IFAJ 45^th Annual Congress 8-13 September 2001, Savonlinna, Finland

 

New innovations – future products from Valio’s R&D

 

Annika Mäyrä-Mäkinen

R&D Director

Valio Oy

 

Valio’s Research and Development creates new innovations on the basis of long term know-how in lactic acid bacteria, milk processing technology and nutrition. Valio has invested already about 80 years on the research. The former R&D director Artturi I. Virtanen was very innovative person, won the Nobel prize in 1945 in chemistry and directed the research nearly 50 years in Valio. We still use his innovations in our production.

 

Valio R&D investment totalled FIM 56 million (EUR 9.5 mill.) or 0.7 per cent of net turnover in the year 2000. The company commits 120 members of staff to the task and around a third of those works in long-term development projects seeking new production technologies and new products. The focus lies on value added products, the most important being functional foods. We possess exceptional know-how in the field of lactic acid bacteria and more than 60 per cent of Valio products are made using them, including all the cheeses and fermented milk products. Valio functional products, Gefilus and Evolus, are also based on the unique properties of certain lactic acid bacteria.

 

Starters, probiotics, new applications

 

Functional foods are a new captivating and challenging area for the scientists in quite traditional dairy industry. The R&D is based on new concepts, combining new technology, microbiology, chemistry and nutrition. The new membrane techniques give possibilities for isolating and concentrating the wanted components. Hand in hand with investing in functional foods goes the need for a strong knowledge in nutrition. We have to be able to monitor and run the clinical trials in-house and with the medical experts.

 

 

New products, better health

 

Certain diseases are a national problem in Finland, such as cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis and allergies. They pose a serious health risk that can be countered by diet. We apply scientific methods to find the components and effective mechanisms in milk that can prevent and treat these diseases.

 

Valio has established strict criteria for its own functional foods. Before a market launch, the product undergoes placebo-controlled double-blind studies, and its effects are researched in at least two independent studies. Test subjects must have receive a recommended daily intake of the finished product.

 

Help for hypertension

 

Valio launched the new functional Evolus drink in Autumn, 2000. Evolus is made by fermenting milk with natural lactic acid bacteria that split milk proteins into bioactive peptides. Which then lower blood pressure. This effect has been proven in an experimental blood pressure model and in clinical studies. Evolus combines Valio’s sound lactic acid bacteria know-how with process technology.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evolus drinks are especially good for people with high blood pressure. They can be used alone or in combination with a medication. The recommended daily intake on Evolus is 150 ml. Clinical tests have shown this is enough to reduce blood pressure after 5-7 weeks of regular use.

 

 

 

 

Valio probiotic Lactobacillus GG works wonders in your intestine

 

A probiotic is a live bacterium with proven positive effects in the intestine. Lactobacillus GG is Valio’s own probiotic. It is one of the most researched in the world and has been the subject of more than ten doctoral theses and around 130 scientific publications.

 

Clinical tests prove undeniably the effects of LGG in, for instance, the prevention and care of different types of diarrhoea. Now the focus of research has shifted to immunology. The intestine is the body’s most important organ in immune responses and LGG has been demonstrated to work throught the intestine by improving resistance and decreasing infections. An extensive study with around 600 children was carried out in kindergartens in Helsinki in 1999. It showed that children who had drunk Gefilus milk, which contains LGG, caught around 10 per cent fewer infections and so needed less antibiotic treatments.

 

One new product launched in the year 2000 was Gefilus cheese. LGG is a unique probiotic that remains in the cheese throughout maturing and storing. The effective daily intake is one glass of a Gefilus drink or three to four slices of cheese.

 

LGG has been licensed in 28 countries. Valio produces freeze-dried LGG bacteria, transferring the technological product knowhow to the client that then launches products containing LGG under its own brands. The commercialization of LGG continues; new applications, such as cheeses and juices, have generated international interest.

 

 

Cholesterol down with dairy products

 

Plant sterols are natural fats found in plants and proven to lower cholesterol. Valio made a co-operation agreement with Raisio Group in December 2000 to use Benecol stanol ester in dairy products that bring cholesterol down. The Benecol agreement brings together two leading Finish food companies and their core know-how. The first low-fat and fat-free Valio dairy products with Benecol was launched in May 2001. The initial markets will be Finland, Sweden and the Baltic States.

 

Research for today and tomorrow

 

Milk components, fat, protein, lactose and minerals are rich source for various health-promoting products. For lactic acid bacteria milk is an excellent growth medium and for probiotic bacteria it is “protective” liquid against the hard conditions in our gastrointestinal tract. The following picture shows the possibilities of milk as raw material for different applications – many of them already patented by Valio.

 

We have just taken the first steps in this new area — the coming years will show the success of functional dairy products.

 

Annika Mäyrä-Mäkinen

R&D Director

Valio Oy

Lic.Sc. (dairy technology and microbiology)

 

Ms. Mäyrä-Mäkinen has worked at Valio's R&D Centre since 1982, in charge of lactic acid bacteria research, applications and production. After one year with Cultor Ltd. (1997-1998), overseeing animal probiotics, she returned to the dairy industry as R&D director in 1998.

Marital status: married

Children: one son

Hobbies: sports