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Book of Abstracts First Legume Society Conference 2013: A Legume Odyssey Novi Sad, Serbia, 9-11 May 2013
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Nutrition content in legume based food products
Camilla Gard
The Swedish Legume Academy, Sweden
The consumption of cooked legumes in Sweden is around 12 grams per person and day,
according to the latest national food survey Riksmaten 2010-11 by the Swedish National Food
Agency (NFA). The survey shows that the consumption of vegetables, fiber, folate and iron was
low, while the intake of sugar and saturated fat was high. Data from a nutrient analysis project in
2008 by the NFA show that legumes have several nutritional benefits. Legumes are vegetables
with high content of protein and fibre and low content of fat and sugars. Several of the legumes
were good sources of folate and iron. The Nordic Nutrition Recommendations is currently being
revised. The draft proposal for the chapter “Sustainable food consumption” stresses the low
climate impact in the production of legumes and concludes that the consumption of legumes
need to increase to reach a sustainable diet.
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