Date: 22 May 2025
Time: 14.00 - 15.00
Keynote
14:00-15:00
Helle Margrete Meltzer, Former Research Director, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norway
14:00-15:00
Elisabetta Nisoli, Director, Business Development Fresh Dairy & Alternatives, DSM-firmenich, Italy
14:00-15:00
Alice Stanton, Professor of Cardiovascular Therapeutics, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dublin, Ireland
Abstracts
Healthy and Sustainable Diets: Political Strategies for Implementation in the Nordic Dairy Sector
Food systems are at the center of a polycrisis; the world is exceeding several planetary boundaries and food production is a significant contributor to human impact on both climate and nature. Furthermore, unhealthy diets are the primary driver of obesity and preventable diet-related disease. All income groups fail to meet dietary recommendations. Today’s diet in the Nordic countries is neither sustainable from a health, environmental nor social perspective. For more than 70 years, the Nordic countries have had a unique regional collaboration within several societal areas, including politics, economics, and culture. Since 1980, they have collaborated on Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – the latest edition published in June 2023. It is an explicit aim of the Nordics to become the most sustainable and integrated region in the world by 2030. FAO/WHOs guidelines for a healthy, sustainable diet state that such diets are built on and respect local culture, culinary practices, knowledge and consumption patterns, and values the way food is sourced, produced and consumed. Dairy and meat production have historically and culturally been a backbone of food production in all the Nordic countries, but both being among the food groups with the highest climate impact. Thus, there are some challenges and trade-offs to handle when discussing how the dairy sector can contribute to health and sustainability. This talk will explore the intersection of health, sustainability, and politics, focusing on the role of dairy within these frameworks. Drawing on evidence from global dietary recommendations and Nordic nutritional guidelines, it will outline how dairy can contribute to balanced, sustainable diets while addressing environmental concerns. Special attention will be given to discuss policy tools and strategies for promoting sustainable dietary habits.
Helle Margrete Meltzer, Former Research Director, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norway
During my 45 years as a nutrition scientist I have spanned several research fields, including diet and health issues within perinatal and paediatric epidemiology, nutrient and environmental toxicant exposure characterizations and mineral/trace element bioavailability and metabolism. The last 9 years I have spent most of my time on nutrition – health – sustainability issues.
Consumers health concerns around the globe
Today’s consumers are more informed and conscious, seeking foods that not only taste and look good but also support their health goals. More and more they see food as a way to improve their overall wellbeing. To stand out in a competitive market, it’s crucial to create innovative products that are both appealing and nutritious while directly addressing unmet consumer needs. But what exactly are these needs? To answer this question, DSM-Firmenich conducts a Global Health Concern Study every two years to understand consumer perceptions about their current state of health, current health concerns, the drivers of their worries and actions to mitigate them. In this session, we will share key findings from the 2025 edition of the study, offering valuable insights into evolving consumer preferences and how these insights can shape the future of dairy products. The presentation will aim to demonstrate how listening to the consumer voice can drive innovation and create new opportunities in the dairy industry.
Elisabetta Nisoli, Director, Business Development Fresh Dairy & Alternatives, DSM-firmenich, Italy
over 25 years of experience in life sciences, covering various technical and development roles. Her focus and enthusiasm for nutrition and health has grown throughout her career, driving her commitment to innovation in these fields. Organic chemist by education, and now combining her passion for people & food by collaborating closely together with manufacturers and cross-functional teams at nutritional solutions to make food more delicious, nutritious, and appealing, all while addressing consumers' unmet needs.
How much dairy and meat should we eat?
The world, in 2024, faces both climate and biodiversity crises, and the food system does contribute significantly to these crises. For some, the solution is simple – intakes of animal source foods (ASFs) should be considerably reduced, and consumption of plant-source foods (PSFs) should be greatly increased. Advocates for such a dietary transformation express confidence that plant-based diets will not only benefit planetary health, but will provide nutrient adequacy for all, and will also result in considerable protection from chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs). However, as will be discussed in this presentation, the dramatic reductions in ASFs, entailed by many plant-based diets, will worsen already prevalent micronutrient and protein deficiencies. The protections provided by plant-based diets against NCDs appear to be more strongly associated with reduced intakes of calories and salt, and increased intakes of fruit, vegetables, nuts and whole grains, rather than with reduced intakes of ASFs. Any possible absolute adverse effects of red and processed meat consumption on NCDs are very small and uncertain. Other ASFs either appear to have no impact on NCDs (poultry meat and eggs), or are associated with protections against obesity, cardiovascular events, brain disorders and some cancers (seafood and dairy). Rigorous randomised controlled trials of all newly proposed environmentally-protective plant-based diets are required, so as to provide clear-cut evidence of micronutrient and protein adequacy, with or without, supplementation, fortification and/or biofortification. In the meantime, dietary guidelines should advise moderating excessive consumption, rather than substantially limiting or excluding ASFs from the human diet.
Alice Stanton, Professor of Cardiovascular Therapeutics, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dublin, Ireland
Evidence-based healthy diets from sustainable food systems.
Munkehatten 28