{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]],"date-time":"2026-09-23T09:05:03Z","timestamp":1790154303997,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":48,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"19","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]],"date-time":"2026-09-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790121600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Large language models (LLMs) can answer dietary questions, but their use as substitutes for registered dietitians remains insufficiently quantified. Evaluations have identified inaccurate nutrient targets, incomplete clinical advice, and insufficient personalization, alongside useful performance on some general nutrition tasks. Social media and food-delivery interfaces may also influence dietary choices through food cues, social endorsement, and choice architecture. This conceptual perspective presents ADRIFT (Algorithmic Dietary Reconfiguration through Informational, Framing, and Technological mechanisms) to examine how these influences might interact. Drawing on a targeted, nonsystematic synthesis of nutrition, behavioral, neuroscience, and AI literature, ADRIFT distinguishes three axes: informational errors and unsupported advice; framing through content and interface design; and adaptive personalization and cognitive delegation. Direct evidence supports selected component mechanisms, but their convergence into a feedback loop that reduces nutritional autonomy remains hypothetical. We propose a six-category taxonomy covering hallucinations and related nutrition errors, define nutritional autonomy erosion as declining capacity for informed, self-directed dietary decisions, and outline eight testable hypotheses. The framework concerns unsupervised use and does not predict that language models will replace dietetic professionals. Longitudinal validation, platform experiments, and clinical safety evaluations are needed to determine whether, for whom, and under which conditions the proposed harms occur.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu18193128","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]],"date-time":"2026-09-23T08:14:39Z","timestamp":1790151279000},"page":"3128","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["When the Algorithm Becomes the Dietitian: Large Language Model Hallucinations, Algorithmic Food Environments, and the Erosion of Nutritional Autonomy"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8091-1856","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ismail","family":"Dergaa","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"High Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Ksar Said, University of Manouba, Manouba 2010, Tunisia"},{"name":"Research Unit Physical Activity, Sport, and Health, UR18JS01, National Observatory of Sport, Tunis 1003, Tunisia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2453-9778","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rym","family":"Ben Othman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institut National de Nutrition et de Technologie Alimentaire de Tunis, 11 Rue Jbal Lakhdhar, Tunis 1007, Tunisia"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis 1007, Tunisia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9558-5448","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hatem","family":"Ghouili","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Unit Sport Sciences, Health and Movement (UR22JS01), High Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Kef, University of Jendouba, Kef 7100, Tunisia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-2214-4667","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Halil \u0130brahim","family":"Ceylan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Physical Education and Sports Teaching Department, Faculty of Sports Sciences, Ataturk University, Erzurum 25240, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1227-8221","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nizar","family":"Souissi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"High Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Ksar Said, University of Manouba, Manouba 2010, Tunisia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0206-0395","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Souhail","family":"Bchini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Unit Sport Sciences, Health and Movement (UR22JS01), High Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Kef, University of Jendouba, Kef 7100, Tunisia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4031-1412","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Valentina","family":"Stefanica","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Sciences, Physical Education and Informatics, National University of Science and Technology Politehnica Bucharest, Pitesti University Center, 110040 Pitesti, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4615-6687","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Raul Ioan","family":"Muntean","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Sciences, Department of Physical Education and Sport, \u201c1 Decembrie 1918\u201d University of Alba Iulia, 510009 Alba Iulia, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8409-868X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nicola Luigi","family":"Bragazzi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Saarland University, 66123 Saarbr\u00fccken, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"104290","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tifs.2023.104290","article-title":"Social media and food consumer behavior: A systematic review","volume":"143","author":"Rini","year":"2024","journal-title":"Trends Food Sci. 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