrition labelling and marketing, front-of-package labelling, children’s food and beverage marketing, school food environments, the nutritional quality of packaged and restaurant foods, menu labelling, dietary intakes and dietary patterns of the Canadian population, sodium and sugar reduction, food supply monitoring, and the use of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data for nutrition surveillance.
• The L’Abbé Lab’s research and food supply data have been used by Health Canada, the Government of Ontario, Toronto Public Health, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, WHO/FAO, public health organizations, academic collaborators, and others to support monitoring, policy development, and consumer programs.

About Dr. Mary L'Abbé

Dr. L’Abbé is a Professor Emeritus and former Chair, Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto and Director, WHO Collaborating Centre on Nutrition Policy for Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) Prevention.  Her research examines the nutritional quality and cost of the food supply, nutrient profiling methods, front-of-package labelling, dietary intake patterns, and consumer research related to Obesity and Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). She also leads research on the use of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data for nutrition surveillance and the development of tools to guide healthier food choices. 

She has served on numerous expert committees for the WHO, including the Nutrition Guidance Expert Advisory Group (NUGAG) subgroup on Diet and Health, PAHO, Dietary Reference Intakes, Health Canada and others. Professor L’Abbé has authored over 400 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and government reports, many co-authored with her students and trainees. She is a member of the Order of Canada, an inaugural Fellow of Canadian Nutrition Society, a Fellow of the American Society for Nutrition (ASN) and the International Union of Nutritional Sciences and was recently inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. She has received numerous national and international awards for her research and nutrition leadership. 

Research Synopsis 

1. Food and Nutrition Policy for Population Health Research Program – The goal of Dr. L’Abbé’s research program is to provide an evidence base to support public health nutrition policy in areas such as children’s food and beverage marketing, front-of-package labelling, the nutritional quality of packaged and restaurant foods, menu labelling, dietary intakes, sodium and sugar reduction, and food supply monitoring. Studies are conducted using five main approaches: (i) consumer surveys on knowledge, attitudes and behaviours; (ii) randomized, controlled experiments among consumers and children using commercially designed custom food packages; (iii) examining the nutritional quality of Canadian foods; (iv) development and testing of nutrition-related computer and mobile apps among consumers; and (v) development of methods for assessing and modelling population intakes using analyses of national food consumption surveys. Dr. L’Abbé’s research has resulted in more than 280 publications since coming to the University of Toronto in 2009, most of which are first-authored by her graduate students and trainees.
2. Food Databases – Dr. L’Abbé’s research group has developed large databases containing nutrition and other food label information for approximately 275,000 packaged Canadian foods collected across multiple Food Label Information and Price (FLIP) collection years, and approximately 50,000 restaurant foods from leading Canadian chain restaurants through Menu-FLIP. The Food Label Information and Price (FLIP) database is Canada’s most comprehensive database of brand-specific packaged food and beverage nutrition information. These databases are used in Dr. L’Abbé’s research and by Canadian and International collaborators, and have been used by or shared with Health Canada, provincial governments, municipalities, Heart & Stroke, Dietitians of Canada, food industry partners, WHO/PAHO, FAO, and others to support food supply monitoring, policy development, and consumer programs. Globally, the FLIP apps and architecture have supported research in more than 15 countries.

Recent Awards and Distinctions (Selected)

Canadian Medical Hall of Fame Inductee (2026)

American Society for Nutrition Foundation, National Scientific Achievement Award: Conrad. A. Elvehjem Award for Public Service in Nutrition (2023)

Fellow, American Society for Nutrition (2021)

Outstanding Peer Reviewer Award, CIHR College of Reviewers (2021)

Inaugural Fellow, Canadian Nutrition Society (2020)

The 2019 Rusted-Bayley Visiting Professor Award, Memorial University of Newfoundland (2019)

Member, Order of Canada, Governor General of Canada (2018)

National and International Committee Memberships (Current)

Member, WHO ATTACH Sub-team on developing guidance on sustainable procurement standards for nutritious and sustainable food in health settings (2025-Present)

Founding Member, International Obesity Task Force, International Network for Food and Obesity/NCDs Research, Monitoring and Action Support (INFORMAS) (2012-Present); Co-Editor for Decade 2 Plans (2025-Present).

WHO Euro, Expert Consultation on the development of nutrient profile models for front-of-pack nutrition labels from WHO Europe (2024-Present)

Member, WHO expert group on indicators for assessing iodine status (2023-Present)

Member, Iodine Global Network Board of Directors (2020-Present)

Scientific Advisor, Resolve to Save Lives, Bloomberg Philanthropies (2017-Present)

Director, WHO Collaborating Centre on Nutrition Policy for Chronic Disease Prevention (2015-Present)

Member WHO Nutrition Guidance Expert Advisory Group (NUGAG), Diet and Health sub-committee, (2010-2024); Presented recommendations at Webinars and other tasks for WHO, (2024-Present)

Technical Advisor to Health Canada investigating nutrient profiling models for use in: (i) restricting marketing unhealthy food to children, and (ii) front of pack labelling (2017-Present)

Invited Expert, Health Canada on Front of Pack Labelling (2017-Present)

Invited Expert, Health Canada Policies on restricting marketing of unhealthy foods to Children (2017-Present); Reviewer, Health Canada Monitoring Plan

Technical Advisor to Statistics Canada and Health Canada on analysis of dietary intake patterns for 2015 Canadian Community Health Survey (2015-Present)

Current Research Funding

Selected active research grants for which Dr. L’Abbé is Principal Investigator.

In the News

• Grocery Products Marked Canadian Misleading. CBC News Investigates. July 23, 2026
• Nutrition and Sodium Combine in Many Foods. Newswise. May 15, 2026
• The What, How and Why of Ultra Processed Foods. MedPage Today. January 13, 2025.
• The Sweet Truth. VisionTV: TheZoomer. January 10 & 13, 2025.
• How much sugar is too much over the holidays? CBC Radio: Just Asking. December 28, 2024.
• Some Canadians feel duped by their breakfast cereal labels. CBC News: The National. January 11, 2024.
• You probably eat twice the recommended salt per day. Here’s how to cut back. CBC Radio. March 18, 2023
  
   

Current Lab Members

Alyssa Schermel - Lab Manager

Dr. Rola Ghali - Postdoctoral Fellow

Hayun (Sarah) Jeong - PhD student

Ola Akinola - PhD student

Elenee Harper - MSc student

Yahan (Hailey) Yang - Research Assistant

Teaching Appointments

N/A