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MEDIA ALERT

FOR IMMEDIATE USE, TUESDAY, AUGUST 13, 2024

‘Vitamin D mushrooms’ – a food-based solution to
Aussies’ vitamin D deficiency: world-first research

World-first research set for release next Tuesday,
August 13
, will propose the ‘Vitamin D mushroom’
as an important food source for addressing our
adult population’s poor vitamin D intake – among
the world’s lowest.
1,2


The Australian Mushroom Growers Association
(AMGA), together with new research author, |
FOODiQ Global, will reveal how simply consuming
around three (75 grams), sun-exposed
mushrooms, four times a week, exceeds the
vitamin D requirements for ALL Aussie adults*
1

(according to Australian vitamin D targets).

“The new research found mushrooms have the ability to produce vitamin D if
you pop them in the sun for 15 minutes,
1 making them perfectly placed to help address the one in three Aussie adults who are vitamin D deficient, and the more than 95 per cent who have an inadequate vitamin D intake,”1,3-5 said AMGA CEO, Ms Leah Bramich.


The new research argues the “mighty mushroom” is the food of the future, given it is sustainably grown, is a natural, and vegan source of vitamin D, and is jam-packed with nutrients not commonly found in other foods.6

Vitamin D mushrooms include the common Button, Swiss Brown, Portobello and Flat mushrooms found in a supermarket or green grocer.

ABOUT VITAMIN D

Vitamin D:

  • helps absorb, and use calcium from food.6

  • is essential for bone development and strength, cell growth, and maintaining a healthy immune system.6

  • is important for healthy teeth and muscles.7

Lack of vitamin D can increase a person’s susceptibility to infectious diseases, muscle weakness, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, hypertension, metabolic syndrome, cancers, autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases.8-10

*Research used Institute of Medicine (IOM) targets, demonstrating just four 75g serves per week of vitamin D mushrooms exceeded the vitamin D needs of all Australian adults aged up to 70 years.

To learn more about the new Aussie vitamin D mushroom research, tee up an interview with one or more spokesperson/s below.

AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEW 

image.png

Ms Leah Bramich

 

Dr Flávia Fayet-Moore 

Dr Emma Beckett

Chris Tolson

Ms Georgia Beattie

Chief Executive Officer, Australian Mushrooms Growers Association (AMGA), SYDNEY

Nutrition Scientist, Space Nutritionist & CEO, FOODiQ Global,
COFFS HARBOUR

Nutrition Scientist & Science Communicator, FOODiQ Global; &
Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Nutrition, Dietetics & Food Innovation, UNSW, THE HUNTER VALLEY

General Manager, Premier Mushrooms, THE
HAWKESBURY VALLEY

CEO of Australia’s largest organic mushroom farm, Bulla Park &
AMGA Director, MELBOURNE

MEDIA CONTACTS

Kirsten Bruce & Mel Kheradi, VIVA! Communications
T 02 9968 3741 | 02 9968 1604
M 0401 717 566 | 0421551257
E kirstenbruce@vivacommunications.com.au | mel@vivacommunications.com.au

References

  1. Starck C, Cassettari T, Wright J, Petocz P, Beckett E, Fayet-Moore F. Mushrooms: a food-based solution to vitamin D deficiency to include in dietary guidelines. Front Nutr. 2024;11:1384273.

  2. National Health and Medical Research Council. A MODELLING SYSTEM TO INFORM THE REVISION OF THE AUSTRALIAN GUIDE TO HEALTHY EATING. 2011.

  3. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Vitamin D 2013 [Available from: https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/vitamin-d.

  4. Dunlop E, Boorman JL, Hambridge TL, McNeill J, James AP, Kiely M, et al. Evidence of low vitamin D intakes in the Australian population points to a need for data-driven nutrition policy for improving population vitamin D status. J Hum Nutr Diet. 2023;36(1):203-15.

  5. Cui A, Zhang T, Xiao P, Fan Z, Wang H, Zhuang Y. Global and regional prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in population-based studies from 2000 to 2022: A pooled analysis of 7.9 million participants. Front Nutr. 2023;10:1070808.

  6. Australian Mushroom Growers Association; [Available from: https://australianmushroomgrowers.com.au/health-professionals/]

  7. Guidance for making a vitamin D claim about mushrooms. 2023 February 2023.

  8. Valverde ME, Hernández-Pérez T, Paredes-López O. Edible mushrooms: improving human health and promoting quality life. Int J Microbiol. 2015;2015:376387.

  9. Holick MF, Chen TC. Vitamin D deficiency: a worldwide problem with health consequences1. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2008;87(4):1080S-6S.

  10. Wacker M, Holick MF. Vitamin D - effects on skeletal and extraskeletal health and the need for supplementation. Nutrients. 2013;5(1):111-48.

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