Nutricia develops plant-based medical nutrition beverage to aid malnourished patients

25 Jan 2023 --- Nutricia is launching Fortimel PlantBased Energy – the Danone brand’s first plant-based oral nutritional supplement. Made from pea and soy protein, the new offering is meant to meet the dietary needs of malnourished patients and those at risk of becoming malnourished.

“Nutrition is not just about the nutrients. It also has many connotations in life, about the lives we lead, the interaction with other people, and respecting values and preferences,” says Dr. Anne Holdoway, a registered dietitian from the UK.

“This is equally true in medical nutrition, where the importance of individualized nutritional care that is in line with people’s lifestyle preferences is very important. To provide this kind of individualized nutritional care, plant-based options are a welcome evolution of medical nutrition.”

With a third of Europeans now choosing a vegan, vegetarian or flexitarian diet, according to Nutricia, the Fortimel medical nutrition drink sets out to meet the specific nutritional needs of patients who follow a plant-based diet and help facilitate their lifestyle and dietary preferences. 

Dietary inclusiveness
Medical nutrition addresses a patient’s nutrition requirements when they cannot reach optimal levels with food. The plant-based Fortimel can also be ingested by people with a cow’s milk protein allergy.

Additionally, the company states that, since approximately 16% of patients need plant-based medical nutrition options, healthcare professionals can prescribe the drink to patients who follow a vegan, vegetarian or flexitarian diet.

Fortimel PlantBased Energy can be prescribed to patients with a vegan, vegetarian or flexitarian diet.

“We believe everyone should feel empowered to follow their dietary preferences, especially when they need specific medical nutritional support,” says Manuela Borella, vice president of global plant-based strategy and business acceleration at Danone, Nutricia’s parent company. 

Fortimel PlantBased Energy is available in two flavors, mango and passion fruit and mocha, in the Netherlands, Spain, Denmark, Norway, Finland and the Czech Republic. It will also be available in other European countries later in 2023. 

Clinically verified
A recent four-week study conducted in the UK with a group of patients at risk of malnutrition demonstrated that the nutritional drink significantly improved protein and energy intake and was well tolerated.

In addition, adherence to the nutritional intervention throughout the study was 94%. Ensuring adherence to medical nutrition patients has been prescribed as a key factor in promoting improved patient outcomes. 

The company stresses that Fortimel PlantBased Energy is a food product designed for special medical purposes for the dietary management of disease-related malnutrition and must, therefore, be used under medical supervision.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Nutricia urged that nutrition be integrated into medical care to improve patient recovery in the hospital and after discharge. It commissioned a survey showing how nutritional challenges and functional impairments are frequent in patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

Edited by Inga de Jong