Foods for Special Medical Purposes
Providing nutrition to enhance the patient's quality of life
Dietary Foods for Special Medical Purposes (FSMPs) are a lifeline for many children, elderly people with chronic diseases, or people suffering or recovering from serious illness.
FSMPs supplement or wholly replace the diet to provide patients with the essential nutrients that they need to survive and recover. FSMPs are consumed across all healthcare settings - in hospitals, care homes, clinics and in private homes - under the supervision of healthcare professionals.
They are often required for long periods of time, for example in patients recovering from stroke or with severe food allergies or bowel diseases. In these cases, they guard against malnutrition until a normal diet can be resumed.
In short, FSMPs are a vital element of patient care.
Post-stroke support
Patients who have suffered a stroke often spend many weeks recovering in hospital.
In the early stages, patients may lose the ability to swallow. As a result, they rely on Foods for Special Medical Purposes - fed by a tube directly into their stomach - in order to provide nutrition.
As brain function improves and swallowing returns, patients can start to eat regular foods. However, they often cannot eat sufficient amounts and need to continue to consume FSMPs as part of their diet.
In these vulnerable patients, FSMPs can help prevent malnourishment in hospital and complications such as pressure ulcers or infections. When they return home, FSMPs are often relied upon to maintain good nutrition for a period of time until full recovery. FSMPs are then used under the supervision of local doctors and other healthcare professionals. FSMPs provide a vital lifeline to patients who, as a result of their illness, cannot eat enough normal foods, and without the support of FSMPs, would become malnourished.
A responsible industry
Our priority: aiding patients’ recovery
IDACE members are national trade associations. The members of those associations are companies that make a range of FSMPs that support key population groups at risk as they recover from illness.
From children with food intolerances and inherited metabolic diseases to those with chronic diseases related to ageing (such as stroke, muscular, lung or heart disease), a large number of patients use FSMPs. Some disease-specific FSMPs help people as they recover from cancer treatment or kidney dialysis.
The use of FSMPs in these medical conditions is a vital part of the disease management process. In some cases management of the patient's diet using FSMPs can be the most important element of their treatment.
For this reason, in many EU member states, products registered or notified to national authorities as FSMPs can be reimbursed as part of local social/healthcare systems.
Malnutrition in children
Some young children are born with, or develop, a gastro-intestinal intolerance that means they are unable to eat regular foods.
They need to be fed a specially-developed formula that can be easily digested and absorbed.
Without the support of FSMPs to maintain their food intake, these young children will not grow, and will quickly become malnourished as their need for calories and protein is very high at this early stage of development.
FSMPs provide vital options to feed children with serious illnesses who would otherwise not be able to grow and develop normally.
FSMPs can help:
- manage food intolerance
- reduce weight loss during cancer treatment
- reduce stays in hospital
- improve nutritional status, and so quality of life
Regulating Dietary Foods for Special Medical Purposes
Specialised nutrition needs specialised regulation.
In the EU, Dietary Foods for Special Medical Purposes (FSMPs) are addressed by a specific Directive under the PARNUTS Framework Directive. This specific Directive (1999/21/EC), which was established in 1999, sets out rules on the composition and labelling of FSMPs and criteria for the development and administration of safe products for the dietary management of medical conditions.
FACTS & FIGURES
 |
About 5% of turnover is invested in research:the food industry average is 1% |
 |
The annual turnover of the European dietetic foods sector (including exports) is around €24bn |
 |
The dietetic foods sector is a world leader:each year, exports total around €8bn |
IDACE MEMBERS
