Arla Foods Ingredients has launched a new ready-to-stir beta-lactoglobulin (BLG) solution to improve convenience and acceptability for patients needing protein-enriched medical nutrition.
Up to 50% of hospital patients suffer from malnutrition, which is associated with longer hospital stays, poor quality of life, increased mortality and higher healthcare costs.1 Yet motivating patients with reduced appetites to consume sufficient protein through oral nutrition supplements is a challenge. Global surveys have shown that half fail to comply with their medical nutrition plans, with product taste and texture highlighted as opportunities for improvement.2
The medical nutrition market is dominated by highly standardised, milky ready-to-drink (RTD) and powder applications. These are typically formulated with neutral pH ingredients, which patients can find heavy and unrefreshing, while juice-style options are limited to RTDs. Patients and healthcare professionals alike are seeking a wider choice of flexible, convenient and appetising formats that can be easily mixed with everyday foods and drinks.3
Arla Foods Ingredients’ new Lacprodan® BLG-100 Acidic whey protein for ready-to-stir powder applications provides 10g of high-quality protein per 100ml serving. Due to its superior solubility, it offers excellent functionality for technically challenging, ready-to-stir powder applications that can be mixed with a spoon as well as shaken. Delivering a great, refreshing taste with no bitterness, low astringency and low viscosity without gelling, it dissolves in just 30 seconds in warm or cold applications without clumping.
Lacprodan® BLG-100 Acidic can be used in both nutritionally complete and incomplete applications, including refreshing juice-style and milky options. The flexible powder format enables easier dosage of the recommended daily medical nutrition prescription, with the final volume adjustable by varying the amount of water added.
Offering outstanding purity and a superior amino acid profile, it is high in all nine essential amino acids and rich in leucine, which stimulates muscle protein synthesis, as indicated by scientific studies.4,5,6This makes it ideal for patients with reduced appetites, and supports those at increased risk of losing muscle mass.
Mads Dyrvig, Head of Sales Development, Specialised Nutrition at Arla Foods Ingredients, said: “Too many hospital patients lack the nutrition to support their recovery from illness. Yet the conventional milky taste and heavy texture of many medical nutrition products can inhibit compliance, with patients often looking for a wider variety of formats. Lacprodan® BLG-100 Acidic creates new opportunities for appealing foods and beverages for special medical purposes, enabling nourishing, varied and convenient options for reduced appetites. Delivering pleasant taste and mouthfeel, it offers exceptional functionality and versatility, enabling higher-quality protein and more variety for patients.”
To showcase the potential of Lacprodan® BLG-100 Acidic, Arla Foods Ingredients has created two convenient, ready-to-stir powder application concepts. For nutritionally incomplete products, its ready-to-stir juice-style medical drink represents a unique market opportunity, with no comparable solutions currently available. Meanwhile, a complete milky RTD beverage offers patients a refreshing alternative to existing milky options.
Both concepts can also be mixed into a range of foods and beverages, including milk, porridge, and soup, to conveniently boost protein intake at any time of day.
1 World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe, “Disease-related malnutrition: a time for action”, 2023. https://www.who.int/europe/publications/i/item/WHO-EURO-2023-8931-48703-72392
2 FMCG Gurus’ Medical Nutrition Insights database, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain, UK, US, Vietnam, 2023; Qualitative study on medical nutrition, Lindberg International, China, Germany, UK, US, 2024
3 FMCG Gurus’ Medical Nutrition Insights database, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain, UK, US, Vietnam, 2023; Qualitative study on medical nutrition, Lindberg International, China, Germany, UK, US, 2024
4Anthony JC, Anthony TG, Kimball SR, Jefferson LS. Signaling Pathways Involved in Translational Control of ProteinSynthesis in Skeletal Muscle by Leucine. Journal of Nutrition. 2001;131(3):856S‑860S.
5Holowaty MNH, Lees MJ, Abou Sawan S, et al. Leucine ingestion promotes mTOR translocation to the periphery and enhances RPS6 phosphorylation in human skeletal muscle. Amino Acids. 2023;55:253–261.
6Churchward-Venne et al. Supplementation of a suboptimal protein dose with leucine or essential amino acids: effects on myofibrillar protein synthesis at rest and following resistance exercise in men. J Physiol. 2012 Mar 25;590(Pt 11):2751–2765. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.2012.228833).
