Chr. Hansen Launches Probiotic for Bone Health With Vitamin K2

18 Apr 2013 --- A new probiotic culture from Chr. Hansen has been launched to support bone health through a natural high production of vitamin K2. “With nu-trish Pro-K, it is now possible to create tasty dairy concepts to target the attractive segments of mature women and growing kids,” the company claims.

As consumers all over the world are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of building and maintaining strong bones throughout their life, most people turn to dairy products to make sure they get the calcium and vitamins they need.

The natural content of calcium and added vitamin D are the well-known duo for bone health benefit in dairy products, but that is not the whole story.
 
 “It is well-known that calcium is vital for building bones and vitamin D helps to absorb the calcium in the blood stream. However, we also need to bind the calcium to the bones, and vitamin K is needed for this very important task. In fact vitamin K is very often referred to as the missing link, as it is responsible for incorporating calcium into the bone!” explains Sarita Bairoliya, Global Marketing Manager at Chr. Hansen.
 
“Therefore, Chr Hansen is proud to introduce the nu-trish Pro-K cultures to the fermented dairy market. The nu-trish Pro-K cultures contain a new proprietary probiotic strain of L. lactis which supports bone health through a natural high production of Vitamin K2.“
 
Two new "ready-to-go" product concepts are available: A delicious dairy drink and a scrumptious light spoonable product to target the segments of active mature women and growing kids. Concept packages consist of consumer insights, concept description, recipes, and production information - everything dairy producers need to reduce the time to market for their new launches.
 
“We believe this new concept has potential to offer functional dairy brands a real point of differentiation while staying entirely true to the natural value proposition which consumers expect from dairy products,” adds Ms. Bairoliya.
 
“Moreover, we take great pride in bringing added value to the very important topic of bone health!”

Vitamin K has an approved health claim in EU:
•Researched in over 70 clinical trials, showing benefits such as reducing bone loss in women and improving bone markers in children.
•Has an authorized health claim in the EU: "Vitamin K contributes to the maintenance of normal bones" (published in Commission Regulation (EU) 432/2012 of 16/05/2012)
•nu-trish Pro-K is combined with fermentation cultures in "one pouch" solutions to create dairy products with great texture, flavor and high content of Vitamin K2.
•Pro-K will provide a minimum of 10 micrograms of Vitamin K2 per 100 ml of fermented dairy product - so as little as 150 ml serving provides a good source of Vitamin K.