THE FUTURE OF FOOD Imagine a time when epidemics of non-communicable diseases like diabetes are treated by eating special foods that are registered as medicines. What used to be the stuff of science fiction has become a field of research in which some major food companies are investing millions of dollars. Fonterra Chief Science and Food Technology Officer Jeremy Hill looks at what pharma foods might mean for dairy and the way we eat in the future. The days when the word ‘food’ was sufficient to describe what we ate for breakfast have long gone - at least in the scientific world. Now, it subdivides and categorises with terms such as functional foods, nutraceuticals, and more recently pharma foods. Despite increasing usage, these new ways of describing food are commonly misused and misunderstood. So let’s start with some clear definitions to help us navigate the current and future role of dairy in a healthy diet. Functional foods are those that have been demonstrated to have a specific function additional to that of providing basic nutrition. They might promote mobility through the development and maintenance of bones, joints and muscles. Nutraceuticals are best described as ingredients isolated or purified from food materials that can be added to foods to make them functional, or sold as nutritional supplements. The lactoferrin that Fonterra isolates during the manufacture of milk protein concentrates is a good example of a nutraceutical. Lactoferrin has a range of biological properties including antimicrobial properties, and is added to infant formula and also sold in supplements. In response to growing demand for this exciting nutraceutical, we have recently expanded our capacity to manufacture lactoferrin in New Zealand. 18 SEPTEMBER 2016 Another great example of a dairy nutraceutical came out of recent research we undertook, through the Transforming the Dairy Value Chain Primary Growth Partnership programme with the New Zealand Government, on complex milk lipids (CMLs) such as gangliosides. CMLs are found in breast milk and cow’s milk. Breastfed babies have a higher level of CMLs in their brains, which is associated with improved scores on a range of cognitive measures. Our research partnership has demonstrated that CMLs extracted from cow’s milk can also have cognitive benefits. Using Fonterra’s expertise in milk chemistry, dairy processing and nutrition, we have been able to develop CMLs as a cost-effective ingredient used to create functional foods such as our Anmum product range. Pharma foods are being touted as the new frontier – although the concept has been around for millennia. Hippocrates in around the 4th Century BC said: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” Pharma foods directly target a disease either through prevention or treatment in a similar way to conventional pharmaceuticals. What might pharma foods mean for the way we eat dairy in the future? Will our breakfast be milk, yoghurt and cereal – or a handful of dairy-based pharmaceuticals that cure whatever ails us? Many countries are struggling to cope with rising healthcare costs, particularly as the world population ages. Better nutrition as part of healthier lifestyles is becoming increasingly important. We know that dairy consumption can translate into substantial reductions in national healthcare costs. A US study concluded that three-to-four servings of dairy per day could translate into cumulative five-year savings of more than US$200 billion. A similar study in Australia found that healthcare costs of AUD$2 billion annually could have been saved, had Australians previously consumed the recommended quantities of milk and dairy products. If that is what can be achieved simply by consuming natural dairy products, it is no surprise that some companies are investing heavily in pharma food research. Although there will undoubtedly be opportunities in the short-to-medium term, there are also some sizeable obstacles. There will be huge costs in Nutraceuticals are best described as ingredients isolated or purified from food materials that can be added to foods to make them functional, or sold as nutritional supplements S E E K I N G E X P E R T I S E
FT-Sep16
To see the actual publication please follow the link above