Arla Foods Ingredients targets medical nutrition with better flavor and texture

Arla Foods Ingredients is growing its Lacprodan MicelPure portfolio for medical nutrition, noting an increased consumer demand.

“Our Lacprodan MicelPure solutions are a great match for medical nutrition products that target protein malnutrition. Meeting patient needs for high protein content and quality, great taste and texture, and a wider variety of formats can enhance compliance with medical nutrition, helping to improve recovery and quality of life,” says Mads Dyrvig, head of Sales Development, Specialised Nutrition at Arla Foods Ingredients. 

“Lacprodan MicelPure offers great functionality and processing versatility, opening up exciting opportunities for product innovation in a fast-growing market.” 

The portfolio includes standard micellar casein isolate (MCI) for milky oral nutrition supplements and an instantized format for ready-to-mix products. Arla Foods Ingredients explains that MCI is extracted from milk using gentle processing.

The company adds that its most recent product, Lacprodan MicelPure Medical, has an adjusted mineral profile to suit the needs for medical nutrition while having a higher microbiological grade than other ingredients in the portfolio.

Patients need better dietary support

Citing Innova Market Sizing & Insights data, Arla Foods Ingredients underlines that malnutrition is one of the main drivers of innovation in the global medical nutrition market. 

The ingredients in the Lacprodan MicelPure portfolio are noted to be easy to pair with various flavors, and patients prefer the low viscosity even at high protein concentrations.The market researcher predicts the sector will experience a 5% year-on-year growth by 2027. Between 2019 and 2024, malnutrition claims were made in 52% of tube-feed product launches and 30% of global oral nutrition supplement launches.

Research shows that globally, 20–70% of cancer patients and 30–70% of older patients are undernourished, showing a decline in quality of life and an increased mortality rate.

Arla Foods Ingredients explains that many patients find completing a recommended medical nutrition plan challenging, citing unpleasant texture and taste. The company believes Lacprodan MicelPure ingredients are a solution, bringing “outstanding functionality and a milky and neutral taste.”

Improved texture and taste

The ingredients in the Lacprodan MicelPure portfolio are noted to easily pair with various flavors, and patients prefer its low viscosity even at high protein concentrations.

“Other benefits include unrivaled heat stability and process flexibility. This allows manufacturers to create high-protein products using direct or indirect ultra-high temperature processing, enabling ambient formats and a wide range of packaging options,” says the company.

Lacprodan MicelPure is highlighted as a standard MCI for milky oral nutrition supplements, including tube feeds. Lacprodan MicelPure Ins, also in the portfolio, is an instantized format designed for ready-to-mix products. Arla Foods Ingredients says both are available in organic versions, and all the ingredients in the portfolio are low in lactose and fat.

The Lacprodan MicelPure portfolio and new high-protein prototypes for the EU market will be showcased at Vitafoods Europe 2025 (stand 4D17). The company will also present a milky oral nutrition supplement and a vanilla pudding containing 13 g of protein per 100 ml at the event.

In related news, Arla Foods Ingredients targeted shelf-stable dairy applications for milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) as the EU confirmed it’s not a novel food and can thus be marketed in the region.

The company’s Whey360 campaign raised awareness of the benefits of its MFGM beyond the infant formula category.