Raising the bar: Infant nutrition innovations align safety, sustainability and consumer trust

The infant nutrition sector, among the most regulated globally, is evolving to meet rigorous safety, quality and sustainability demands. From new vitamin A formulations to carbon-neutral farming practices, the industry is prioritizing transparency, clean labels and eco-conscious solutions to satisfy parents and regulators alike. 

Nutrition Insight speaks to experts from dsm-firmenich, FrieslandCampina Ingredients, Valio, Morinaga Milk and Gnosis by Lesaffre to learn more.

Julia Duchastel, Early Life Nutrition segment lead for North America at dsm-firmenich, says, “The shared commitment among the public, industry and regulators to protect this vulnerable population demands exceptional standards of safety and quality.”

“These regulations create a complex landscape of requirements that touch every aspect of product development, from manufacturing processes and ingredient selection to quality control and specification compliance.”

dsm-firmenich commits to precision and innovation to navigate regulatory safety requirements. As an example, Duchastel spotlights its recent development in vitamin A supplementation — “a nutrient essential for healthy vision, immune function and cellular development in infants.”

“While vitamin A is a mandatory component in infant nutrition formulations, its inherent instability has historically presented significant fortification challenges. Our new Dry Vit A Palmitate for Early Life Nutrition addresses these challenges, offering enhanced stability while adhering to clean label principles that modern parents demand.”

She says 67% of parents are concerned about additives in infant nutrition products, but the new vitamin A formulation — “stabilized with only mixed tocopherols and free from synthetic antioxidants and other artificial additives — demonstrates how we can align regulatory requirements with consumer preferences.”

Ingredient analysis for claims

Jouke Veldman, global marketing director of Early Life Nutrition, says FrieslandCampina Ingredients fully understands its ingredient composition to pass regulatory registrations or validate potential claims. “This is especially true for complex bioactive ingredients such as milk fat globule membrane (MFGM),” which is designed for infants and expectant mothers.

dsm-firmenich’s Dry Vit A Palmitate offers enhanced stability and meets clean label principles.“We leverage our analytical expertise to develop methods that can robustly and consistently characterize bioactive components. Ultimately, this helps infant milk formula brands communicate about the components and their benefits, which supports brand premiumization and differentiation.”

“For example, MFGM has a complex composition of lipids — such as sphingomyelin — as well as bioactive proteins including IgG, IgA, lactoferrin, osteopontin and alpha-lactalbumin.”

According to Veldman, defining and evaluating these elements can facilitate specific on-pack claims and open registration channels in particular areas. 

“Recognition of these components can help infant nutrition brands move away from the conventional but generic ‘whey protein concentrate’ on ingredients and provide parents and caregivers with the most accurate nutrition information possible.”

Growing data and advancing science

According to Sinikka Saikkonen, customer development manager at Valio, new nutritional requirements are being incorporated into laws as the industry gains more knowledge about the composition of breast milk and infant nutrition. Modern science enables the analysis of smaller residues, meaning more precise limits.

Evaluating ingredient elements can help add specific on-pack claims.“We must continuously assess risks to determine which ingredients and raw materials we can use, audit our suppliers, analyze water quality, update packaging materials and ensure compliance with the various standards applied in different geographical regions.”

“Additionally, we need to be certified according to various international and company standards, which includes maintaining accurate documentation and undergoing audits. This requires constant follow-up, expertise, resources and updated data systems.”

Saikkonen says Valio has made investments that have paid off, as evidenced by its Chinese infant formula recipe registrations.

Meanwhile, Saki Yamashita, assistant manager of the Marketing Strategy Team at Morinaga Milk, also touts its acquisition of China New Food Raw Material for infant and toddler food for its flagship strain, B. longum BB536, for infant health. It also holds FDA generally recognized as safe (GRAS) status for foods and infant formula. “Due to its safety and great stability, BB536 has been marketed over 50 years in 30 different countries.”

Sustainable production

dsm-firmenich’s approach to sustainability relies on algal-based omega-3s, produced through an indoor fermentation process for quality and to help preserve marine biodiversity.

Modern science enables the analysis of smaller residues, meaning more precise limits.“Unlike traditional marine-sourced omega-3s, our algal-based solutions are completely independent of ocean ecosystems, guaranteeing products that are free from marine contaminants while preserving marine biodiversity,” says Duchastel of dsm-firmenich. 

The IMP’Act Card system was created to promote transparency regarding the company’s sustainability initiatives. It provides information about each ingredient’s environmental and social effects.

Duchastel adds: “This includes comprehensive cradle-to-gate life cycle assessments for our vitamins and lipids, measuring everything from carbon footprint to water usage. The system also tracks our compliance with responsible sourcing standards, ensuring our value chains meet the highest ethical and sustainability standards.”

Upgrading farming practices

FrieslandCampina Ingredients helps its dairy farmers lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by adopting more sustainable practices. Through its Foqus Planet Sustainable Development program, dairy farmers are rewarded for animal health and welfare achievements, climate, biodiversity and pasture grazing.

“We are committed to providing climate-neutral dairy by 2050. This involves developing reduced-carbon solutions and ingredients that support biodiversity. Reducing the carbon footprint of our dairy-based ingredients starts at the farm,” says Veldman.

“Plus, we help our partners address their carbon footprint through our GHG Reduction Partnerships. This helps companies reduce their dairy-related scope 3 emissions using industry-leading on-farm initiatives and reduction claims approved by the Science Based Targets Initiative.”

FrieslandCampina Ingredients and Danone collaborated to lower carbon emissions on farms by using pasture feeding and local protein sources, modifying cow diets, and improving nutrient and manure management. The collaboration led to over 25% reduction in GHG emissions between 2015 and 2023.

Veldman adds: “We aim to have a positive impact on nature through regenerative agriculture, which means giving more back to nature than we take. This approach involves defining good agricultural processes and monitoring on-farm developments to support farmers in choosing the best practices for their farms.”

Valio’s head of Sales, Customized Nutrition, Sari Vahla, says the company aims to “become carbon neutral by 2035, covering the whole value chain, from the fields to factories.”

“In addition to the actions taken at the farm level, we are also implementing effective and tangible measures at our factories. For example, we have made a significant energy-efficiency investment at our infant nutrition dedicated factory in Lapinlahti, Finland. A new flue-gas condenser captures heat from the factory’s chimney, which is then used as heat energy for drying milk ingredients and producing infant formulas.”

Quatrefolic is the “only” methyl folate glucosamine salt on the market that meets sustainability standards.She adds that Valio’s suppliers and their operations and supply chains must meet the company’s code of conduct. “The Code covers multiple topics, from food safety to working conditions and business integrity.” 

“For infant nutrition solutions, additional food safety requirements for microbiological safety, pesticides, contaminants, nutritional quality and packaging materials shall apply, including regular audits.”

Certifying environmental sustainability

Silvia Pisoni, global market manager with Gnosis by Lesaffre, discusses how its infant nutrition ingredient Quatrefolic is the “only” methyl folate glucosamine salt on the market, which is “manufactured in a European plant that complies with ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 environmental and sustainability standards.”

“These certifications testify to our commitment to continuously improving our environmental performance by reducing the effects of our processes, products and services.”

Pisoni says Gnosis by Lesaffre has also set up “training plans to make workers responsible for and aware of environmental management, implemented actions to reduce energy consumption and put in place waste management procedures.”