Stages for Arla Ingredients in approach

The global infant formula category is set for its biggest innovation push in years following the launch of a new ‘Staging’ concept by Arla Foods Ingredients, the company says.  The idea is built around Arla’s Lacprodan portfolio of protein ingredients. “It is an improved approach to infant formula designed to reflect the fact that the composition of breast milk changes significantly during lactation,” according to the firm.  “At present, formula-fed babies’ diets do not take account of this, and they are usually given a ‘static’ diet during their first six months. However, Arla Foods Ingredients has identified that the protein content of breast milk is dynamic and changes constantly during this period.  Arla has developed blends of specialised milk protein fractions that will help manufacturers create formulas that mimic the changing nutritional profile of milk more closely during this short – but critical – time in a baby’s development.”

Arla Foods Ingredients is launching the concept for the first time at the annual meeting of ESPGHAN – the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition – in London on 8 May 2013. Pernille Hostrup, business development manager at Arla Foods Ingredients, says: “Our approach means infant formulas can provide the right nutrients in the right quantities at the right time, to suit precisely a baby’s natural growth and development patterns during its first months of life. Human milk will always be the gold-standard for infant nutrition, but staging means formula-fed infants can now enjoy more of the long-term health benefits experienced by their breast-fed counterparts.”

At the heart of the Staging concept is a range of Lacprodan milk protein fractions developed by Arla Foods Ingredients, which can be blended in varying proportions to create staged infant formulas that mimic the nutritional profile of breast milk more closely.