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Until recently, Aviko used animal products such as cheese and cream for their potato specialities due to a lack of plant-based alternatives. Through innovation, it is now possible to make a number of products entirely plant-based. Manfred Keizer, Senior Project Manager Business Development, and Willem Fijten, Innovation Director, both work at Aviko, a subsidiary of Royal Cosun. They are very pleased with the new possibilities where enjoyment remains the main priority.

The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) own guidance would lead to the conclusion that the available data do not allow the setting of an upper limit for added sugars and hence, that more robust data are required to identify the threshold value for intake of sugars. That is the conclusion of a recently published scientific commentary (1), written by an international group of nutritionists and toxicologists carried out at the request of Cosun Nutrition Center.

The shift towards a diet with more plant-based proteins and fewer animal proteins is better for the environment and healthier for most Dutch citizens. On December 13, 2023, the Health Council of the Netherlands shared A Healthy Protein Transition Advice with the Minister of Agriculture, Nature, and Food Quality, and the State Secretary of Health, Welfare, and Sport. The Health Council of the Netherlands examined the health effects of a diet consisting of 60% plant-based and 40% animal proteins. In the current Dutch diet, this ratio is 43% plant-based and 57% animal proteins.

For 2024-2025 Cosun Nutrition Center has a budget available of € 80.000,- for several research projects. Matching from, for example, Dutch Research Council (NWO) or other public/private funding sources is preferred.

Fabian Griens works as a Technical Support Specialist at Cosun Beet Company. He is working on the development and promotion of an innovative, functional ingredient that makes it possible to make tasty plant-based meat substitutes that fit into a more sustainable and healthier diet.

More and more people are taking animal welfare and environmental impact into consideration when choosing what to eat. Eating less meat contributes to this in a positive way. The range of meat substitutes in the supermarket has grown considerably in recent years. Of course, taste is also very important in our daily diet, not to mention health.

To respond to the protein transition and the growing demand for plant-based protein, more and more plant-based proteins are becoming available. A recent example is the protein isolate from fava beans, which is a good alternative to dairy protein.

The protein transition, the transition to a diet with more plant-based protein, is an increasingly important topic. By now it is clear that eating more plant-based and less animal-based food is important for our health and the environment. But is the quality of plant-based protein sources sufficient to meet human protein needs? Recently, prof.dr. Luc van Loon and his team investigated the effect of potato protein, compared to milk protein, on muscle synthesis at rest and during recovery after exercise. Potato protein is not the egg of Columbus, but the results are surprising.

People in the Netherlands tend to eat more plant-based products, such as unsalted nuts, seeds, legumes, vegetables and fruit, and less sugar-containing beverages and red and processed meat. The percentage of protein from plant sources increased slightly. The vast majority of people in the Netherlands, however, still do not adhere to the dietary guidelines of the Health Council of the Netherlands. The extent to which Dutch adults follow the guidelines varies from 10-50% between product groups. This is the finding of new food figures from RIVM's Dutch National Food Consumption Survey (FCS) 2019-2021. Results on energy and nutrients will be published later in 2023.

For 2023-2024 Cosun Nutrition Center has a budget available of € 120.000,- for several research projects. For each project there will be a maximum budget of € 40.000,-. Matching from, for example, Dutch Research Council (NWO) or other public/private financial sources is preferred.

Engaging in dialogue. That is what Director Janine Verheesen and Andries Olie, Senior Manager Nutrition, Health and Sustainability at the Cosun Nutrition Center, are looking forward to most. “We plan to do this with our colleagues within Cosun, with health professionals, scientists and organisations specialising in nutrition, health and sustainability, the media and other stakeholders.”