KEY INTERVIEW: Glanbia Nutritionals Eyes New Health Platforms for Lactoferrin

05 Aug 2015 --- Glanbia Nutritionals has now obtained novel food approval from EFSA for its lactoferrin ingredient, Bioferrin, and consequently the company is ready to launch it into Europe. Sonya Hook talks to business development manager René Meester about the health benefits and potential applications for this ingredient within Europe and beyond.

Lactoferrin is a biologically active milk protein, which is naturally present in cow and human milk. Among other functions the ingredient is responsible for supporting iron uptake in the blood. It also offers a number of benefits to consumers such as anti-inflammatory properties, according to business development manager, René Meester. 

It also offers support for the immune system, including gut and skin health. It is an important part of our natural defense system and well-known among scientists. The general public, however, is just getting to know this exciting ingredient as more lactoferrin products are introduced to the market. 

Bioferrin 2000 is a natural bovine lactoferrin ingredient produced by Glanbia Nutritionals.

“We have developed a very unique and pure product, which taps into the interest in natural functional ingredients,” he explains. 

Bioferrin has also been patented, and this, along with its novel food approval (which not many others in this sector have achieved), puts it ahead of the competition.

“The novel food approval now enables us to offer the many benefits of Bioferrin to European customers,” Meester notes. 

“We have also invested heavily in how we make this functional product by developing a patented production process. Latoferrin as a protein is very heat sensitive and if too much heat is applied it can seriously affect its functionality. Bioferrin is therefore freeze-dried, rather than spray-dried, to maintain a high quality product.”

Earlier this year Glanbia announced it was making a significant investment in the expansion of its production capabilities for Bioferrin, as a result of “significant global customer and market demand growth”. 

Bioferrin in Europe
Meester explains why the launch of Bioferrin in Europe is an exciting proposition for the company. 

“It has already been used for a number of years in applications such as infant formula, but we have been waiting for novel food approval in Europe; this has now opened the way for us to market this ingredient across Europe.”

The approval allows the use of Bioferrin within a number of applications, in addition to infant formula.

“The health benefits of Bioferrin mean that this ingredient can be used in a number of applications such as food supplements, yogurts and even cosmetic creams,” he explains. “But one of the key areas we are focusing on to start with is sports nutrition.”

Bioferrin is very capable of activating iron for absorption in our digestive system, Meester explains, which makes it ideal for use in sports nutrition products. “It has the capability of enhancing endurance by optimizing the iron in the blood.

Absorbing more iron from their food helps athletes to transport oxygen more effectively in the body during strenuous activity.”

Meester acknowledges also that sports nutrition is a category which is currently seeing a lot of growth, as well as a raft of new product activity. 

“There is a lot of growth in this sector because athletes are becoming more aware of what they need for their bodies to perform better, but also because there are new consumers buying into the category. Bodybuilding is still a major area within sports nutrition but now we are seeing a lot more growth from endurance sports, and people looking at products that can help them to train more effectively and run marathons, for example.” 

He explains that endurance sport is probably one of the key areas of interest for Glanbia for its Bioferrin, because it is “a potent ingredient for this type of application.” 

“Endurance athletes want products that help provide sustained energy throughout their exercise ativity. Bioferrin offers a very good way of transporting iron from the lungs to the muscles for optimum availability of oxygen.”

Meester also explains that earlier this year Glanbia introduced a concept to the market by the name of FerroBoost P, which proposed the idea of combining Bioferrin with iron. “We have had good feedback from this,” he confirms. 

FerroBoost P is described by the company as the world’s first oxygen enhancer to combine the power of iron, Glanbia’s Bioferrin 2000 ingredient and vitamin C. The product is targeted to boost energy, improve athletic endurance and enhance the immune system.

As well as sports nutrition, the company will also continue to focus on the infant formula market, where it already has a lot of experience with Bioferrin. 

“Within infant formula there is a lot of interest in improving quality and providing premium options, and brand owners are looking at ways to differentiate and one of the trends is in products aimed at different age levels of children,” he says. “The use of lactoferrin in infant formula started in Japan, so people have been looking at Japanese formulas because they are seen as premium in quality.” European producers of infant formula have been growing their exports to Asia for exactly this reason, he notes. 

For the future these will be two of the key areas of expansion for Bioferrin, but this is only the start of the capabilities for this ingredient, explains Meester. 

“Scientists are very excited about lactoferrin but it is still not very well known in the food and supplements area,” he says. “There is a lot more potential for this product such as in iron supplementation; a lot of women, for example, need to have more iron in their diets but iron supplements can have unfortunate side effects. Bioferrin could be useful here as lactoferrin is thought to support digestive comfort. 

“It’s a multi-functional ingredient but initially we have decided to focus on one or two key benefits, so we are starting with things we know best.” 

By Sonya Hook