Vitamins are more than just a letter. Learn why.

By:  Talking Nutrition Editors

 

Summary

  • Vitamins are essential to global health and quality of life. They are more than just a letter, and ensuring vitamins are effective, safe and accessible is paramount to humanity’s vitality.
  • dsm-firmenich is pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with vitamins to champion global health, address key consumer health concerns and innovate to unlock next-generation vitamin solutions.
  • Read on to discover why vitamins are so important to humanity, and how going beyond ‘good enough’ takes more than ingredients – it takes a partner.

Vitamins are essential for the body to function and maintain health. How quickly we think, our immune responses, nervous system regulation, the brightness of our smiles and the gloss of our hair – even our zest for life – are all associated with the vitamins we consume and how they work in our body to promote health. 1 As well as being essential for our well-being, research suggests that vitamin intake is also related to quality of life, as it is associated with better physical, mental and social outcomes. 2 Vitamins are more than just a letter – these essential nutrients power vitality and help us to achieve our full potential.

The consequences of inadequate vitamin intake can be severe. Micronutrient deficiencies jeopardize immune function, negatively impacting healthy development in childhood. 3 And the scale of micronutrient deficiencies is shocking: over 3 billion worldwide are estimated to suffer from hidden hunger. 3 While eating a healthy diet is integral to consuming adequate vitamins and minerals, this is not always an option due to low income, food access issues and lack of food preparation skills. 4 Consequently, vitamin supplements and fortifiers play an essential role in public health by helping to tackle deficiencies and their health impacts.

Good nutrition provides the foundation for healthy lives and thriving communities. That’s why dsm-firmenich believes that ‘good enough’ is not enough when it comes to vitamins. High quality, essential nutrients should be accessible to all – and that takes more than ingredients. It takes an end-to-end partner with a legacy of expertise, a safe and secure supply chain and a commitment to sustainable innovation.

Health is vital for a brighter future

At dsm-firmenich, we believe that every individual has a fundamental human right to access essential vitamins. Consequently, ensuring the security of the vitamin supply chain is paramount, as vitamins play a critical role in public health and supply shortages would likely have a grave impact across all age groups. Formula-fed infants would potentially be among the worse impacted, as the vitamins and minerals they receive from fortified formulas are essential to supporting healthy growth and development.

We are the only Western producer of several vitamins, with operating manufacturing facilities in the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe. From these strategically-located, state-of-the-art production sites, we deliver a safe and reliable stream of high-quality vitamins to our customers. Plus, we offer scale-up capabilities for more than 100 different vitamin products through custom Premix and Market-ready Solutions.

Powering global vitality

All nutrition brands aim to positively contribute to the health and wellbeing of consumers, empowering them with the vitality they need to lead fulfilling lives and uplift their communities. To achieve this ambition, brands need a partner who is aligned with their purpose – and that’s where we come in. At dsm-firmenich, we believe that the strongest partnerships don’t only involve meeting the needs of consumers today, but envisioning and co-creating the world of tomorrow.

Creating brighter lives for people worldwide is integral to our mission, which is why we take a science-led approach to the vitamin product development process. We lead on and support multiple scientific studies around the positive impact of vitamins on public health and their health benefit claims to raise awareness of their role in addressing consumers’ key health concerns such as brain health, gut health and immunity.

By spearheading vitamins research and advocacy, we uncover unique insights that brands can leverage to develop cutting-edge products that meet current and emerging consumer needs. From concept to consumer, we combine international reach with local expertise to help you deliver nutritional solutions where they are needed most.

Redefining what’s possible with vitamins

For over 80 years, we have been innovating for peak performance in the vitamins category. We were the first company to synthesize and produce vitamins A, D, E and K, and were pioneers in the production of vitamin C and B vitamins. Today, we continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible with vitamins. Our award-winning products empower our partners to innovate with excellence and gain a competitive advantage with new vitamin technologies.

We draw on our strong heritage, legacy and history of pioneering in the category to continuously develop new forms that support global health, such as ampli-D ® and Quali®-C. The 16,000 patents we have issued – many of them for vitamins – demonstrate our leadership in this field. We continuously invest in R&D to create new products and technologies that unlock the full potential of vitamins for human health and nutrition.

Your end-to-end, purpose-led partner

At dsm-firmenich, we are pioneering the future of vitamins to improve lives for individuals and communities by combining the essential, the desirable and the sustainable. Our unparalleled expertise, decades of experience and dedication to innovation allow us to create high-quality, safe and sustainable vitamin solutions that help people worldwide live healthier, more vibrant lives.

Discover why ‘good enough’ is not enough when it comes to vitamins.

References

1. World Health Organization. Preterm birth. 10 May 2023 [Accessed 13/10/23] https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/preterm-birth.

2. Wilani SR. Global burden of preterm birth. Int J Gynecol Obstet. 2020; 150:31-33.

3. Shapiro-Mendoza CK, Barfield WD, Henderson Z, et al. CDC Grans Rounds: Public Health Strategies to Prevent Preterm Birth. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2016;65:826-30.

4. Middleton P, Gomersall JC, Gould JF, Shepherd E, Olsen SF, Makrides M. Omega-3 fatty acid addition during pregnancy (review). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2018;11:CD003402

5. Makrides M, Best K, Yelland L, et al. A Randomized Trial of Prenatal n-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation and Preterm Delivery. N Engl J Med. 2019;381(11):1035-1045.

6. Simmonds LA, Sullivan TR, Skubisz M, et al. Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation in pregnancy-baseline omega-3 status and early preterm birth: exploratory analysis of a randomised controlled trial. Bjog. 2020;127(8):975-981.

7. Carlson SE, Gajewski BJ, Valentine CJ, et al. Higher dose docosahexaenoic acid supplementation during pregnancy and early preterm birth: A randomised, double-blind, adaptive-design superiority trial. EClinicalMedicine. 2021.

8. Symposium at FIGO World Congress of Gynecology and Obstetrics 2023. “DHA Reduces Preterm Birth Risk: Expert Recommendations and Clinical Application”.

9. Carlson et al. Higher dose docosahexaenoic acid supplementation during pregnancy and early preterm birth: A randomised, double-blind, adaptive-design superiority trial, EClinicalMedicine, vol. 36, no. 100905, 2021.

10. Simmonds et al. Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation in pregnancy-baseline omega-3 status and early preterm birth: exploratory analysis of a randomised controlled trial, BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology, vol. 127, no. 8, pp. 975–981, 2020.

Published on

26 October 2023

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