The challenge of meeting nutritional requirements for vitamin D due to the low supply in the food system means that substantial proportions of the population have low vitamin D intakes and status(1). Naturally rich sources such as oily fish are consumed infrequently and foods such as eggs do not have sufficient quantities to meet the Dietary Reference Values. For the most part, fortification is voluntary and a premium price can be achieved for the fortified product. Hence, there may be a role for mandatory fortification to ensure equally access to healthy, fortified foods for all.
The aim of this study was to profile food product launches to the global market over the last 15 years to determine if product launches can potentially meet Vitamin D requirement.  The GlobalData(2) is an industry specific intelligence planform that can be accessed to identify and analyse food product launches based on specific inputs such food-type, country, nutrients, health claim etc. This database was mined to retrieve and analyse all food products launched in the 15-year period from January 2009 to March 2024 with at least 0.01ug of vitamin D listed in the nutritional content.
The search returned a database with a total of 2,203 products launches. From 2009, there was a steady increase in product launches until it peaked in 2012 with 320 products. Thereafter it decreased with a low in 2016 at 50 product launches. Although not exceeding the high in 2012, there has been a steady increase since 2016 with 150 launches reported for 2023. The top three countries for product launches were USA at 11.8% (n=261) followed by UK at 7.2% (n=159) and India at 6.6% (n=146). The market is dominated by dairy foods with nearly half of all launches this category (47%). This was followed by drinks (15%), bakery and cereals (15%) and baby foods (10%).
Countries such as the USA and India have voluntary fortification strategies in place which may explain higher proportion of product launches seen in these countries(3,4). The implementation of a national vitamin D food fortification strategy may help to increase the launch/supply of fortified foods on the market to increase the potential to achieve recommended intakes. The dominance of vitamin D fortification within a small number of food categories such as dairy(5) highlights the opportunities and untapped potential for other food categories such as pasta and sauces to also undertake fortification. It is also important to accommodate the diversity of the diet and provide vitamin D fortified foods for non dairy consumers. Studies have shown that food fortification can increase vitamin D status(6) Therefore additional and more diverse food fortification should be considered to improve vitamin D intakes in the population.
This research forms part of the VitD-DPI [Vitamin D-Deficiency Prevention IRELAND] project, funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine FIRM-funding instrument.
1. Cashman KD. (2022) Endocr Connect 11, 1-18
2. GlobalData Plc [Available at:https://consumer.globaldata.com/Homepage]
3. Pilz S, März W, Cashman KD, et al. (2018) Front Endocrinol 9, 373-89
4. Lips P, de Jongh RT, van Schoor NM (2021) JBMR Plus 5, 1-6
5. Itkonen ST, Erkkola M, Lamberg-Allardt CJE (2018) Nutrients 10, 1054-1073
6. Dunlop E, Kiely ME, James AP et al. (2021) J Nutr 51, 2622-2635

The challenge of meeting nutritional requirements for vitamin D due to the low supply in the food system means that substantial proportions of the population have low vitamin D intakes and status(1). Naturally rich sources such as oily fish are consumed infrequently and foods such as eggs do not have sufficient quantities to meet the Dietary Reference Values. For the most part, fortification is voluntary and a premium price can be achieved for the fortified product. Hence, there may be a role for mandatory fortification to ensure equally access to healthy, fortified foods for all.
The aim of this study was to profile food product launches to the global market over the last 15 years to determine if product launches can potentially meet Vitamin D requirement.  The GlobalData(2) is an industry specific intelligence planform that can be accessed to identify and analyse food product launches based on specific inputs such food-type, country, nutrients, health claim etc. This database was mined to retrieve and analyse all food products launched in the 15-year period from January 2009 to March 2024 with at least 0.01ug of vitamin D listed in the nutritional content.
The search returned a database with a total of 2,203 products launches. From 2009, there was a steady increase in product launches until it peaked in 2012 with 320 products. Thereafter it decreased with a low in 2016 at 50 product launches. Although not exceeding the high in 2012, there has been a steady increase since 2016 with 150 launches reported for 2023. The top three countries for product launches were USA at 11.8% (n=261) followed by UK at 7.2% (n=159) and India at 6.6% (n=146). The market is dominated by dairy foods with nearly half of all launches this category (47%). This was followed by drinks (15%), bakery and cereals (15%) and baby foods (10%).
Countries such as the USA and India have voluntary fortification strategies in place which may explain higher proportion of product launches seen in these countries(3,4). The implementation of a national vitamin D food fortification strategy may help to increase the launch/supply of fortified foods on the market to increase the potential to achieve recommended intakes. The dominance of vitamin D fortification within a small number of food categories such as dairy(5) highlights the opportunities and untapped potential for other food categories such as pasta and sauces to also undertake fortification. It is also important to accommodate the diversity of the diet and provide vitamin D fortified foods for non dairy consumers. Studies have shown that food fortification can increase vitamin D status(6) Therefore additional and more diverse food fortification should be considered to improve vitamin D intakes in the population.
This research forms part of the VitD-DPI [Vitamin D-Deficiency Prevention IRELAND] project, funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine FIRM-funding instrument.
1. Cashman KD. (2022) _Endocr Connect_ 11, 1-18
2. GlobalData Plc [Available at:https://consumer.globaldata.com/Homepage]
3. Pilz S, März W, Cashman KD, et al. (2018) _Front Endocrinol_ 9, 373-89
4. Lips P, de Jongh RT, van Schoor NM (2021) _JBMR Plus_ 5, 1-6
5. Itkonen ST, Erkkola M, Lamberg-Allardt CJE (2018) _Nutrients_ 10, 1054-1073
6. Dunlop E, Kiely ME, James AP et al. (2021) _J Nutr_ 51, 2622-2635

OC102 - Global Trends in Vitamin D Fortified Food Product Launches

Unique to the new Congress (previously the Summer Conference) is that you will have greater opportunity to engage with more nutrition science than ever before. In 2024 the core programme will be delivered by the Irish Section of The Nutrition Society, supported by the Science Committee. The theme of these symposia will be ‘new data – focused approaches and challenges’. Outside of the core programme you will have the chance to hear the latest research from the Society’s partner organisations, universities, the private sector and more, on a diverse range of research.