http://www.freshplaza.com/article/9031121/mushrooms-a-weapon-in-fight-against-global-vitamin-d-shortage/
Mushrooms + UV light = Vitamin D bombs
Mushrooms a weapon in fight against global vitamin D shortage
Vitamin D mushrooms. After three years of effort, the European Commission approved the claim
this summer. With the aid of UV light, mushrooms change into small vitamin D bombs. Scelta
Mushrooms and Banken Champignons made an effort to also be allowed to use the claim in Europe. Now what? Are consumers ready for ‘functional foods?’ How do you market a product like this?
The technique is simple in theory. Mushrooms contain the substance ergosterol, which is turned
into vitamin D under the influence of UV light. “Mushrooms naturally produce vitamin D under the
influence of sunlight (UV radiation),” Alex Bos of Banken Champignons explains. Chanterelles and
other wild mushrooms picked in forests naturally contain vitamin D. But that’s the theory, the practice
is more stubborn. “No vitamin D is produced because mushrooms are grown indoors, and never
see sunlight. Illumination occurs after the harvest. The complexity of this can be found in the
consistency,” Roy Janssen of Scelta Mushrooms mentions another bottleneck. “To remain within
legislation and regulations, the lamps have to constantly be readjusted.”
Claim’s burden of proof important
“It sounds simple,” says Alex. “But you have to give proper shape to the process to guarantee the
claim that the mushrooms contain vitamin D. We use patented lamps.” The claim isn’t exclusive to
Banken Champignons or Scelta Mushrooms. Other players within the framework of the EFSA
process can also get started with UV lamps. “We have a first mover advantage because we gained
a lot of knowledge and skill in recent years,” Roy says. “It’s still calm in this field on the market for
processed mushrooms, and we’re the only ones to offer these mushrooms.”............
..........................................................................................................
this summer. With the aid of UV light, mushrooms change into small vitamin D bombs. Scelta
Mushrooms and Banken Champignons made an effort to also be allowed to use the claim in Europe. Now what? Are consumers ready for ‘functional foods?’ How do you market a product like this?
The technique is simple in theory. Mushrooms contain the substance ergosterol, which is turned
into vitamin D under the influence of UV light. “Mushrooms naturally produce vitamin D under the
influence of sunlight (UV radiation),” Alex Bos of Banken Champignons explains. Chanterelles and
other wild mushrooms picked in forests naturally contain vitamin D. But that’s the theory, the practice
is more stubborn. “No vitamin D is produced because mushrooms are grown indoors, and never
see sunlight. Illumination occurs after the harvest. The complexity of this can be found in the
consistency,” Roy Janssen of Scelta Mushrooms mentions another bottleneck. “To remain within
legislation and regulations, the lamps have to constantly be readjusted.”
Claim’s burden of proof important
“It sounds simple,” says Alex. “But you have to give proper shape to the process to guarantee the
claim that the mushrooms contain vitamin D. We use patented lamps.” The claim isn’t exclusive to
Banken Champignons or Scelta Mushrooms. Other players within the framework of the EFSA
process can also get started with UV lamps. “We have a first mover advantage because we gained
a lot of knowledge and skill in recent years,” Roy says. “It’s still calm in this field on the market for
processed mushrooms, and we’re the only ones to offer these mushrooms.”............
..........................................................................................................
https://www.timesnownews.com/health/article/dark-chocolate-cocoa-butter-important-source-of-vitamin-d/291996
Berlin: Cocoa butter and dark chocolate can be a significant source of Vitamin D
and may help reduce the risk of respiratory diseases and brittle bones, a study has
found. Vitamin D is crucial for the human body. It comes in two types: vitamin D2
and D3. Vitamin D3 is produced in the human skin through exposure to the sun.
Humans get 90 per cent of their vitamin D requirements this way. The rest is ideally
consumed through food, such as fatty fish or chicken eggs. Vitamin D2, which can
also be utilised by the human body, is found in fungi.
The study, published in the journal Food Chemistry, found that cocoa and foods
containing cocoa have significant amounts of vitamin D2. "Many people do not get
enough vitamin D. The problem increases in the winter months when sunshine is
scarce," said Gabriele Stangl from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) in
Germany.Researchers investigated the vitamin D content of cocoa and products
containing cocoa because they suspected that they contained a previously unknown
source of the vitamin. Cocoa beans are dried after fermentation. They are placed
on mats and exposed to the Sun for one to two weeks. The precursors of vitamin D,
which presumably originate from harmless fungi, are transformed by the sunlight
into vitamin D2.In order to test their theory, the research group analysed various
cocoa products and powders using state-of-the-art mass spectrometry. What they
found is that products containing cocoa are indeed a source of vitamin D2, but the
amount varies greatly from food to food. While dark chocolate has a relatively high
vitamin D2 content, researchers found very little in white chocolate.
Dark chocolate, cocoa butter important
source of vitamin D
According to studies, cocoa butter and dark chocolate can be a significant source of
Vitamin D and may help in reducing the risk of respiratory diseases and brittle bones.
Dark chocolate, cocoa butter important source of vitamin D (Representational Image) | Photo Credit: Thinkstock
Berlin: Cocoa butter and dark chocolate can be a significant source of Vitamin D
and may help reduce the risk of respiratory diseases and brittle bones, a study has
found. Vitamin D is crucial for the human body. It comes in two types: vitamin D2
and D3. Vitamin D3 is produced in the human skin through exposure to the sun.
Humans get 90 per cent of their vitamin D requirements this way. The rest is ideally
consumed through food, such as fatty fish or chicken eggs. Vitamin D2, which can
also be utilised by the human body, is found in fungi.
The study, published in the journal Food Chemistry, found that cocoa and foods
containing cocoa have significant amounts of vitamin D2. "Many people do not get
enough vitamin D. The problem increases in the winter months when sunshine is
scarce," said Gabriele Stangl from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) in
Germany.Researchers investigated the vitamin D content of cocoa and products
containing cocoa because they suspected that they contained a previously unknown
source of the vitamin. Cocoa beans are dried after fermentation. They are placed
on mats and exposed to the Sun for one to two weeks. The precursors of vitamin D,
which presumably originate from harmless fungi, are transformed by the sunlight
into vitamin D2.In order to test their theory, the research group analysed various
cocoa products and powders using state-of-the-art mass spectrometry. What they
found is that products containing cocoa are indeed a source of vitamin D2, but the
amount varies greatly from food to food. While dark chocolate has a relatively high
vitamin D2 content, researchers found very little in white chocolate.
"This is not surprising as the cocoa content in white chocolate is significantly lower.
It confirms our assumption that cocoa is the source of vitamin D2," said Stangl.
The findings do not prompt researchers to recommend consuming large quantities
of chocolate.
"You would have to eat enormous amounts of chocolate to cover your vitamin D2
requirements. That would be extremely unhealthy because of the high sugar and
fat content," said Stangl. Instead, the results of the study are important for obtaining accurate data on the average nutrients consumed by the population.
................................
http://www.freshplaza.com/article/9031121/mushrooms-a-weapon-in-fight-against-global-vitamin-d-shortage/Mushrooms + UV light = Vitamin D bombs
Mushrooms a weapon in fight against global vitamin D shortage
Vitamin D mushrooms. After three years of effort, the European Commission approved the claim
this summer. With the aid of UV light, mushrooms change into small vitamin D bombs. Scelta
Mushrooms and Banken Champignons made an effort to also be allowed to use the claim in Europe. Now what? Are consumers ready for ‘functional foods?’ How do you market a product like this?
The technique is simple in theory. Mushrooms contain the substance ergosterol, which is turned
into vitamin D under the influence of UV light. “Mushrooms naturally produce vitamin D under the
influence of sunlight (UV radiation),” Alex Bos of Banken Champignons explains. Chanterelles and
other wild mushrooms picked in forests naturally contain vitamin D. But that’s the theory, the practice
is more stubborn. “No vitamin D is produced because mushrooms are grown indoors, and never
see sunlight. Illumination occurs after the harvest. The complexity of this can be found in the
consistency,” Roy Janssen of Scelta Mushrooms mentions another bottleneck. “To remain within
legislation and regulations, the lamps have to constantly be readjusted.”
Claim’s burden of proof important
“It sounds simple,” says Alex. “But you have to give proper shape to the process to guarantee the
claim that the mushrooms contain vitamin D. We use patented lamps.” The claim isn’t exclusive to
Banken Champignons or Scelta Mushrooms. Other players within the framework of the EFSA
process can also get started with UV lamps. “We have a first mover advantage because we gained
a lot of knowledge and skill in recent years,” Roy says. “It’s still calm in this field on the market for
processed mushrooms, and we’re the only ones to offer these mushrooms.”
Three years of literature and practical research preceded the approval. In those years, Scelta
Mushrooms and Banken Champignons worked together to prove the claim. “We worked in a
controlled environment for three years so as not to harm the quality of the product, but also to be
able to guarantee a percentage of vitamin D,” Alex explains. Other producers are free to market
vitamin D mushrooms, but they’ll also have the burden of proof. Companies have to show that the
mushrooms contain a certain number of micrograms of vitamin D. “Banken Champignons and
Scelta offer their customers the comfort that these claim has been proven, and that it has been
officially approved by the European Commission.”
Available this autumn
“It would technically also work with other mushrooms, but that isn’t in our scope,” Roy explains.
Scelta Mushrooms practically only works with white mushrooms. That’s not the case for Banken
Champignons. With an assortment of various mushrooms, it became an interesting matter. “For
now, the claim can only be made for white and brown mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus),” Alex says.
“However, considering these are the mushroom varieties sold most, it offers prospects for the
continued growth of the category.”
Now that approval has been granted, production can get started. Scelta starts the production of the
vitamin D mushrooms at one of their production locations in October. From there, the process will
be rolled out to the other branches, until all white mushrooms contain the additional vitamin D in
principle. “Not all parts of the mushrooms are as susceptible to this technique. For example, we
have a factory where we make flavour enhancers from the stems of the mushrooms. These stems
contain less ergosterol, and therefore have less vitamin D than the caps.”
Alex expects that the first fresh mushrooms with vitamin D will be available in supermarkets from
September. They couldn’t be available soon enough. When Rob Banken talked to BNR about the
new mushrooms earlier this year, the article was picked up by various media. Questions soon
started arriving at the company about where the mushrooms would be available. “Health is
becoming more and more important,” Alex explains the major interest both nationally and
internationally.
Functional foods and meat replacers
The category was already benefiting from the growing number of flexible vegetarians who think
mushrooms are a good alternative to meat. Both Banken and Scelta respond to that trend by
presenting mushrooms as a meat replacer and meat enhancer. “We’re too far removed from the
final consumer to directly influence this trend, we’re looking more at what’s important to our
customers,” Roy explains. A new trend is added to that because of the vitamin D claim: functional
foods. Banken Champignons responds to that directly. A packaging has been developed for six
mushrooms. “This can be offered as a two-person portion, three mushrooms contain 10 micrograms
of vitamin D, which is equal to the recommended daily amount of vitamin D.”
Communicating about the new product is one of the biggest challenges. “We have to get the
message across,” Alex says. For the communication, the company introduces a new packaging,
among other things. “Traditionally, mushrooms are packed in a blue punnet, but we developed a
cardboard punnet with a top seal. The advantage of this is that we can inform the consumers using
five sides of the punnet, and even the top seal, if necessary.”
International ambition
“We’re constantly in contact with our customers to inform them about the vitamin D mushrooms,”
Roy says. Most of the customers of the eco-pouch are active in food service. “They consider it a
good addition.” Customers can choose to use the claim and communicate to their customers when
offering, for example, a mushroom burger enhanced with vitamin D. “It’s up to the customer to
decide to what extent they want to inform final users. Up till now, we haven’t spoken to anyone who
objects to the vitamin D mushrooms.”
The vitamin D mushrooms have been available abroad for a while now. The UK and the US have a
longer tradition of enhancing food with vitamins and minerals. “It’s a global trend that’s also headed
for Europe,” Roy says. It’s therefore not surprising Roy mentions North America as a market where
the vitamin D mushrooms will likely be absorbed without any problems. In Europe, the UK will
probably be the frontrunner, although interest is increasing in other countries. The British chain
Tesco has decided to offer brown mushrooms enhanced with vitamin D as a standard. “This trend
can also be seen in Australia and Canada,” Alex adds.
Why is there a vitamin D shortage?
Mushrooms as a source of vitamin D sounds positive, but why is vitamin D so important? Do we
have a chronic shortage of vitamin D? Alex: “The body gets vitamin D in two ways. The first is from
food, this is good for about one-third of vitamin D in bodies. Two-thirds of the vitamin D is produced
by the body itself under influence of sunlight on our skin.” This isn’t a problem in the summer
months, when the sun is shining and people tend to be outside more, so the body produces plenty
of vitamin D. This changes as days grow shorter, when the sun is less high in the sky and it’s often
hidden behind grey clouds, in short, when autumn starts. It becomes more difficult for bodies to
produce plenty of vitamin D. An addition is needed. “Vitamin D is important for calcium intake, for
instance,” Alex continues. Calcium is necessary for the production and maintenance of bones and
teeth.
“It’s a major theme that’s often talked about, and that’s why we’re seeing it in more and more
products. Mushrooms are the only natural source of vitamin D,” Roy adds. Globally, a shift can be
seen. As a result of the economic development and the fact people spend more time indoors, the
number of people with a vitamin D shortage is increasing globally.Besides, there’s increasing
interest in functional foods.
Vitamin D life buoy for white mushrooms?
In recent months, the discussion regarding the pricing of white mushrooms in retail flared up in the
national media. Due to pressure on the prices, the Dutch mushroom production is in danger of
disappearing. Can the vitamin D enhancement change this?
“We’re considering this to be one of the great things we found in our mushrooms, and we can offer
something wonderful to the market from a social point of view with it,” Roy says. “People have a
global shortage of vitamin D. We can help find a solution this way,” he says.
It’s different for the fresh market, not least because that’s where the discussion is most intense.
Alex thinks the price discussion won’t disappear. “The discussion has been held before, but we’ve
now reached a point when something has to happen. Otherwise there won’t be any mushroom
growers left in the Netherlands.” Due to the pressure on prices, a lot of mushroom growers were
forced to quit in recent years. Despite the decreasing numbers of growers, total production
remained at the same level. That scaling-up, however, has now reached its limit. The existing
production companies are so large that if a grower collapses, a large part of the area is lost to the
market. “It’s hard, because the Netherlands is a pioneer in the field of mushroom production,” Alex
says. The European retailers have also become increasingly larger, so they can put more pressure
on prices. “It’s a shame when the Netherlands has to lose out because of competition from Poland.”
“The positive thing about the vitamin D mushrooms, is that we have the knowledge,” Alex says
about the positive developments on the market. “Because of that, there will always be demand for
Dutch product.” Zooming out, he describes the total sector more positively. “The product group has
grown in recent years. Chestnut mushrooms and exotic mushrooms are sold more often.” The
market for white mushrooms also appears to be stabilising after a few years of decreasing. “We
even see a slight plus,” Alex says, hopefully. “The biggest growers are the mixed packaging,
chestnut mushrooms and shiitake.” Vitamin D could break the downward pricing spiral of the white
mushrooms, he thinks. “It is an added value for retailers, which could be good for prices.”
A.vos@bankenchampignons.com
RoyJanssen@sceltamushrooms.com
this summer. With the aid of UV light, mushrooms change into small vitamin D bombs. Scelta
Mushrooms and Banken Champignons made an effort to also be allowed to use the claim in Europe. Now what? Are consumers ready for ‘functional foods?’ How do you market a product like this?
The technique is simple in theory. Mushrooms contain the substance ergosterol, which is turned
into vitamin D under the influence of UV light. “Mushrooms naturally produce vitamin D under the
influence of sunlight (UV radiation),” Alex Bos of Banken Champignons explains. Chanterelles and
other wild mushrooms picked in forests naturally contain vitamin D. But that’s the theory, the practice
is more stubborn. “No vitamin D is produced because mushrooms are grown indoors, and never
see sunlight. Illumination occurs after the harvest. The complexity of this can be found in the
consistency,” Roy Janssen of Scelta Mushrooms mentions another bottleneck. “To remain within
legislation and regulations, the lamps have to constantly be readjusted.”
Claim’s burden of proof important
“It sounds simple,” says Alex. “But you have to give proper shape to the process to guarantee the
claim that the mushrooms contain vitamin D. We use patented lamps.” The claim isn’t exclusive to
Banken Champignons or Scelta Mushrooms. Other players within the framework of the EFSA
process can also get started with UV lamps. “We have a first mover advantage because we gained
a lot of knowledge and skill in recent years,” Roy says. “It’s still calm in this field on the market for
processed mushrooms, and we’re the only ones to offer these mushrooms.”
Three years of literature and practical research preceded the approval. In those years, Scelta
Mushrooms and Banken Champignons worked together to prove the claim. “We worked in a
controlled environment for three years so as not to harm the quality of the product, but also to be
able to guarantee a percentage of vitamin D,” Alex explains. Other producers are free to market
vitamin D mushrooms, but they’ll also have the burden of proof. Companies have to show that the
mushrooms contain a certain number of micrograms of vitamin D. “Banken Champignons and
Scelta offer their customers the comfort that these claim has been proven, and that it has been
officially approved by the European Commission.”
Available this autumn
“It would technically also work with other mushrooms, but that isn’t in our scope,” Roy explains.
Scelta Mushrooms practically only works with white mushrooms. That’s not the case for Banken
Champignons. With an assortment of various mushrooms, it became an interesting matter. “For
now, the claim can only be made for white and brown mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus),” Alex says.
“However, considering these are the mushroom varieties sold most, it offers prospects for the
continued growth of the category.”
Now that approval has been granted, production can get started. Scelta starts the production of the
vitamin D mushrooms at one of their production locations in October. From there, the process will
be rolled out to the other branches, until all white mushrooms contain the additional vitamin D in
principle. “Not all parts of the mushrooms are as susceptible to this technique. For example, we
have a factory where we make flavour enhancers from the stems of the mushrooms. These stems
contain less ergosterol, and therefore have less vitamin D than the caps.”
Alex expects that the first fresh mushrooms with vitamin D will be available in supermarkets from
September. They couldn’t be available soon enough. When Rob Banken talked to BNR about the
new mushrooms earlier this year, the article was picked up by various media. Questions soon
started arriving at the company about where the mushrooms would be available. “Health is
becoming more and more important,” Alex explains the major interest both nationally and
internationally.
Functional foods and meat replacers
The category was already benefiting from the growing number of flexible vegetarians who think
mushrooms are a good alternative to meat. Both Banken and Scelta respond to that trend by
presenting mushrooms as a meat replacer and meat enhancer. “We’re too far removed from the
final consumer to directly influence this trend, we’re looking more at what’s important to our
customers,” Roy explains. A new trend is added to that because of the vitamin D claim: functional
foods. Banken Champignons responds to that directly. A packaging has been developed for six
mushrooms. “This can be offered as a two-person portion, three mushrooms contain 10 micrograms
of vitamin D, which is equal to the recommended daily amount of vitamin D.”
Communicating about the new product is one of the biggest challenges. “We have to get the
message across,” Alex says. For the communication, the company introduces a new packaging,
among other things. “Traditionally, mushrooms are packed in a blue punnet, but we developed a
cardboard punnet with a top seal. The advantage of this is that we can inform the consumers using
five sides of the punnet, and even the top seal, if necessary.”
International ambition
“We’re constantly in contact with our customers to inform them about the vitamin D mushrooms,”
Roy says. Most of the customers of the eco-pouch are active in food service. “They consider it a
good addition.” Customers can choose to use the claim and communicate to their customers when
offering, for example, a mushroom burger enhanced with vitamin D. “It’s up to the customer to
decide to what extent they want to inform final users. Up till now, we haven’t spoken to anyone who
objects to the vitamin D mushrooms.”
The vitamin D mushrooms have been available abroad for a while now. The UK and the US have a
longer tradition of enhancing food with vitamins and minerals. “It’s a global trend that’s also headed
for Europe,” Roy says. It’s therefore not surprising Roy mentions North America as a market where
the vitamin D mushrooms will likely be absorbed without any problems. In Europe, the UK will
probably be the frontrunner, although interest is increasing in other countries. The British chain
Tesco has decided to offer brown mushrooms enhanced with vitamin D as a standard. “This trend
can also be seen in Australia and Canada,” Alex adds.
Why is there a vitamin D shortage?
Mushrooms as a source of vitamin D sounds positive, but why is vitamin D so important? Do we
have a chronic shortage of vitamin D? Alex: “The body gets vitamin D in two ways. The first is from
food, this is good for about one-third of vitamin D in bodies. Two-thirds of the vitamin D is produced
by the body itself under influence of sunlight on our skin.” This isn’t a problem in the summer
months, when the sun is shining and people tend to be outside more, so the body produces plenty
of vitamin D. This changes as days grow shorter, when the sun is less high in the sky and it’s often
hidden behind grey clouds, in short, when autumn starts. It becomes more difficult for bodies to
produce plenty of vitamin D. An addition is needed. “Vitamin D is important for calcium intake, for
instance,” Alex continues. Calcium is necessary for the production and maintenance of bones and
teeth.
“It’s a major theme that’s often talked about, and that’s why we’re seeing it in more and more
products. Mushrooms are the only natural source of vitamin D,” Roy adds. Globally, a shift can be
seen. As a result of the economic development and the fact people spend more time indoors, the
number of people with a vitamin D shortage is increasing globally.Besides, there’s increasing
interest in functional foods.
Vitamin D life buoy for white mushrooms?
In recent months, the discussion regarding the pricing of white mushrooms in retail flared up in the
national media. Due to pressure on the prices, the Dutch mushroom production is in danger of
disappearing. Can the vitamin D enhancement change this?
“We’re considering this to be one of the great things we found in our mushrooms, and we can offer
something wonderful to the market from a social point of view with it,” Roy says. “People have a
global shortage of vitamin D. We can help find a solution this way,” he says.
It’s different for the fresh market, not least because that’s where the discussion is most intense.
Alex thinks the price discussion won’t disappear. “The discussion has been held before, but we’ve
now reached a point when something has to happen. Otherwise there won’t be any mushroom
growers left in the Netherlands.” Due to the pressure on prices, a lot of mushroom growers were
forced to quit in recent years. Despite the decreasing numbers of growers, total production
remained at the same level. That scaling-up, however, has now reached its limit. The existing
production companies are so large that if a grower collapses, a large part of the area is lost to the
market. “It’s hard, because the Netherlands is a pioneer in the field of mushroom production,” Alex
says. The European retailers have also become increasingly larger, so they can put more pressure
on prices. “It’s a shame when the Netherlands has to lose out because of competition from Poland.”
“The positive thing about the vitamin D mushrooms, is that we have the knowledge,” Alex says
about the positive developments on the market. “Because of that, there will always be demand for
Dutch product.” Zooming out, he describes the total sector more positively. “The product group has
grown in recent years. Chestnut mushrooms and exotic mushrooms are sold more often.” The
market for white mushrooms also appears to be stabilising after a few years of decreasing. “We
even see a slight plus,” Alex says, hopefully. “The biggest growers are the mixed packaging,
chestnut mushrooms and shiitake.” Vitamin D could break the downward pricing spiral of the white
mushrooms, he thinks. “It is an added value for retailers, which could be good for prices.”
A.vos@bankenchampignons.com
RoyJanssen@sceltamushrooms.com
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