SNE represents the specialized nutrition industry across Europe, advocating for products for people with specific nutritional needs across all life stages. These include infants and young children, people with medical conditions such as celiac disease, sportspeople, and those managing their weight.
The trade association has members from 19 European countries, mainly EU Member States. They actively contribute to EU platforms and initiatives, providing expert advice, analysis, and guidance on specialized nutrition and ensuring product safety and quality standards.
Representing an enlarged board, the new members are: Teresa García Serna, quality and food safety director at Laboratorios Ordesa; Hernâni Sério, senior vice president for global marketing, strategy and portfolio enteral nutrition at Fresenius Kabi; and Mike Poßner, medical director for Europe at Nestlé Nutrition.
Beat Späth, SNE’s Secretary General, told Nutraingredients that the new members will contribute their expertise and further enhance the representation of the specialized nutrition industry in terms of geography, product groups, and company sizes.
“They were chosen because of their relevant qualifications and commitment to strengthening the voice of the specialized nutrition industry.” Späth said.
“We are happy that our national associations have nominated such highly qualified candidates and that our General Assembly has supported all three candidates to join our SNE Operational Board.”
Späth noted that Teresa García Serna brings a strong background in food safety and infant nutrition, while Hernani Serio has expertise in inter alia medical nutrition. Mike Poßner has valuable experience as medical director of leading multi-national company Nestlé Nutrition.
Ambitious plans
As part of its new plans, SNE hopes to increase its visibility and focus its engagement on requests to EU decision-makers, as detailed in its recent manifesto ‘Nutrition & food for thought’.
The manifesto emphasizes that a robust specialised nutrition sector is vital to support vulnerable populations, reduce healthcare costs, and promote a healthy, innovative, and competitive Europe, making several key requests to EU decision-makers.
SNE advocates for stronger EU regulations for products like Young Child Formula and Sports Foods, calling for strict but achievable food safety rules, grounded in scientific evidence.
The manifesto stresses the need for nutrition labelling systems that reflect the specific needs of different groups, avoiding one-size-fits-all solutions. This includes support for digital labelling for non-essential information (e.g., packaging recycling), and calls for organic labelling compliance for specialised nutrition products.
SNE also emphasizes the need for better nutrition education for healthcare professionals, as well as the role of nutrition in public health, urgeing the EU to collaborate with stakeholders to address issues like obesity, malnutrition, and food allergies.
The manifesto also calls for harmonised EU-wide regulations to prevent trade barriers, and encourages the appointment of a European Commission Vice-President for food to ensure balance between safety, environmental goals, and economic sustainability.
The association stressed that supporting the specialised nutrition industry is critical in managing health issues like malnutrition and obesity, which costs European countries €170 billion annually.