Industry calls for unity in tackling nutrition blindspot in EU policy
29 Apr 2022 --- Brussels-based Food Supplements Europe (FSE) is calling for stakeholders and industry organizations to set aside tensions and develop “integrated strategies” to combat soaring healthcare costs and poor nutrition.
FSE is a not-for-profit trade organization representing the interests of the European food supplements sector. At an event organized with Euractiv, a European media group focused on EU policy, the body said policy stakeholders and industry organizations should put aside any differences and work together
At present, there is no EU-wide nutrition policy, leading to misalignments of vision and practice across the Union.
“At the EU level, member states are responsible for their national nutrition policy. This is the reason that wide differences are observed between the member states in terms of nutritional recommendations and educational tools,” Patrick Coppens, director of regulatory and scientific affairs at the FSE tells NutritionInsight.
“This is important as it is not always clear why a certain member state recommends, for example, supplementation in vitamin D while their neighbor does not.”
However, he adds that the European Commission (EC) does play a role in “facilitating coherence and consistency across Member States,” especially through EU legal architecture.
Vitamin D integral part of policy
With an eye on the EU’s pressing health challenges, the FSE issued a call for greater cooperation to help solve the compounding problems.
Better collaboration between member states would aid nutrition targets.“The longer we spend debating this topic between ourselves, the less time there is to focus on addressing the real problems at hand,” says FSE board member Dr. Bernd Haber. He invited other organizations to help the FSE in its mission.
Haber expounds that nutritional supplements could potentially fill the EU nutritional gap. He cited studies “clearly” showing vitamin D supplementation can reduce the risk of falling and resulting complications and healthcare costs among elderly people.
“This role has been recognized by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and World Health Organization. So, why is the intake of vitamin D through supplementation not more recognized and promoted in nutrition policy in the EU? “, Haber questions.
“This is the type of issue that needs serious discussion today among those involved in developing policy,” he adds.
Earlier this year, the Swiss government recommended elderly populations to take daily vitamin D supplements to ensure good health.
Reluctance in utilizing supplements
According to Coppens, there is evidence certain EU demographics, especially the elderly, suffer from insufficient intake of various micro-nutrients: “The scientific evidence shows clearly that in reality there is insufficient intake of certain micronutrients in certain groups of the population.”
He highlights a report by the EFSA earlier in the month finding residents do not receive enough potassium, iron, calcium, vitamin D, folate, iodine and the essential fatty acids EPA and DHA from the diet.
The EU reportedly targets weight loss and management over nutritional diversity in its healthcare plans.“Calcium and vitamin D are essential for the maintenance of strong bones and reduce the risk of osteoporosis, a condition that frequently leads to bone breaks, especially in elderly people. In the EU, each year 1.24 million osteoporotic fractures occur in people over 55 years of age.”
Despite this, Coppens laments there is continued resistance to EU-wide consistency and national nutritional policies for individual Member States across the EU: “Still, there is reluctance for national nutrition policies to address this through supplementation, even though optimal micronutrient status is generally recognized as essential for bones, heart and immune function and the reduction of risk of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis.”
He flags that calcium and vitamin D derived through diet alone are not enough to reduce these risks. “Supplementation, therefore, would be a simple and cost-effective strategy to address this burden for people and save associated healthcare costs for society.
Shifting focus
According to Coppens, EU healthcare policy is primarily focused on reducing its overweight and obese population.
“The EU invests considerable resources in regulatory activities that aim to improve the quality of the diet of EU citizens. Most of these efforts are, however, focussed on reducing the prevalence of obesity and overweight [individuals], which without doubt are serious issues for society.”
However, this focus leaves blind spots in policy: “The consequences of insufficient intake of micronutrients – which are of crucial importance for the growing elderly population – receive much less attention.”
Yet Coppens perceives a silver lining with the rise of environmentally sustainable eating habits: “We trust that this will improve since one of the action flows of the EU’s Farm-to-Fork Strategy is the promotion of sustainable consumption and the shift to healthy and sustainable diets.”
By Olivia Nelson
