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Processing is fundamental to nutrition and food safety in foods for special dietary uses (FSDU), a special category of foods that is tailored to the nutritional requirements of people with special dietary needs.

The new ISDI brochure – ‘Common processes used in the manufacturing of FSDU and the rationale for their use’ – explains the specific role of different processes used in the manufacture of FSDU, as well as the function of different categories of additives, which are used only if technologically needed and only in appropriate amounts.

Jean Christophe Kremer, ISDI Secretary General, said: “Processing is really essential in the production of FSDU to ensure both the nutritional quality and safety of foods for people who have very specific dietary requirements and vulnerabilities.

“Considering the broader debates about food processing and, especially, the negative connotations of the term ‘ultra-processed’, it is very important to remember the benefits that processing provides and ensure that FSDU are not mischaracterised as unhealthy, which would be to the detriment of public health.”

“Perfect illustration of the advantages of food processing”

The publication builds on ISDI’s webinar in September 2024 on ‘Specialising Nutrition: The benefits and necessity of processing in FSDU’.

Explaining the function and benefits of benefits from a food technology perspective, Prof.  Bruno De Meulenaer from the University of Ghent said that FSDU “are the perfect illustration of the advantages of food processing”, whilst also highlighting the “sophisticated knowledge and knowhow” that underpin food processing.

Background

People with special dietary needs are a group of people requiring special attention to nutrition such as infants and young children, professional athletes, people who are immunocompromised or who have metabolic disorders, patients and the elderly. FSDU are the foods developed to address those special dietary needs.

They are defined by Codex Alimentarius (CXS 146-1985) as ‘foods which are specially processed or formulated to satisfy particular dietary requirements which exist because of a particular physical or physiological condition and/or specific diseases and disorders and which are presented as such. The composition of these foodstuffs must differ significantly from the composition of ordinary foods of comparable nature if such ordinary foods exist.’

Download the brochure and processing flowcharts here.

The special dietary foods industries are proud to provide people with the essential safe and ‎nutritious foods they need to live, grow and thrive.

Foods for special dietary uses (FSDU) are scientifically developed to cater for the specific nutritional requirements of people with special dietary needs. These safe and highly nutritious solutions support people throughout all stages of life, from the healthy growth and development of infants and young children to the dietary management of the elderly.

Food safety: prepare for the unexpected

In emergencies or exceptional situations, access to FSDU may be even more critical to those who need them. In these situations, our industry supports access to safe and nutritious foods for the people who depend on them for their specific dietary requirements.

• Ready-to-use therapeutic foods address severe acute malnutrition for infants and young children below 5 years. They are recognised by UNICEF as “A wonder ‘food’ for the world’s children” that “save children’s lives in some of the globe’s most complex emergencies.” (Watch the video below to learn more).
• Processing in FSDU contributes to ‘food safety’ and ‘nutrition’. This supports food safety and security, for example through fortification, eliminating pathogens, nutrient stability and extending the shelf-life.
• Supply chain resilience and the preparedness of industry has been severely tested in recent years. Companies address potential disruptions by verifying safe alternatives for substitution of ingredients or reformulation, maintaining or increasing FSDU production to meet demand and working closely with suppliers, distributors, retailers, regulators and other authorities to ensure safe FSDU continue to be available to the people who need them.

Food safety is everyone’s business

As an industry, we are committed to enforcing the strictest standards and our members take pride in producing foods based on the latest scientific information, accredited food production and manufacturing operations and other global food management systems.

Since 1973, ISDI has supported the work of Codex Alimentarius in establishing science-based ‎food standards, guidelines and codes of practice that ensure food safety and quality. Most recently, this has included making sure that the Codex guidelines for ready-to-use-foods are science-based and based on real manufacturing practices. These guidelines serve as a reference for national governments to use in their policies for nutritional treatment of childhood wasting.

We support World Food Safety Day as an opportunity to recognise the people who ‎help keep our food safe and celebrate the role of safe and nutritious food in providing for the ‎health and wellbeing of people around the world.‎