Organic plant-based drinks may once again be fortified with calcium following an EU court ruling.
Økologisk NuFor 17 years, Danish company Naturli' enriched its organic plant-based drinks with calcium from the skeleton of the red alga Lithothamnium calcareum. Approximately three years ago, this was halted when the European Commission determined that the alga is a mineral and therefore may not be added to organic products. Since then, the Danish industry association Plantebranchen, among others, has campaigned for the rules to be interpreted differently. Now, a new ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union has clarified the rules and determined that the red alga is to be regarded as an ingredient, not a mineral. As long as it is organic, it may therefore be added. This is welcomed by Henrik Lund, CEO of plant-based activities at Dragsbæk A/S, which owns Naturli'. The company has several organic plant-based drinks on the market and was badly affected by the previous interpretation of the rules. “Of course, we cannot simply start adding the alga from one day to the next, but it is now an option we can consider,” says Henrik Lund, who has also served as chairman of Plantebranchen. He explains that enriching the drinks with calcium again would require new packaging, and Naturli' will therefore first investigate the demand for enriched organic drinks in Denmark today before making a decision. Hopes for more lenient rules At the same time, he hopes that the rules for enriching organic foods will in future be interpreted more leniently—or, if possible, changed altogether. “We already fortify our conventional plant-based drinks with vitamins from a health perspective, and Danes could certainly use more vitamin D. In that respect, I think the organic rules should be more lenient,” he says. The Organic Denmark association (ØL) views the new ruling as important for the market for organic plant-based drinks. “We have always been puzzled by how an organically certified ingredient from an alga could be prohibited in an organic product,” says Sybille Kyed, head of agricultural and food policy at ØL. She believes that many consumers actually prefer organic plant-based drinks but choose non-organic ones because they have a different nutritional value. “That has probably been particularly important if they have children who have been drinking plant-based drinks instead of cow’s milk. However, since there has been a ban for a number of years, it has also been an issue that we have had to debate within the association in order to establish our position. We never managed to finish that debate.”
For 17 years, Danish Naturli' had enriched its organic plant-based drinks with calcium from the skeleton of the red alga Lithothamnium calcareum. Approximately three years ago, this was stopped when the European Commission determined that the alga is a mineral and therefore may not be added to organic products. Since then, among others, the Danish industry organisation Plantebranchen has fought to have the rules interpreted differently.
Now, a new ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union has clarified the rules and determined that the red alga is to be regarded as an ingredient and not a mineral. As long as it is organic, it may therefore be added.
This brings joy to Henrik Lund, executive director of plant-based activities at Dragsbæk A/S, which owns Naturli'. The company has numerous organic plant-based drinks on the market and was hit hard by the previous interpretation of the rules.
"Of course, we cannot simply add the alga from one day to the next, but we are taking the possibility into consideration," says Henrik Lund, who has also been chairman of Plantebranchen.
He elaborates that adding calcium again would require new packaging, and Naturli' will therefore first investigate what demand there is for enriched organic drinks in Denmark today before making a decision on it.
Hopes for more lenient rules
At the same time, he hopes that the rules for enriching organic food products will in future be interpreted more leniently—or, if possible, changed entirely.
"We already fortify our conventional plant-based drinks with vitamins from a health perspective, and we Danes could certainly use more vitamin D, so I think there should be more lenient organic rules," he says.
At the Organic Denmark Association (ØL), the new ruling is seen as important for the market for organic plant-based drinks.
"We have been puzzled all along by how an organically certified ingredient from an alga could become prohibited in an organic product," says Sybille Kyed, head of agricultural and food policy at ØL.
She believes that there are many consumers who actually prefer organic plant-based drinks, but choose the non-organic ones because they have a different nutritional value.
"This has probably been particularly important if they have children who have been drinking plant-based drinks instead of cow's milk. However, since there has now been a ban for a number of years, it is also an issue that we have had to debate within the association in order to establish our position. We never managed to complete that debate."