Dr Chris van Tulleken has been at the forefront of the campaign to change our food system and better regulate the sale of ultra-processed foods (UPF). This year he will be giving the Royal Institution Christmas lectures, Britain’s most prestigious public science lectures, in which he’ll be investigating how food has fundamentally shaped human evolution, the importance of our microbiome – as the extra ‘organ’ we didn’t know we had – and how we can all eat better in future, for the sake of our own health and the health of the planet.

Nicola Davis sat down with Van Tulleken to discuss the lectures, the challenge of understanding the impact of UPFs on our health, and his top tip for Christmas dinner. Madeleine Finlay hears from them both in this Christmas special edition of Science Weekly

Clips: Sky News

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We’ve rounded up the best gifts for friends and family this Christmas to make your seasonal shopping a breeze, whether you’re buying for beauty addicts or fitness fanatics

• 242 best Christmas gifts for 2024: perfect present ideas chosen by experts

Whether you go for affordable luxury buys or true indulgence, you can’t go wrong with these presents for pampering, as chosen by our beauty expert Hayley Spencer .

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In 2019, scientists published a climate-friendly food plan. I’ve long wondered: could it work for most Americans?

• People in the US: how do you eat climate friendly on a budget?

As a fossil fuels and climate reporter, most of my journalism focuses on the need to radically overhaul the energy system. But the food sector also needs a makeover, as it creates between a quarter and a third of all greenhouse gas emissions.

When scientists came up with a new climate-friendly food plan in 2019 and published their findings in the medical journal the Lancet, I read with interest. The guidelines called for more vegetables, legumes and whole grains, which seemed doable to me. The authors even allowed for meat and dairy consumption, albeit in small quantities. Both are major drivers of the climate crisis: the United Nations estimates that meat and dairy produce more than 11% of all global greenhouse gas emissions, and some experts put the figure at up to 19.6%.

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Gone are the pleasures of licking the foil cover on yoghurts and soft cheese. Plus no one consulted me about this dismal change to my home routines

All I want for Christmas is the return of yoghurt pot lids. And not just for me, for everyone. In this season of goodwill, I want everyone to get a share of the joy. The lids disappeared very suddenly, without so much as a goodbye. It didn’t seem right. And it wasn’t just yoghurt pots, either. Creams, buttermilk, cottage cheese, you name it, were suddenly minus their lids, hatless, naked.

For me, this was a blow. I’ve always taken my plastic pot management very seriously. I have strict rules. Not for me pulling back the foil cover, leaving it attached to the tub, and then replacing the lid on top of it. No, not neat. The foil would be removed completely, possibly licked, and discarded.

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There are several ways up western Europe’s highest mountain, but what’s the best way to make the eponymous dessert?

Mont Blanc, or Monte Bianco, depending on which side you’re admiring it from, is the highest peak in western Europe, straddling the Franco-Italian border like some magnificent, icing sugar-dusted dessert. With the mountain losing 2.2 metres in height in the past three years , however, the locals take a very dim view of anyone having a go with a spoon, so if you want a taste of a dish that Nigella Lawson describes as “my favourite pudding of all time”, you’re better off making your own.

Happily, it’s one of those desserts that looks much more impressive than it actually is – a relatively simple confection of meringue, chantilly cream and the chestnuts that once sustained the local population and, to quote Jay Rayner , “all the good things, with a light gloss of the adult”. Simple, but guaranteed to delight anyone who scales its heights after dinner – though a bracing walk may be advisable the next morning.

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Statements by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Elon Musk tap into a dispute over whether lifestyle changes or drugs are a better way to treat obesity.

Impact of Storm Darragh has shut route between Wales and Ireland, limiting deliveries of cheese, beef and stout

Ferries from Holyhead port in Wales, battered by Storm Darragh 10 days ago, are to remain closed until mid January at the earliest, in a major blow for 150,000 passengers in Britain trying to get to Ireland for Christmas and for deliveries of Guinness.

The port in the north-west of Wales is the second biggest roll-on roll-off ferry in the UK after Dover and the continued closure will have a major impact on deliveries of cheese, beef and stout.

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Not sure which whisky to sip by a roaring fire? No problem, we’ve tasted them straight up for you

Whether you’re stocking the bar trolley or hunting for a gift for a hard-to-buy-for relative, you’ll likely be one of the many picking up a bottle or two of whisky this Christmas.

After carefully testing every whisky on this list – and many more – we are full of festive spirit and ready to step in to Christmas. Some whiskies were stirred into manhattans, others were enjoyed as a highball, and all were tasted straight up; all in the name of fairness, you understand.

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Individual sized sponge puddings with a fruity boozy twist

Four little sponge puddings, plump and full of sherry-spiked dried fruit.

In an electric mixer, cream together 120g of butter with 70g of light muscovado sugar and 70g of caster sugar . Beat until soft and light.

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