Vitamin D content of several fish species from Lake Geneva
Where have the vitamins gone?
After winning a call for tenders from the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) to measure vitamins in almost 500 foodstuffs sold in Switzerland, we turned our attention to sources of vitamin D.
In Switzerland, as in many other countries, vitamin D requirements are often not fully met, particularly during the winter period. This is when dietary intake of vitamin D becomes key to ensuring adequate status for this vitamin, which plays an important role in several biological processes.
However, few foods are rich in vitamin D, and it used to be thought that cold sea fish and a few other foods were the only sources of vitamin D.
We then investigated Switzerland’s lakes and found that certain species of local fish are a good source of vitamin D. Analyses commissioned by the FSVO showed that consumption of coregon fish in particular (fera, palaea or oxyrhyncus) can make a significant contribution to the population’s vitamin D intake (Study of 2020)
Our foundation is continuing its investigations into the seasonal evolution of vitamin D content in certain species of fish from Lake Geneva, as well as the vitamin D content of Swiss farmed fish.
National study monitoring the nutritional status of Swiss children and adolescents.
The Foundation will participate in the next national study to investigate the nutritional status of children and adolescents in Switzerland.
The Swiss Nutrition and Health foundation will be taking part in the next national food study mandated by the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (menuCH-Kids), which aims to investigate the nutritional status of children and adolescents in Switzerland.
In this study, which will be led by unissanté (Prof. Murielle Bochud and her team), our foundation will collaborate as part of a multidisciplinary team of Swiss scientists and clinicians and will be responsible for measuring biomarkers of nutritional status from 800 Swiss children and adolescents aged 6 to 17.
European Nutrishield project involving analysis of breast milk.
Participation in the European Nutrishield project through analysis of breast milk
The SNH foundation is a member of the NUTRISHIELD consortium, a project funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement no. 818110. Nutrishield aims to create a personalized platform for young people.
The platform will include new methods and techniques, which analyze a wide range of biomarkers related to nutrition and health. Based on the results, the platform then uses information and communication technologies, extending existing mobile nutrition support applications, to provide feedback and guide people towards better nutrition. This considers how each person reacts to different nutrients and types of food, also analyzing their phenotype, genome expression, microbiome composition, state of health, mental and psychological state, as well as their financial ability to access food.
As part of this international project, SNHf will study the vitamin status of human milk, looking at the relationships between milk vitamin composition, maternal diet, the microbiome and newborn health.
This unique project enables our foundation to better understand the nutritional complexity of human milk. For further information, please visit the NUTRISHIELD solution website.
