Case studies: Nutritionist: Nazli Dag

Nazli desribes the role of a nutritionist in the retail sector...

I have always had an interest in food and was particularly interested in the BSc Honours Food Science course at the University of Leeds  as it offered a year of work experience.

Upon graduation I found a job through the University of Leeds, working as a research assistant. The project involved working with food retailers and small companies to reduce the amount of fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt in the food chain through changes to raw ingredients and catering practices. This role made me decide to work in the nutrition field within industry.

The experience I gained during my placement year was particularly valuable. I worked for an ingredients company, National Starch Food Innovation, where I was part of the technical team. As part of the job, I worked with retailers and manufacturers on the reformulation of products, providing clean label solutions and solving problems manufacturers had with processing.

I also found the range of subjects available on the degree course useful, particularly the modules in food processing, nutrition, food and law, designing new foods, and microbiology. The practicals in the labs were also helpful in developing my skills.

As a nutritionist in retail, a lot of my work involves providing information for our customers. This involves: provision of calories in Morrisons  cafés and for in-store made products; developing criteria for healthier options in our colleague canteens and highlighting these; working to achieve 2012 salt reduction targets; engaging the product development team in reformulations to improve the nutritional quality of products; and helping to develop criteria for healthier eating and kids' brands.

My role also involves making sure Morrisons is compliant with nutrition and health claims regulations, as well as representing the company at relevant meetings.

Initially, my role at Morrisons was about generating and providing nutritional information in the technical team. Now I work in the brand team, helping develop strategies for healthier brands, and with the corporate teams to achieve our commitments to the government, which is more influential and interesting. I would like to get more involved with product development of healthier and functional foods in the future.

The food sector is an important and growing industry and I feel that working in retail as a nutritionist I cover so many different areas from manufacturing to in-store made products, including bakery and ready meals. I enjoy influencing other people's lives positively and feel that working for a retailer you can make a big difference.

I find that behaviour change is an important factor towards healthier lives and it is a complex issue. Healthier eating means different things to different people so it can be challenging to change behaviour.

I believe getting work experience and networking at events is important. I found the careers centre very useful when I was applying for jobs to ensure my CV and covering letter were relevant to the jobs I was applying for. The jobs I have been recruited for, including my current role, were the ones I was emailed via my contacts, so watch out for those.

AGCAS

Sourced by AGCAS editors

Date: 

September 2012

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