Belgium is revising its dietary recommendations for 2025, with a more plant-based, sustainable and preventive approach. A case study in the evolution of nutritional policies in Europe - and the practical implications for companies in the agri-food sector, including ingredients.
What if dietary recommendations were the food industry's new compass? Much more than a matter of public health, they now influence agricultural policies, catering specifications, product innovation strategies... and brand stories.
The latest Conseil Supérieur de la Santé (CSS), published in June 2025 in Belgium, is a striking example of this. It updates the nutritional guidelines for the adult Belgian population, in the light of the most recent scientific data. But it also outlines the contours of an accepted dietary transition - the antithesis of some of yesterday's nutritional dogmas.
A new generation of recommendations: what's changing
Far from being a simple update, the CSS document states a paradigm shift The fight against chronic disease is becoming the central focus of all recommendations. Gone is the purely calorific or micro-nutritional approach. Instead, there is a systemic approach that links public health, sustainability and social behaviour.
The main changes: less red meat and charcuterie, more pulses, wholegrain cereals, vegetables and nuts; explicit restriction of ultra-processed foods, a first in the Belgian context; ranking of foods according to their impact on morbidity and mortality; emphasis on sustainable food models, rooted in social and cultural reality.
«The message is clear: food is not just a fuel, it's a lever for public health.»
Summary table of key recommendations (CSS 2025)
| Recommendation | Quantified target |
| Wholegrain cereals | ≥ 125 g/day |
| Pulses | Several times a week |
| Fresh fruit | ≥ 250 g/day |
| Vegetables | ≥ 300 g/day |
| Unsalted nuts | 20-30 g/day |
| Dairy products | 250-500 ml/day |
| Fish (including oily fish) | ≥ 200 g/week |
| Eggs | ≤ 1 egg/day |
| Red meat | ≤ 300 g/week |
| Cold meats | < 30 g/week |
| Sweet drinks | To be reduced as much as possible |
| Salt (all sources) | ≤ 5 g/day |
| Water (main drink) | 1-2 L/day |
| Alcohol | Do not exceed 10 units/week |
| Ultra-processed foods | To be drastically reduced |
A structural transition, not just an individual one
These kinds of recommendations involve much more than just the public: they have a direct influence on the structural levers of the food industry:
- Collective catering (schools, hospitals, companies),
- labels and certifications (Nutri-Score, Planet-Score, sustainable labels),
- agricultural strategies (support for local plant-based industries),
- mass distribution
- product innovation (reformulation, enrichment, new matrices): every link in the chain is involved.
These recommendations are also a signal to industry that public policy is moving towards stricter, clearer nutritional standards that are more consistent with health and climate issues.
In this context, ingredient brands are not simply technical executors. They become partners in the food transition. In practical terms, this means :
- make the most of under-used plant matrices (peas, beans, lentils, sorghum, fonio, fermented legumes, etc.),
- offer clean label and technological solutions (reducing sugar and salt, replacing saturated fats),
- reduce the levels of ultra-processing (natural stabilisers, gentle processes, fermentation),
- participate in the relocation of supplies (local or regional sourcing).
Why this model will inspire other countries
Belgium is not an isolated case. These recommendations are in line with a fundamental trend in Europe. France is preparing an overhaul of its PNNS with a greater focus on sustainability. Germany is reinforcing messages about plant-based foods in its public communications. Denmark has incorporated environmental criteria into its recommendations from 2021. Eventually, these guidelines will converge towards a coherent European model, centred on preventive health, food sovereignty and the ecological transition.
Conclusion: adapting means anticipating
The new Belgian recommendations are not a national exception. They reflect a global transformation. For companies in the food sector - and ingredient manufacturers in particular - the time has come to align their discourse, R&D, sourcing and innovation strategy with these new standards.
And what about you? Is your ingredients portfolio ready to respond to tomorrow's nutritional policies?
Source
Conseil Supérieur de la Santé, Opinion n°9805-9807, June 2025