Banken Champignons to launch vitamin D mushrooms 

26 Jan 2018 --- Dutch mushroom supplier Banken Champignons has received a green light from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to launch vitamin D mushrooms on the European market. According to the company, a single serving of this new mushroom variant can provide the RDA of 10 micrograms of vitamin D.

Company spokesperson Edward Vonk tells NutritionInsight that a serving of the mushrooms “are much healthier and more natural than the often high dosed vitamin D supplements.”

By introducing vitamin D mushrooms, Banken is responding to the still-growing demand for natural, healthy food. 

“Vitamin D’s effects include boosting the immune system and producing strong bones and healthy teeth. With vitamin D mushrooms, anyone can make up a vitamin D deficiency in a tasty and healthy way,” explains Jurgen Banken, Director of Banken Champignons.

Mushrooms are a natural source of ergosterol, which is converted into vitamin D under the influence of sunlight. 

“By mimicking this natural process, we stimulate the production of vitamin D in our mushrooms. Vitamin D is retained even during processing and preparation. In this way, we enhance specially selected mushrooms with vitamin D and offer the consumer a tasty product with health-promoting benefits,” Banken notes.

Vitamin D is one of the few vitamins that the body produces itself, under the influence of sunlight on the skin. When the sun’s strength decreases, or if the body is exposed to too little sunlight, the body fails to produce enough vitamin D. This can lead to impaired immunity, weaker bones and other health problems. The deficiency can be made up with vitamin D mushrooms, supplements or other foods such as oily fish, meat or eggs. 

The vitamin D mushrooms are to be introduced at Fruit Logistica in Berlin on 7 February.

“Next to the vitamin D mushrooms, Banken Champignons [has also created] the Champburger, a vegetarian burger made of 81 percent mushrooms. This burger is healthy, contains no meat and is very delicious,” Vonk notes.