Doors Open on Arla Foods Ingredients’ New €40 Million Hydrolysates Factory, Denmark

23 Jun 2016 --- Arla Foods Ingredients has strengthened its position of leadership in the global dairy protein hydrolysates sector with the opening of new, dedicated factory located in Nr. Vium, Denmark.

The €40 million facility can produce approximately 4,000 tons of high quality whey and casein hydrolysates a year, creating ingredient solutions for applications in the infant, clinical and sports nutrition categories. Existing production of hydrolysates by Arla Foods Ingredients elsewhere will now be transferred over to the new site at Nr. Vium.

Speaking with FoodIngredientsFirst Anders Steen Jørgensen, Business Unit Director Pediatric at Arla Foods Ingredients said: “The hydrolysate factory is located at Denmark Protein in Nr. Vium which is the largest production site for Arla Foods Ingredients. Here, full ranges of specialized WPC, lactose, permeate and now also hydrolysates are being made.”

The factory features state-of-the-art manufacturing technology as well as pilot plants, analytical laboratories and R&D facilities. It complies with the strictest quality and safety standards and includes a dedicated packing line for filtered products.

Steen Jørgensen also said: “Our new factory has been built from the ground up, with the single aim of producing the best dairy protein hydrolysate ingredients available anywhere in the world. Our solutions offer scientifically documented health benefits, excellent solubility, superb microbiology and uniform quality. Now we can also offer them in much greater volumes with complete security of supply.”

A protein hydrolysate is the outcome of an enzymatically-driven process, where the intact protein is cut into smaller peptide fragments or free amino acids.

Industrial enzymatic hydrolysis is similar to the natural breakdown of proteins that takes place in the gastrointestinal system during digestion of a protein meal. For this reason, hydrolyzed protein is seen as ‘pre-digested’ and a more rapidly absorbed source of protein for the human body.

Milk protein hydrolysates are proteins that have been through a natural enzymatic process, during which the intact protein is cut into small peptide fragments. Compared with intact proteins, they offer reduced allergenic potential, easier digestion and faster absorption. These attributes mean they provide excellent functional health properties in clinical and infant nutrition, where they deliver the benefits of the protein more quickly and effectively to those who need it most.

“Infant nutrition is an area that will benefit highly from the factory,” adds Steen Jørgensen, “There is growing awareness of the benefits of hydrolyzed milk proteins, both for the treatment and prevention of milk allergies in infants and for non-allergic babies.”

by Elizabeth Kenward