To many, fortifying dairy products means the traditional practice of adding vitamins A and D to milk, which dates back to the 1930s. The driving force for fortification was a concern about vitamin-D deficiency, which eventually would lead to the development of rickets. At that time, milk was considered the best carrier to supply an adequate level of vitamins A and D to the human diet, because people consumed it daily, especially kids.
But today, fortification offers even greater possibilities. Although consumers know more about food and diet than ever before, most exceed their daily requirements for fats, carbohydrates, proteins and calories. Yet many still don’t come close to getting enough vitamins, minerals, complex carbohydrates, essential fatty acids and other micronutrients. Most nutritionists recommend getting daily nutrition from foods, rather than supplements, increasing interest in fortifying foods to meet these daily deficits. Milk and dairy products can be ideal vehicles for fortification. Throughout history, dairy products have maintained an overall healthful image, even during the recent years’ flux and confusion about all food consumption. Though dairy products like milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, ice cream, dairy-based beverages, process cheese and natural cheese have their own unique nutritional benefits, using dairy products today as a carrier of added essential nutrients still makes good sense. The proper intakeAn 8-oz. serving of milk fortified with vitamins A and D fulfills a portion of our daily requirement for vitamins A (10%), D (25%) and C (4%); calcium (30%); and smaller amounts of vitamins B2, B6, thiamin (B1), niacin, folate (B12), phosphorus, magnesium, potassium and zinc. The majority of dairy products supply a similar dose of vitamins and minerals — except for the A and D levels, since most nonmilk and non-fluid-milk manufacturers do not use vitamin-A- and -D-fortified milk. Given this long list of vitamins and minerals, it’s hard to believe dairy leaves that much room for fortification, but it’s true. Ingesting the recommended three daily servings of milk, yogurt and cheese that Dairy Management, Inc. (DMI), Rosemont, IL, recommends for strong bones makes it easy for the U.S. population to achieve the daily requirement for calcium. Statistics, however, show that most people are only eating 1.5 servings of dairy per day. Suddenly, the concept of fortifying dairy foods with vitamins and minerals, or even calcium, doesn’t sound so silly. As it turns out, vitamin and mineral suppliers have already thought about fortifying dairy products and have the ingredient technology and the application experience to pass on to dairy processors. Vitamins and minerals have their own specific usage guidelines. Dairy products, such as drinkable yogurt or other dairy-based beverages, often have 25% of the daily value of vitamins like A, C, E, B6, thiamin, niacin, folic acid, biotin, riboflavin and pantothenic acid. Since dairy products are heat-processed to at least pasteurization temperatures, vitamin heat stability becomes an issue. Processors can minimize vitamin loss by experimenting with encapsulated versions or by adding the vitamins at the optimal stage of processing to protect those that are oxygen- and heat-sensitive. Other ingredient interactions with vitamins can lead to product defects. Vitamin C can react with certain minerals, causing undesirable color development. Overfortification with vitamins, especially the B vitamins, often creates metallic flavors in a dairy product. Recent research funded by DMI and conducted by Carl Brotherson, associate director of the Western Dairy Center, Utah State University, Logan, used high-pressure injection technology to inject vitamins D, B6 and folic acid into Cheddar and mozzarella cheeses. After a 330-day ripening period, the vitamins had little or no effect on the ripening process or cheese flavor. Brotherson was concerned that the starter cultures and non-starter cultures might consume the vitamins, but primarily the folic acid showed the highest loss level (40%). Mineral balancing actMineral fortification of dairy products, meanwhile, has a different set of issues. It is not uncommon to find dairy products fortified with up to 30% of the daily value of some minerals. Some minerals commonly added to dairy products include calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc and phosphorus. Selecting the right form of a mineral for an application is the first hurdle. The high level of calcium in dairy foods makes it important to understand the mineral chemistry of milk before selecting the form for fortification. “Calcium in dairy products exists as amorphous tricalcium phosphate or bound to protein in the form of calcium phosphate,” says Stephan Lihl, Ph.D., business unit manager, Food, Chemische Fabrik Budenheim, Germany. Milk and other dairy products are very sensitive to the presence of minerals, especially soluble minerals. Even small changes in the mineral balance could have a tremendous effect on the milk proteins. Soluble calcium sources could cause protein precipitation, undesirable in all dairy products.
Comments
Similar ArticlesLatest ArticlesSubscribe toMobile Media SnapsText FOODPRODUCT to 41411 to receive this media snap on your smart phone Image GalleriesBuyer's Guidefeatured links |
SupplySide
Pumped-Up Dairy
Posted in
Articles,
Dairy,
Healthy Foods,
Dairy Ingredients,
Topics
