Parents as Producers of Whole Food-Based Tube Feeding in Europe Are Gaining Recognition from Dietitians

Parents who want whole food-based meals for their children with gastrostomy have taken matters into their own hands! Denmark has been producing whole food-based tube feeding for a few years now through Bellyfood, and recently, the Netherlands with NewlyBlend and the UK with Food Untethered have joined as key players, offering ready-made whole food-based meals for individuals using gastrostomy. We at Hiquid Food in Norway are thrilled to join forces and provide access to great products and information all over Europe.

We are witnessing an encouraging trend that has truly taken root in Europe. It’s about something as simple and fundamental as parents wanting to provide whole food-based tube feeding for their children—so they can eat the same meals as their siblings and experience the joys and benefits of a varied diet in their daily lives. And this makes sense, as research shows that homemade, whole food-based tube feeding can reduce hospital admissions compared to conventional tube feeding solutions, and that tolerance issues commonly associated with standard tube feeding are minimized when using real food (1).

But who are the key players driving this change? Interestingly, it has not been clinical dietitians who initiated this movement. Why is that? Although they play crucial roles in teams and product development, it is worth noting that those leading the development of whole food-based tube feeding with a wide variety of ingredients are not the “industry” as we know it from conventional tube feeding solutions. Rather, it is parents who, after years of dealing with their children's tolerance issues, have literally taken matters into their own hands. They have rolled up their sleeves, navigated complex regulations, hygiene measures, and processing methods, and emerged with whole food-based products that other gastrostomy users can now benefit from.

The desire to provide real food through feeding tubes is also supported by an article previously published in NTFE by Debes & co, which found that most caregivers had introduced homemade tube feeding primarily on their own initiative (2). Now, parents in four different European countries—each working independently and relying solely on their own resources as parents—have ensured that the food options available to individuals with gastrostomy have expanded beyond conventional tube feeding to include a diverse range of 13 supplementary products in Europe! This confirms the findings of Debes’ article: parents are at the forefront of the whole food-based tube feeding movement.

We at Hiquid Food applaud all parents who are leading the way in bringing real food back to their loved ones and also extend our gratitude to all clinical dietitians who support families in their journey to reintroduce real food into tube feeding.

References:

(1) Hurt et al. 2015. Blenderized tube feeding use in adults home enteral nutrition patients: A cross-sectional study. Nutr Clin Pract. 2015 Dec;30(6):824-9. doi: 10.1177/0884533615591602.

(2) Debes IK et al. 2024. Parents' Practical Experiences with Homemade Tube Feeding. Norwegian Journal of Nutrition, Volume 22, Issue 4, 2024, Pages 190–198, https://doi.org/10.18261/ntfe.22.4.3