In March this year, an EU-funded project (ODIN) reported finding vitamin D deficiency in various demographics throughout virtually all of Europe. The multi-disciplinary team, consisting of 31 partners from 19 countries, presented the results of a 4-year program that had started in November 2013, showing deficiency ranging from 20% (in children in Norway, U.K., Northern Ireland, and adults in Finland who were part of the Maamu Study of migrant health and well-being).

Previous studies have shown that large percentages of populations in the U.S. and Australia also suffer from vitamin D deficiency. A significant percentage (75% of adults) of India’s population is deficient, due to high rates of air pollution in some areas—a finding that is probably safe to extrapolate to other regions of the world with similar pollution issues. It is clear that this is not just a European problem, but a global one.

Health Impacts
These findings are in direct contrast to what nutritionists have been stating: that deficiencies should not occur in demographics with access to a balanced diet. Nevertheless, the situation has deteriorated such that rickets are reoccurring in the U.K. at rates similar to those in Victorian times.

Other less obvious health impacts are constantly being discovered. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a higher cancer risk, particularly to colon cancer. The risk of developing irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is also higher, as is the risk for the occurrence of type 2 diabetes. Even the likelihood of developing mental impairments such as autism, “rapid and profound” cognitive decline in old age, and schizophrenia, along with non-communicable diseases such as asthma, allergies, atherosclerosis and others have all been linked to various degrees of vitamin D deficiency.

Over Fed, Under Nourished
Ironically enough, this vitamin D deficiency pandemic co-occurs with another epidemic: global obesity. Large percentages of populations in industrialized nations are overweight and nutrient-deficient at the same time, which seems counter-intuitive at first glance. In the case of vitamin D, however, there is an obvious link; the vitamin is fat-soluble and thus what little there is gets sequestered in the body’s all-too-often abundant fatty tissues, becoming unavailable for metabolic processes.

In order to combat the deficiency situation, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is working on raising the recommended daily allowance of vitamin D in fortified foods and food supplements. A proposal to that effect is currently under discussion. Sweden already has a list of foods with mandatory vitamin D fortification and is considering broadening that list. The U.K. government is discussing similar measures.

Prime Opportunities
Speaking of food supplements, as dire as the health situation is, for the supplement markets, it presents a much-needed opportunity. The vitamin/mineral market is notoriously mature with low growth rates, which, in view of these findings, seems bound to change. All that is required is for health professionals to inform the public about the urgent need to take up more vitamin D—and other vital nutrients while they are at it, since it is unlikely that vitamin D is the only one lacking.

For those consumers who are unwilling or unable to get full-body sun exposure for at least 30 minutes daily—without sunscreen, mind you—this means redesigning their diets to include many good sources of vitamin D. In view of the fact that dietary vitamin D is hard to take up in sufficient amounts, as sun exposure is the main source of this vitamin, this basically amounts to supplementing the diet.

This is an opportunity for product development in the vitamin/mineral category to move away from the staid image of tablets and capsules and to make the category more appealing. Young consumers suffer from vitamin D deficiency even more than older ones, and they require product formulations that are tasty, easy to swallow, and do not make them feel like they are “medicating.”

Advances in shots and gummy formulations as well as new technologies for making nutrients more bioavailable are already making headway in the supplement market. Delayed-release formulations for putting nutrients that are known to interfere with each other’s bioavailability in the same portion—be they layered tablets or encapsulated beadlets—are available to make vitamins/minerals more attractive.

In view of all this, manufacturers might consider re-formulating their vitamin/mineral supplement products in order to give them a new lease on (shelf) life. Consultancies such as a&r that are aware of the many possibilities can assist.

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Joerg Gruenwald
analyze & realize ag

Dr. Joerg Gruenwald is co-founder of analyze & realize GmbH, a specialized business consulting company and CRO in the fields of nutraceuticals, dietary supplements, herbals and functional food, and author of the PDR for Herbal Medicines. He can be reached at analyze & realize GmbH, Waldseeweg 6, 13467 Berlin, Germany; +49-30-40008100; E-mail: [email protected];
Website: www.analyze-realize.com