Nestlé Health Sciences A strong player in medical nutrition and consumer care

An interview with Mr. Nicolas LE MONIES DE SAGAZAN, BEO of Nestlé Health Sciences Benelux

What are the key figures for Nestlé Health Sciences? Benefiting from a marketing department and shared management in addition to field teams in Belgium and the Netherlands, Nestlé Health Sciences is structured into two different businesses in Belgium: medical nutrition and consumer care.

What does medical nutrition constitute? It involves the management of undernutrition in close collaboration with hospitals and nursing homes. For more than 30 years, Nestlé Health Sciences has been helping people suffering from eating difficulties linked to a medical condition: patients undergoing cancer treatment, people with permanent disabilities, elderly people suffering from dysphagia or swallowing problems, stroke victims, etc., can be prescribed various products by their doctor that are on the borderline between food, food supplements and medicines.

These products actively contribute to the fight against undernutrition and malnutrition: in Belgium 12% of patients in institutions and at home are malnourished and have an abnormally low weight. Worse still, 44% of them are at risk of malnutrition. Yet an undernourished person can suffer very negative consequences on their autonomy, their immune system (with increased risks of infection), their ability to heal… Leading to, in the end, a real loss of quality of life and high financial costs for the health authorities. Also, it should be noted that oral supplements are unfortunately not reimbursed by Inami and the cost of oral medical nutrition is paid for by the families.

What is your offer in terms of medical nutrition? Medical nutrition consists of two product ranges. The first concerns oral supplementation: 200 ml doses, hyper caloric and hyper protein. The second product range complements or replaces the first product range when the latter is insufficient. Enteral nutrition (by nasogastric tube) then allows a drop-bydrop administration of an enriched solution in the patient's stomach. In both cases, the objective is to ensure patient compliance over a period of two or three months. This is why Nestlé Health Sciences has been committed to developing a range that is as tasty as it is varied in terms of flavours and textures: from dessert creams and milkshakes to soups and fruit juices, patients won't have time to get bored! © Nestlé

What about consumer care and your diagnostic activity? Consumer care is for all the people aiming at straying strong in life, including elderly people who wish to age well. For this group, Nestlé Health Sciences offers an appropriate supply of vitamins and minerals. This was made possible by the takeover of Atrium Innovation Belgium in 2017.

For the diagnose of Malnutrition, Nestlé Health Sciences has over several years worked with the development of the MNA or Mini Nutritional Assessment: validated by clinical studies on significant cohorts of patients, this tool is based on a questionnaire aimed at determining whether a person is malnourished or not.

What are your prospects for development? Nestlé Health Sciences is working harder than ever to make food our number one medicine. Three areas of research are of particular interest to us: the identification of nutrients that directly target cells to help them renew themselves more easily; microbiota, which are of particular interest for their influence on the immune system; and personalised nutrition based on questionnaires, blood samples or DNA tests to provide the best possible compensation for each individual's deficiencies. Three promising avenues that should see major advances in the near future!