In the year between July 27, 2005, and July 26, 2006, Productscan Online reported 643 new dairy food products and 1,893 total SKU counts. How do those products break down as to leveraging the trends discussed in this year’s ingredient report?

Probiotics: A search of Productscan Online’s database of that time period revealed only five dairy food products specifically touting their probiotic content. Those five — all yogurt — came from just two manufacturers. Dannon unveiled its widely promoted Activia product in a variety of flavors and packaging formats, while the lesser-known Woodstock Water Buffalo Milk Yogurt emerged in a handful of varieties.

Lowfat: This is historically a popular segment, and a search of the past year’s offerings did not disappoint. Productscan delivered 151 reports, most of them ice cream and frozen dessert products, in keeping with the trend driven by makers of products tagged as “slow churned,” “smooth churned” and the like. Dreyer’s/Edy’s and Breyers dominated the listings, with an assortment of smaller processors keeping pace with the trend.

Whey: In an area that arguably offers the greatest potential for the dairy industry to harness the enormous nutritional qualities of milk, the field is currently lacking. A Productscan search turned up only one new product in the dairy arena from the past year that specifically references whey protein: Good Body Refresh Frozen Nutrition Bars from Advanced Nutrition Concepts.