Chr. Hansen, Hørsholm, Denmark, received the “2012 European Product Leadership Award in Probiotics” from Frost & Sullivan, a global research and consultancy company.
Start with something healthy, and then make it better. That’s the basic recipe for creating a value-added milk-based beverage. Traditionally, the three largest and most active claims about dairy beverages regarded digestive/gut health, heart/cardiovascular health and bone health. But, in recent years, the market has seen many novel dairy beverages that tout energy, immune health, weight control, satiety, anti-aging, skin health, beauty, eye health, joint health, mental acuity and concentration.
Innovations in probiotic dairy products are on the rise. This is a reflection of the increasing demand for probiotics due to consumers’ interest in health and wellbeing. Dairy was the third most commonly named “functional food” in the 2011 Functional Foods Survey conducted by the International Food Information Council.
As scientists learn more about prebiotics, dairy’s prospects increase. For the present time, look to plants if you want to add prebiotics. But for the future, prebiotics could come from the oligosaccharides in whey permeate.
Although 72% of Americans are aware of prebiotics’ association with digestive health, according to the International Food Information Council’s 2011 functional foods survey, most would be hard-pressed to describe prebiotics and their functions. That’s understandable. The story of prebiotics and health is not simple. But as scientists learn more, the story becomes more compelling and worth the telling.
DAHlicious Lassi, Chelmsford, Mass., marketers of lassi, a yogurt-based, probiotic beverage popular in India, adds a new flavor — Bourbon Vanilla — to its Made in Vermont product line. The 7-ounce bottle retails for $2.49. Also, the company will sell mango, strawberry and vanilla flavors in a 32-ounce bottle.
Dairy is naturally good. But when you add certain functional ingredients, you can make dairy foods and beverages even better.
May 15, 2012
Not for nothing, but those of us in the dairy business know a thing or two about functional foods. After all, if Mother Nature herself could have formulated the prototypical functional food …Well, she did formulate the prototypical functional food, and she called it “milk.”
The frozen yogurt category is getting its second wind. Today’s product is more acidic, and some consumers prefer a sour or tart taste. But the bigger market is for creamy, indulgent frozen yogurt. Here are tips and ideas for working with flavors.
It’s getting harder to stroll a city block without landing in front of yet another frozen yogurt outlet. These brightly colored, sleekly designed shrines to soft-serve bliss are sprouting like spring grass, adding oomph to what some have described as the latest renaissance for a category that was all but written off not long ago.