Tate & Lyle : Partnering with Nestlé to address Brazil’s fibre gap

To help address this fibre gap, we partnered with our customer Nestlé to connect local health professionals with leading fibre expertise through a digital education programme. Renata Cassar, Tate & Lyle Nutrition Manager in Latin America, who led the initiative, shares the details.

'Despite having a national diet that is traditionally rich in fruit, vegetables and legumes, consumers today are not getting enough fibre, which means they're missing out on the many benefits fibre brings such as helping to maintain a healthy weight and supporting gut health,' Renata explained. 'Through conversations with peers in the nutrition community, I found there was an appetite for more information on the role fibre plays in a healthy diet and was excited to work with our customer Nestlé to see how we could help.'

By partnering with Nutrição em Pauta, a leading nutrition education platform, Tate & Lyle and Nestlé supported a free seminar series for health professionals and industry professionals in Brazil entitled: 'Dietary fibres: benefits that go beyond gut health'. The course content, including videos, presentations, and expert Q&As, was developed and delivered by three nutrition academics from leading institutions in Brazil, including:

• Dra Leila Hashimoto, Faculty of Public Health graduate with a PhD in Food Science from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of São Paulo (USP).
• Prof. Dra Carolina Pimentel, nutritionist with a PhD in Nutrition Sciences from USP, and Full Professor and Researcher at UNIP Universidade Paulista.
• Prof. Dra Lara Natacci, nutritionist, master and doctor from the Faculty of Medicine of USP.

'We were very pleased with the take-up in the course, which ran towards the end of 2020, and attracted 6,240 participants with high level of engagement over the three modules,' Renata continued. 'The vast majority (87%) of those taking part work were health professionals, around half (51%) in clinical nutrition roles, suggesting there is a real demand for this type of content that supports continued professional development and taps into the latest nutrition science.

'A key priority of Tate & Lyle's global nutrition team is to work with independent experts to build the knowledge-base around our ingredients, including our fibres, so we can help our customers, health professionals, and the public to understand the role they can play to support healthy living,' Renata concluded.

'By using digital platforms to make this and the wider evidence-base around fibres more accessible, we can build nutrition knowledge and help deliver our purpose - Improving Lives for Generations - by enabling healthier choices.'

Key details:
Entitled: 'Dietary fibres: benefits that go beyond gut health' Developed for health professionals 6,240 course subscribers Content well-received with 98% grading the series <8/10

Subscriber feedback:

'Very good! Clear, simple, objective, with lots of practical information.' - Clinical Dietitian

'Thank you for this excellent course!' - Nutrition student

'Congratulations and thanks for the lessons, they were excellent!' - Clinical Dietitian

About Renata

Renata Cassar, MPH, MBA is the Nutrition Manager for Latin America on the Global Nutrition Team. Renata has a Bachelor Degree in Nutrition & Dietetics and a Master's Degree in Public Health Nutrition from the School of Public Health at the University of São Paulo - FSP/USP, a Specialization Certificate in Marketing from the School of Advertising & Marketing, ESPM and an MBA in Business Management from AMU Laureate / Business School São Paulo.

Renata has developed her career in the food, pharma, and ingredients industry, having held positions in both Brazil and globally in areas such as Nutrition and Scientific Affairs, Research & Development, Nutrition Communication, and Marketing, Corporate and Regulatory Affairs. She also worked at the Technical Department of the Brazilian Association of Food Industries, acting as the interface between the Food industry and Government (Ministry of Health, National Health Surveillance Agency, Ministry of Agriculture) and coordinating working groups and task forces in trade and professional associations.

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