Danish-based research group Bio2com noted 70 per cent of product activity is in food supplements, but, “Even here, the launch activity seems fading.”
It said the lack of activity was surprising given rising life expectancies (expected to hit 80 in the European Union by 2045).
“Surveys shows that 81 per cent of the baby boomers consider themselves overweight, and indeed checks on their Body Mass Indexes (BMI) showed that 79% were indeed overweight,” the report stated.
It called on the European Union to recommend increased calcium intakes for the ageing, along with folate and vitamin D. Resveratrol and select proteins were highlighted as having potential benefits for the elderly.
Other concerns include energy and vitality where only 15 per cent of products are fortified with B vitamins, for per cent with K vitamins and eight per cent with D vitamins.
Contrasting joint and bone health markets in latin America and North America and Europe, the report notes that supplements are much bigger modes of consumption in Europe compared to fortified dairy products in Europe.
“Addition of probiotics and Vitamin D in dairy to promote mineral absorption is a new concept launched by Danone in Europe, which may spread globally,” the report states.
“As the carotenes are strong colorants, they are only used as supplementation in most Westernized foods, where colouring fits; this issue seems to be less important in Asia as vitamin additions are more common in milk products as they often are in dry formats.
North American and Europe are dominated by supplements, whereas Latin American manu-facturers, and consumers, we suspect, is considering dairy to be most relevant nutritional support and in general launch broader product categories for supporting ageing persons.”