Dr Tamryn Frank, an academic in the School of Public Health at the University of the Western Cape. Image: Harriet Box/UWCCall her the food police, because fighting for consumers' right to be fully informed about the unhealthy ingredients in the food they eat is among the topics that drive her.
The work of Dr Tamryn Frank, a newly-appointed academic in the School of Public Health at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), spans rural communities, supermarket shelves, social media feeds, and university campuses - all towards her goal of making healthy choices easier, more affordable, and more accessible for the public.
“We need to change the structures, not just blame individuals,” she said. And this she backs up with her research, ensuring that South Africa’s new health laws are practical, science-based, and focused on protecting people from misleading food marketing and unhealthy diets.
Her research never gets stuck on a dusty old shelf. So far, it has directly shaped SA’s draft health legislation. Putting clear warnings on foods high in sugar, salt, or fat helps people make healthier choices, and her research forms part of the draft law that will require these labels to be present on products.
Together with colleagues, she also studied how companies use packaging and ads to make unhealthy foods look appealing, and her work led to draft rules, called R3337, that will limit how junk food is allowed to be marketed.
As of the start of this year, after eight years as a contract researcher, she is now a passionate educator stepping into her permanent academic role at UWC, where she started lecturing in the School of Public Health.
“After working in hospitals and clinics in the Eastern and Western Cape, I started getting annoyed with my own advice to patients,” she said. “I quickly realised that telling people to ‘eat more fruit and vegetables’ wasn’t enough when they simply couldn’t afford them,” said Dr Frank.
Her frustration pushed her towards research and policy to examine the bigger picture of food systems and how they shape everyday choices. To be part of research that informs policy is far more rewarding for her.
The Malmesbury native’s journey began in Gqeberha where her early interest in health led her to study dietetics at Stellenbosch University. Her master’s research on the right to food was conducted in collaboration with universities in Norway and Uganda. It focused on food insecurity in KwaNojoli (formerly Somerset East), where she discovered that external factors, such as poverty and limited access, were far more influential than personal choice.
Dr Frank found that social support systems, such as child grants, proved vital for families, but she argued that the government needs to do much more.
Becoming a dietitian who later transitioned into academia was a coincidental path for the young academic. “With a psychologist as a father and a sister who worked in the occupational therapy space, I was excluding these two options in my mind, so I opted for dietetics.”
Unknowingly, she was exposed to various aspects of food production and preparation through her mother, a former home economics teacher, which likely influenced her interest in dietetics.
Dr Frank’s PhD brought her to the University of the Western Cape (UWC), which was the starting point for her work with the National Department of Health on front-of-pack warning labels for packaged foods.
Encouraged that her research has been directly influencing national policy, even as powerful food and beverage companies push back, her ongoing research has continued into food options available to students on SA campuses.
But the battle for healthier food futures has not ended. Her most recent research collaborates with researchers at three South African universities to audit the food environments on university campuses, and their preliminary findings highlight the tension between promoting wellness and allowing unhealthy sponsorships by non-alcoholic fizzy drink brands at company wellness days or cheap energy drink promotions during exam seasons.
