Chr. Hansen opened a $20 million expanded dairy culture factory in Arpajon, France, doubling the production capacity of the original plant. In Arpajon, Chr. Hansen manufactures approximately 200 different lactic acid cultures. Ingredients maker Chr. Hansen, with U.S. headquarters in Milwaukee, produces cultures at its factories in the United States, Denmark, Germany and France.

Homewood, Ill.-based Silliker Inc. will open a new testing facility in Omaha, Neb., in October, expanding its U.S. laboratory network to 11 operations in 10 states. The start-up operation will feature a number of state-of-the-art resources, including multi-use work-flow processes, robotic automation and innovative work stations to minimize bench errors and ensure the production of reliable and consistent results. In other news, the company has released “Swabbing Techniques for Sampling the Environment and Equipment Technician Training Program,” an innovative learning tool for QA technicians who collect samples in wet processing environments.

Plant extracts and a more imaginative use of whey are two major factors with the potential to take the functional dairy drinks sector forward, said Dr. Michael de Vrese of Germany’s Federal Research Centre for Nutrition and Food, at the Drinktec expo in Munich. Plant additives, which de Vrese calls, “phytolactics,” could open up new avenues of product development for functional milk drinks by offering the chance to add a range of nutrients found in plants to milk, including potassium, magnesium, vitamins C and E, medium chain fatty acids and antioxidants.

Minneapolis-based Cargill Health & Food Technologies received the 2004 Nutrition Business Journal Product Merit Award for its CoroWise™ Naturally Sourced Cholesterol Reducer™ plant sterols. CoroWise is found in functional food products such as Yoplait Healthy Heart yogurt. Plant sterols have been investigated in human clinical studies with no adverse effects and a decline in average “bad” cholesterol decline of 8 to 15 percent. According to the FDA, foods that contain at least 0.4 grams per serving of plant sterols, consumed twice a day with meals for a daily total intake of at least 0.8 grams, and as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce the risk of heart disease.

Tate & Lyle has created a new Global Food Ingredients Group that will be responsible for global food ingredients marketing and growth opportunities. The group will be led by Mark White, chief executive of sugars, Europe.

A&B Ingredients, Fairfield, N.J., and Duas Rodas, a Brazilian food and flavor company with headquarters in Jaraguá do Sul, have entered an agreement through which A&B Ingredients will represent some of Duas Rodas’ products, such as tropical extracts and organic banana products, in North America. A&B Ingredients manufactures rice-based food starches. Duas Rodas is a food and flavor marketing company with operations throughout South and Central America and Africa.