Managing undernutrition can be difficult for anyone, and many vegans must overcome the added challenges of nutrition support systems geared towards people who consume animal products.
Until recently, there has been a lack of suitable Foods for Special Medical Purposes (FSMPs) available to vegan patients, as historically the majority of FSMPs for the management of disease-related malnutrition have been based on milk or milk proteins.
In 2018, AYMES International launched a product made with plant-based protein designed to be mixed with water, the first nutritionally balanced oral nutritional supplement (ONS) not based on milk protein.
In collaboration with The Vegan Society's Trademark Team, a recent reformulation to this product, using a vegan source of vitamin D, makes AYMES ActaSolve Smoothie the only nutritionally balanced ONS suitable for vegan diets.
Claire James, Registered Dietitian and Head of Nutrition and Regulatory Affairs at AYMES, says: "AYMES is delighted to be first to market with a nutritionally balanced oral nutritional supplement providing much needed choice for vegans who require nutritional support."
|Making a suitable supplement is challenging as milk is the most widely used ingredient for the majority of these products. Being able to produce a suitable palatable alternative which also brings nutritional benefits has been a big achievement and a step forward for vegan patients."
The Vegan Society introduced the Vegan Trademark in 1990 to combat the lack of clarity in vegan product labelling. It provides consumers with the reassurance to easily source and choose products that meet their lifestyle needs.
Today, it has more than 44,000 unique products registered against its standards, allowing these companies to apply the well-recognised and trusted logo to their packaging, website and any promotional materials.
Speaking on behalf of The Vegan Society, Registered Dietitian Heather Russell adds: "The Vegan Society is delighted to have been able to work with AYMES to make nutritionally balanced vegan medical nutrition a reality in 2020. We hope that health services up and down the country will make balanced vegan medical nutrition available on prescribing guidelines, enabling them to offer better treatment to vulnerable vegans experiencing undernutrition when indicated."
This launch is further demonstration of AYMES' desire to continue to provide patient-centric, high quality, innovative and cost-effective medical nutrition products, whilst generating significant savings for the NHS. A sum which now totals £88.5 million since AYMES' entry into the market in 2013.
CEO Roger Wertheim-Aymes says: "We are proud to be the first company to offer a vegan product that meets genuine patient need. The product was developed in direct response to feedback from our healthcare professional customers who told us that a vegan ONS was increasingly being requested by patients. We hope that this one-of-a-kind product will be well received by the patients for whom it was designed."