Listen to six world experts in milk science discuss the challenges and solutions in scaling up, analytics of and navigating regulatory for milk proteins and peptides.
TITLE: Overcoming challenges in analytics of milk proteins and peptides and their digestome
ABSTRACT:
Milk provides a complex array of proteins, enzymes and peptides to the consumer. Many of these proteins, enzymes and peptides are assumed to be bioactive within the consumer. However, upon ingestion, these components are exposed to an array of enzymes and alterations in conditions that can cause protein and peptide degradation and release of novel peptides. For the most part, the forms in which these components reach presumed sites of actions and whether they can exert bioactivity are unexamined. To better guide discovery of biologically relevant functional compounds within milk and create novel products, we need to understand not just what milk is but what it becomes within the consumer. To determine what milk becomes within the infant or adult, we collaborated with clinicians to obtain gastric and later intestinal fluid samples. Subsequently, we created methods to assess these samples for their peptide, protein and enzyme content using compound extraction, mass spectrometry and data analysis methods. Future work should determine the specific forms of milk proteins and peptides present at specific sites within the body and explore their site-specific bioactivities. Additionally, novel ingredients for infant formula should be assessed to ensure their digestive profile provides similar bioactive compounds as as human milk. Moreover, bovine milk ingredients for adults should be assessed for digestion to guide evaluation of bioactive function. This work will guide optimal delivery of milk bioactives to consumers.
Dr. David Dallas joined the IMGC Scientific Advisory Committee in 2021 and has participated in IMGC Symposia for more than five years. Dr. Dallas received his BA in Public Health in 2008 from Rice University and his PhD in Nutritional Biology in 2012 from UC Davis. Subsequently, he completed a post-doctoral fellowship at UC Davis in Food Science. Dr. Dallas is currently an Assistant Professor in Nutrition at Oregon State University. David’s research examines the digestion of human and dairy milk proteins and the release of bioactive peptides using in vivo infant and adult digestive samples. His group applies mass spectrometry-based peptidomics and proteomics and functional assays. In addition, he applies this knowledge to examine digestive deficiencies in premature infants. His bibliography is publicly available here.
TITLE: Lactoferrin development: potential growing pains unraveled
ABSTRACT:
Breastfeeding is the optimal way of providing young infants with the nutrients they need for healthy growth and development. Furthermore, breastfeeding helps to reduce the risk and severity of many diseases in infancy and beyond. However, not every mother is able to breastfeed. In these cases, infant nutrition based on bovine milk proves to be a good alternative. FrieslandCampina develops products with health benefits originating from milk for infant nutrition applications. One of these products is lactoferrin: a whey protein present in milk, having an average concentration of 2-4 mg/ml in human milk, while in bovine milk, the concentration is about 10 times lower. Lactoferrin is a bioactive protein that binds iron, and it is known to inhibit bacterial growth by successfully competing for iron with pathogens. FrieslandCampina started lactoferrin production in the 1990’s. To support the growing demand for lactoferrin, the company is developing a new, more efficient process to extract lactoferrin from bovine milk. To ensure a high-quality protein is produced, many technical and legislative challenges needed to be tackled. This presentation will take you on FrieslandCampina’s journey to develop the new lactoferrin production process from lab ideation, and pilot-scale production towards commercialization including the hurdles that were tackled to achieve success.
Roeland van Eerten is educated as a food technologist (M.Sc) and has years of experience in the infant nutrition business. He began his career in 2010 at Danone/Nutricia as a product developer for infant formulas. There he worked his way through the company becoming an expert in recipe formulation with a love for dairy. In 2019, Roeland joined FrieslandCampina ingredients for Early Life Nutrition to improve and develop new ingredients for infant nutrition market. In this role, he is responsible for projects from ideation to market launch. Essential within this role is to develop or fine-tune raw material and production processes to meet the requirements of all aspects, which are relevant for the end-consumer such as taste, composition, and packaging. Additionally, Roeland overcame many technical and legislative challenges throughout the project’s lifespan.
TITLE: Building a framework to evaluate the safety of recombinant proteins
ABSTRACT:
Milk proteins, especially those found in human milk, can be bioactive and exert multifunctional properties to support human health. To successfully incorporate these proteins into our food supply, we must develop safe, sustainable, and commercially viable technologies to produce the proteins for mass markets. The crux of the challenge is to establish a trusted and reproducible framework that industry players can use to reliably evaluate the safety of recombinant proteins. The greater scientific community can work together along with regulators to establish best practices for establishing the safety of such novel ingredients. In this presentation, we will discuss the research and development, analytical tools, and manufacturing options for novel recombinant proteins. We will then review the challenges and potential solutions to establish a framework to evaluate their safety for human consumption.
After discovering an early interest in food science, Laura pursued a Bachelor’s Degree in Food Science and Technology at Western University, as well as a Master’s in Food Studies at New York University. Upon graduating, Laura began consulting on a range of projects, formulating and developing a variety of food products at companies including SIMULATE, Plated, Dylan’s and Candy Bar, and in January of 2019 founded Helaina. Helaina is disrupting the infant nutrition industry, which has remained largely unchanged for decades, by being the first company to replicate immune-equivalent human proteins in food. Laura has created the technology to improve the health outcomes in formula-fed infants and in the future, plans to expand the use of its proteins in a variety of consumer products.
TITLE: Navigating regulatory for dietary bioactive peptides and their health claims
ABSTRACT:
Some peptides which are encrypted in the sequences of food proteins and released during digestion are believed to be active on different biological functions or diseases, including gut physiology, nutrient bioavailability, immune functions and defences, neurological functions and stress, blood pressure and circulation, metabolic risk factors (obesity, diabetes, lipid metabolism), cardiovascular diseases, bone and dental health, or cancer. To evaluate if these dietary bioactive peptides, that could play a key role in improving health, can meet the criteria for Health Claims, defined by international authorities (EFSA, FDA). Such Claims relate to food components and their effects on nutritional intake, improvement of physiological functions, or prevention of pathologies. The sequence and activity of bioactive peptides were extensively reviewed. The conditions for health claims are that i) foods bearing the claim must be precisely described and reproducible; (ii) the targeted functions or effects must represent a benefit for the consumer and be measurable; (iii) the alleviated effects must be demonstrated in human on the target population. Many studies involved dairy peptides, but the properties of vegetal, animal, and sea products were also assessed. Most of the allegations are based on in vitro experiments or in animal models and fewer reports assessed and/or confirmed bioactive peptides activity in humans. Few bioactive peptides currently meet the criteria required by regulatory authorities for obtaining a health claim. In many cases, a major limitation is the lack of a convincing clinical studies conducted according to the rules of good clinical practice.
Professor Daniel Tomé belonged to the Paris Institute of technology for life, food, and environmental sciences, within Paris-Saclay University (Paris, France). Along his career he has been involved by over more than 40 years in several research and education issues related to Nutrition and Human health. The research he conducted contributed to a better understanding of the metabolism and nutritional needs related to energy, protein, and amino acid. Important results were obtained on nutritional efficiency of dietary proteins as indispensable component of the diet to support protein synthesis, amino acid-related metabolic pathways, and energy expenditure. This research also contributed to better understand how protein intake, which is essential for survival, is tightly controlled and can even be fulfilled in priority to energy intake to ensure protein and amino acid sufficiency and an adequate protein status. These studies led to identify different endocrine, metabolic, metabolomic and transcriptomic signatures and biomarkers of protein and amino acid efficacy, sufficiency, and requirement. Prof. Tomé’s is among the international experts for protein requirement and protein quality in food and diets. He significantly contribute to expertise in Nutrition and Health for national and international authorities and stakeholder.
Co-Speakers
TITLE: Building a bridge from past into the future for food ingredient commercialization: the story of osteopontin
ABSTRACT:
Pure osteopontin is one of the most advanced whey protein products to date. This talk presents some learnings from the long development process, which may facilitate future developments of advanced, health promoting food ingredients. The development took its start in a research hypothesis. Research and process development was added and followed by analytical, regulatory and commercial efforts and decisions. The development period was further complicated by changes in the market and the regulatory framework. By analyzing the approach taken and the complications experienced during the development process insights can be gained on the importance of speed to market, importance of IP protection and selection of scientific focus. Looking back at the path we travelled to the present commercial success may teach us important lessons on how to work smarter to improve our ability to bring science findings into practical and commercial solutions.
With a background in dairy protein chemistry Anne Staudt Kvistgaard has worked close to 20 years in the space of developing, documenting and commercializing ingredients into the infant formula industry. Anne Staudt Kvistgaard continuous focus has been driving the positioning of AFI’s strategic ingredients into the early life nutrition segment. Through this work Anne Staudt Kvistgaard has engaged into both pre-and clinical studies securing safety and efficacy documentation of AFI’s infant ingredients.
Email: ASKV@ARLAFOODS.COM
TITLE: Building a bridge from past into the future for food ingredient commercialization: the story of osteopontin
ABSTRACT:
Pure osteopontin is one of the most advanced whey protein products to date. This talk presents some learnings from the long development process, which may facilitate future developments of advanced, health promoting food ingredients. The development took its start in a research hypothesis. Research and process development was added and followed by analytical, regulatory and commercial efforts and decisions. The development period was further complicated by changes in the market and the regulatory framework. By analyzing the approach taken and the complications experienced during the development process insights can be gained on the importance of speed to market, importance of IP protection and selection of scientific focus. Looking back at the path we travelled to the present commercial success may teach us important lessons on how to work smarter to improve our ability to bring science findings into practical and commercial solutions.
His bibliography is publicly available. Email: peter.l.wejse@arlafoods.com