GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN — Viasolde AB, based in Sweden, is using a method to add vitamin D to bread after it has been baked and before it is packaged. The method has produced bread with 3 micrograms of vitamin D, or 30% of Europe’s recommended daily intake of 10 micrograms (400 International Units), according to the company.
The bread soon will be available at retail, according to Viasolde, a start-up company established in 2008 to drive patent and application processes for European Union authorization.
Researchers from Chalmers Technical University in Gothenburg discovered the post-baking method about 10 years ago, according to Viasolde, which now owns the intellectual property rights to the patented method. Ergosterol in the bread converts to vitamin D (ergocalciferol) in the bread’s outer parts. The method may assure that each batch of bread contains the exact amount of vitamin D desired.
“Viasolde’s method has many advantages,” the company said. “It is simple, cost-effective and assured for high quality. Therefore, it is well-suited for industrial production.”
Lallemand, Inc., Montreal, offers vitamin D2 rich baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) for use in yeast-leavened bread, rolls, fine bakery wares and food supplements. The Washington-based Institute of Medicine in 2010 set daily reference intakes (D.R.I.s) for vitamin D at 600 international units (I.U.) for people age 1 to 70 and at 800 I.U. for people over age 70. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has proposed to add vitamin D to the Nutrition Facts Panel of foods and beverages.
