Join six world experts from chemistry, nutrition, dietetics, food science, and engineering as they share their insights on the challenges and solutions on navigating the theme: Safeguarding Milk Bioactivity: Tools, Technologies, and Impact.
Meet the Speakers
TITLE: Impact of Thermal and Non-Thermal Processes on Milk Proteins and their Bioactivity
ABSTRACT: Milk proteins are not only nutritionally important but also have numerous other physiological effects, referred to as bioactivity. Processing of milk, such as heating, changes the physicochemical properties of milk proteins, which has consequences for their digestibility and subsequent bioactivity. This impact of milk processing on protein functionality also depends on the milk matrix, as interactions among proteins and between proteins and other milk components occur. These phenomena are relevant both for bovine milk, as heating is used for making many dairy products, but also for human milk from the perspective of human milk banking. To prevent processing-induced changes in bioactivity, non-thermal processes may be applied; however, many of such non-thermal processes exist, with large differences in mechanisms and outcomes. In this presentation, I will discuss the effect of processing on milk protein properties focusing on how changes in milk proteins affect their physiological effects. This opening presentation of the ROS workshop aims to set the scene, by focusing on the following questions: 1) Which methods can be used to determine differences in milk protein bioactivity after processing? 2) What is the impact of thermal processes on bovine and human milk and can we minimize such loss in bioactivity? 3) What do we know about the different types of non-thermal processes and their effects on milk proteins and their bioactivity?
Kasper Hettinga received his PhD at Wageningen University. Afterwards, he started his own research group focusing on the protein composition of human and bovine milk for infant health. He is currently working as full professor in Dairy Processing & Functionality and also leads the Food Quality & Design department. He is scientific advisor to 3 startups companies. Over the past 20 years, he has supervised, and is supervising around 30 PhD projects in total, and published more than 130 peer-reviewed articles.
TITLE: Improving the Quality of Donor Human Milk via Alternative Processing to Enhance Preterm Infant Health Outcomes
ABSTRACT: Feeding parent’s own milk is recommended for preterm infants as it reduces risks for infections and developmental delays. When parent’s own milk is unavailable, donor human milk (DHM) is recommended, but it has fewer benefits because the processes currently used to ensure its safety (Holder pasteurization (HoP) for frozen/refrigerated DHM, or ultra-high-temperature (UHT) or retort for shelf-stable DHM) also cause the degradation of bioactive components (e.g., bile salt-stimulated lipase, lactoferrin, lysozyme, immunoglobulins) that help protect infants from infection and support digestion, growth and development. We have demonstrated that high pressure processing at lab- and production-scale can provide ≥5-log reductions of pathogenic vegetative bacteria while better preserving key bioactives compared with HoP and that feeding HPP DHM to preterm infants improves lipid absorption compared with HoP. Moreover, we have identified doses of UV-C irradiation delivered at lab-scale and pilot-scale that provide ≥5-log reductions of both vegetative bacteria and bacterial spores that better preserve bioactive proteins compared with HoP, UHT and retort with no increase in lipid oxidation. Finally, we have demonstrated that microwave heating of DHM can provide sufficient microbial reduction while better preserving bioactive proteins compared with HoP. Future research needs to more comprehensively assess the impacts of these processes on milk bioactives and clinical outcomes in preterm infants to facilitate their practical adoption to improve preterm infant health.
Dr. Dallas received his BA in Public Health in 2008 from Rice University and his PhD in Nutritional Biology in 2012 from UC Davis. He then completed a post-doctoral fellowship at UC Davis in Food Science. Dr. Dallas joined Oregon State University as an Assistant Professor in Nutrition in 2015 and is currently an Associate Professor in Nutrition and the Endowed Director of the Moore Family Center for Nutrition and Preventive Health. While at OSU, Dave has built a large research team of graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, research faculty and undergraduates; garnered over $20 million in external funding from an array of government, foundation and private funders; and conducted impactful research (100 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters). Dave’s research is highly collaborative, including partners in Food Sciences, Bioengineering, Pediatrics, Microbiology, Chemistry, human milk banks and more than 16 industry partners. Dave’s research examines human and dairy milk proteins, their survival across digestion and the release of bioactive peptides in infants and adults. Dave’s lab also works to identify novel processing techniques for human donor milk that better preserve their functional proteins.
TITLE: Challenges in Applying Non‑Thermal Microbial Reduction Technologies to Protect Heat‑Sensitive Proteins in Dairy Industry
ABSTRACT: Bioactive milk proteins such as immunoglobulins and lactoferrin are widely recognized for their health‑promoting properties and are increasingly incorporated into products ranging from infant formula and medical nutrition to mainstream consumer dairy. However, these functional proteins are highly sensitive to heat, creating significant challenges for manufacturers who must balance microbial safety with the preservation of bioactivity. Conventional dairy processing relies heavily on thermal treatments to ensure microbial stability, but such conditions can compromise heat‑labile components. To maintain product safety while protecting sensitive proteins, the use of non‑thermal microbial reduction technologies—such as high‑pressure processing, pulsed electric fields, Ceramic Microfiltration and UV‑C treatment—offers promising alternatives. Although these methods have been studied extensively at the research level, industrial implementation in dairy systems introduces new practical and technological challenges. This presentation will explore these challenges and discuss key considerations for applying non‑thermal technologies in dairy processing to ensure both microbial safety and the integrity of heat‑sensitive bioactive proteins.
Harald Schuten is a Senior Scientist in Preservation Technology at Royal FrieslandCampin. He earned his Master of Science degree in Food Technology from Wageningen University, the Netherlands, and has dedicated his career to innovative food preservation technologies that ensure safety, quality, and sustainability. His expertise spans the entire domain from raw materials to finished products, focusing on how preservation technologies can meet stringent quality requirements. His work focusses on process technology, where he evaluates and selects optimal preservation solutions tailored to FrieslandCampina’s diverse product portfolio. He began his career at Wageningen Food & Biobased Research, specializing in novel preservation technologies and developing alternatives to traditional heat treatments. Later, as Senior Food Process Developer at TOP BV, Harald worked closely with small and medium-sized enterprises to implement innovative preservation technologies, bridging the gap between research and practical application. At FrieslandCampina R&D, Harald is developing technology strategies for microbial safety and quality, combining scientific knowledge with practical implementation. His passion lies in exploring innovative process technologies that enhance food safety while preserving nutritional and sensory qualities.
TITLE: Enhancing Milk Bioactivity Using Non-Thermal Technologies
ABSTRACT: Non-thermal processing technologies, particularly pulsed electric fields (PEF) and UV-C light can cause modifications in the structure, functionality, and nutritional properties of milk and dairy products. PEF treatment has been applied both to whole milk and isolated proteins. When applied to whole milk PEF influenced the structure and composition of milk fat globules (MFG). At the protein level, PEF induced structural and physico-chemical modifications in micellar casein isolate, altering aggregation behavior and surface characteristics, which lead to an increase of bioactive peptides formed during gastric digestion. Several studies investigated UV-C light as a method to enhance protein digestibility and bioactive peptide production. UV-C pretreatment of β-lactoglobulin promoted disulfide bond cleavage, improving enzymatic hydrolysis and gastric digestion, and increasing the production and bioavailability of bioactive peptides. Similar effects were observed for casein, where UV-C treatment altered peptide profiles during digestion and enhanced transepithelial peptide transport, suggesting improved bio-accessibility. Overall, these findings highlight the versatility of PEF and UV-C as innovative approaches to improve bioactivity of milk.
Lilia Ahrné is Professor in Dairy Process Technology at University of Copenhagen and leads the Dairy and Processing Research Group at Department of Food Science. She is chair of the scientific committee of IUFOST (International Union of Food Science and technology). She holds a PhD in food engineering from the Catholic University of Portugal with part of the PhD carried out at University of California Davis. In 1994, she moved to Sweden with an EU Postdoc fellowship hosted by Tetra Pak Processing Systems in collaboration with Lund University. For 10 years, she was the director of Process and Technology Development department at SIK- The Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology, and adjunct Professor in Food Technology at Chalmers University of Technology. She has been president of EFFoST (European Federation of Food Science and Technology) and led the Food Science Sweden, a collaborative platform financed by the major Swedish food research actors. She has been member of the National Committee Food Sciences of The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (KVA) and member of the Expert Group on FOOD 2030 for the European Commission R&I Directorate F. Her research interests are to understand the effect of processing on physical, chemical and structural characteristics of foods, and use this knowledge to develop new processes and products. Processes under study include both traditional and novel technologies. The research activities are focused on two main platforms: (i) Structuring technologies and (ii) separation technologies to deliver gentle processes for production of sustainable foods.
TITLE: High Pressure Processing of Donor Human Milk to Improve Fat Absorption in Preterm Infants
ABSTRACT: Use of supplemental pasteurized donor human milk when parent’s milk is unavailable reduces the risk of necrotizing enterocolitis, a devastating gastrointestinal emergency, in babies born at very low birth weight (VLBW). The safety of donor milk is assured via Holder pasteurization (HoP), a heat treatment that inactivates bacteria and viruses, but also negatively affects the quality of human milk. Many heat-sensitive nutrients and bioactive components are significantly reduced including the antimicrobial proteins lactoferrin and lysozyme, and enzymes such as bile salt-stimulated lipase, critical for fat absorption, energy provision, and growth in VLBW infants. High pressure processing (HPP) doesn’t involve heating, and is now widely used in the food industry. The aim of this presentation is to describe our pre-clinical work to establish the impact of HPP on preserving the aforementioned bioactive components, including across simulated infant digestion, the ability to inactivate bacteria and viruses in donor milk, and supporting growth in a weaning rodent model. Additionally, we will review work to identify and develop a pressure-resistant non-pathogenic surrogate organism enabling verification of HPP equipment in the milk bank setting. Finally, we will review our progress in launching a RCT to assess whether: (1) donor milk processed using HPP, compared to the current standard of care HoP, improves fat absorption in VLBW infants. Secondary aims include establishing whether donor milk processed by HPP: (1) improves weight, length and head circumference gains; (2) improves body composition; (3) reduces mortality and morbidity.
Deborah (Debbie) O’Connor PhD RD is the Earle W. McHenry Professor and Chair of the Department of Nutritional Sciences in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto, and a Canada Research Chair in Human Milk and Infant Nutrition. She also holds scientific appointments in the Translational Medicine Program at The Hospital for Sick Children, and the Department of Pediatrics at Sinai Health in Toronto. At SickKids, she served as Director of Clinical Dietetics and Breastfeeding Support from 2000 to 2012 and then as Associate Chief of Academic and Professional Practice until 2013. She was the inaugural Chair of the Advisory Board for the Rogers Hixon Ontario Human Milk Bank. Prior to arriving in Toronto, Dr. O’Connor served as scientist in industry. For more than three decades, Dr. O’Connor has pioneered innovative approaches to improving neonatal nutrition for the most vulnerable infants primarily through clinically embedded blinded multicentre randomized controlled trials. Her work includes developing and testing multi-nutrient fortifiers and protocols to support human milk feeding in hospitalized infants, enriching infant formulas with essential nutrients, and leading transformative initiatives in donor human milk banking and shaping official international guidelines for use.
Dr. Michael Pitino earned his MSc and PhD in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Toronto (UofT). His research explored new processing methods for donor milk banking. He led a preclinical evaluation of high-pressure processing (HPP), an alternative to traditional pasteurization that better preserves the nutritional and bioactive components of donor human milk. After a postdoctoral fellowship at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon, where his research focused on human milk proteomics and peptidomics, he joined Sinai Health in 2024 as Director of the Rogers Hixon Ontario Human Milk Bank. He manages the Milk Bank’s day-to-day operations and leads translational research to maximize the nutritional quality and benefits of donor human milk for vulnerable preterm infants. Dr. Pitino is also assistant professor (status-only) in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at U of T’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine where he is a principal investigator of the ongoing High-Pressure Processing of Donor Human Milk to Improve Fat Absorption in Preterm Infants (HiPP) study, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Driven by a deep commitment to infant health, Dr. Pitino is working to expand the Milk Bank’s reach across Ontario and Canada so that every vulnerable infant who needs donor human milk can access high-quality nutrition.
Meet the Moderator
Alan’s Biography
Dr. Alan Kelly joined the IMGC Scientific Advisory Committee in 2023. He is a Professor of Food Science at University College Cork (UCC) in Ireland. His teaching responsibilities include food processing and preservation, dairy product technology and new food product development. He leads an active research group on the chemistry and processing of milk and dairy products and has published over 300 research papers, review articles and book chapters (Google Scholar h-index at October 2023 of 78) and supervised over 60 MSc and PhD students to completion; he has also published several books including Molecules, microbes and meals: the surprising science of food (Oxford University Press, 2019), How scientists communicate: dispatches from the frontiers of science (Oxford University Press, 2020) and Agents of Change: Enzymes in Milk and Dairy Products (Co-edited with L.B. Larsen Springer Nature, 2021). He was Editor of the International Dairy Journal from 2005-2021, referees for most leading international food journals and several international funding authorities (he currently chairs a panel of the European Research Council), and has acted as External Examiner in Universities in the UK, France, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand. In July 2009, he received the Danisco International Dairy Science award from the American Dairy Science Association for his contributions to research in dairy science and technology. He has also won awards in UCC for Excellence in Teaching (2004), Leadership (2011) and Research Communication (2020). From 2006-2013, he was Dean of Graduate Studies of UCC, with responsibility for institutional graduate education strategy, and he is currently Head of the School of Food and Nutritional Sciences at UCC, as well as Vice-Head of the College of Science, Engineering and Food Science and Co-director of the Futures Research Cluster on Food, the Microbiome and Health.