FrieslandCampina Ingredients’ heat-stable whey protein enables the development of superior oral nutritional supplements to help improve patient outcomes.

FrieslandCampina Ingredients, a global leader in protein and prebiotics, today launches Nutri Whey™ ProHeat, a heat-stable whey protein designed for the medical nutrition market. By using the latest microparticulation technology, FrieslandCampina Ingredients has created a highly heat-stable whey protein ingredient – something that has historically been challenging as most whey proteins are irreversibly denatured during traditional heat treatments. With Nutri Whey™ ProHeat, medical nutrition brands can more easily help patients access the benefits of whey protein in a nutrient-dense liquid formulation with appealing sensory properties such as a low viscosity, neutral pH, and clean taste. 

Maintaining muscle mass is crucial for patient recovery, but with 1 in 4 people admitted to hospital suffering from disease-related malnutrition,^[1]  this can present a challenge for healthcare providers. Improving patient adherence to medical nutrition programs is another focus for healthcare providers and one where medical nutrition companies are ideally placed to support, leading to positive patient outcomes. 

Tackling the whey challenge 

Liquid oral nutritional supplements have traditionally been developed with casein proteins as these high-quality proteins naturally tolerate high-heat treatments. However, whey protein is higher in leucine and is more quickly digested than casein, resulting in faster and higher levels of blood plasma leucine and other essential amino acids.^[2] 

Formulating medical nutritional supplements with whey protein has historically been challenging as most whey proteins are irreversibly denatured and polymerized into aggregates or gels when heated to high temperatures – a process that is required for creating stable oral nutritional supplements. FrieslandCampina Ingredients’ Nutri Whey™ ProHeat solves this challenge by leveraging a patent-pending microparticulation process. Microparticulation is achieved by thermal treatment, forming small aggregates, ensuring the whey proteins’ stability under high heat treatment conditions. This means end products formulated with Nutri Whey™ ProHeat benefit from superior sensory properties such as a low viscosity and neutral pH alongside a clean taste from high-quality Dutch whey, which can support patient adherence while also giving patients access to the additional nutritional benefits of whey protein. 

Nutri Whey™ ProHeat supports formulations with up to 15 percent protein from whey and casein protein in a 2 kcal/ml solution. Thanks to this advanced ingredient, brands around the globe can leverage the nutritional power of whey to enhance patient recovery with appealing oral nutritional supplements. 

Vicky Davies, Global Senior Marketing Director, Performance, Active & Medical Nutrition at FrieslandCampina Ingredients, comments, “At FrieslandCampina Ingredients, we’re driven by our mission to help people get the most out of life, always. This means helping people recover faster from illness or surgery so they can get back to doing what they love. Our latest ingredient innovation presents a big leap forward for medical nutrition and will enable manufacturers to provide patients with the unrivalled nutritional benefits of whey protein in an appealing, drinkable format. By using our unparalleled technological and applications expertise, we’ve been able to create a highly nutritious ingredient that will unlock new innovations in medical nutrition.” 

To learn more about Nutri Whey™ ProHeat and FrieslandCampina Ingredients’ protein application expertise, visit the FrieslandCampina Ingredients website. To discover the company’s Nutri Whey™ ProHeat Complete Nutrition Drink application, click here.

About FrieslandCampina Ingredients

FrieslandCampina Ingredients is a leader in proteins and prebiotics, addressing the growing need for innovative nutritional solutions to the world’s health and well-being challenges. Its drive is to get the right ingredients to customers to help them create highly nutritious, sustainable applications to help people with special dietary needs and preferences get the most out of life, always.   

Powered by 1,700 passionate specialists, FrieslandCampina Ingredients operates globally across the Early Life Nutrition, Active, Performance, Medical and Cell Nutrition market segments. The company has regional sales offices in the Netherlands, the United States, Singapore, China, and Brazil. It reported combined sales of €1.65 billion in 2022. For additional information, please visit: www.frieslandcampinaingredients.com.        

FrieslandCampina Ingredients is part of Royal FrieslandCampina N.V. The dairy company daily provides millions of consumers throughout the world with dairy products containing valuable nutrients from milk. The company is fully owned by Zuivelcoöperatie FrieslandCampina U.A., with 15,137 dairy farmers in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany as members. Its annual turnover amounted to €14.1 billion in 2022. FrieslandCampina has locations in 31 countries and exports to more than one hundred countries worldwide. In 2022, FrieslandCampina employed an average of 21,715 employees (FTEs). Its head office is located in the Netherlands.  

^[1] Ljungqvist, O. et al. Under nutrition: a major health problem in Europe. Nutr Hosp, 2009.

^[2] Phillips et al., 2016; 2. Pennings et al., 2011