Serenity unveils A2 whole milk toddler formula with premium ingredients

15 Jul 2021 --- A2 milk is continuing its journey into mainstream consumer awareness, most recently with the launch of Serenity Kids’ toddler formula. Serenity Carr, CEO and co-founder, speaks to NutritionInsight about the challenges in this space and the rise of premium dairy ingredients.

“This product presented the most complicated nutritional, operational and regulatory challenges we’ve ever faced,” she explains. “It took us over two years and a significant capital investment to develop.”

The US-based company’s team had to map the nutritional content of human milk, source ingredients that meet its stringent requirements and find a facility with the right equipment. This was all while following the “complicated legal regulations” required.

“It was especially challenging and took many months of ingredient combinations to figure out how to achieve the right balance of vitamin, mineral and fatty acid profile. We also had trouble spray drying the final project because we had so many unique ingredients no one had ever used before,” Carr comments.Serenity says its formula is unlike any other.

Easier digestion?
Serenity’s Grass Fed A2 Whole Milk Toddler Formula uses regeneratively farmed milk and is designed for the microbiome. It is marketed as being more aligned to human milk than any others on the market with optimized sources of protein, eight sources of quality fats, carbohydrates, prebiotics, vitamins and minerals.

It specifically contains A2 beta-casein proteins, which is also the type in human milk. “We use this because it is the most natural to the human body. It is known to be easily absorbed and digested, and many people who do not tolerate regular milk find they can tolerate A2,” Carr notes.

It is sourced from cows that naturally produce only the A2 form of the beta-casein protein, as opposed to most dairy, which contains A1 protein.

This has became a trending topic over the past year. Innova Market Insights reports that there were nearly twice as many F&B products launched with A2-related ingredients in 2020 in comparison to 2019. Additionally, Baby & Toddlers is the leading category. Recent A2 formula launches include offerings from Enfamil and Gerber.

In September, SwissDeCode launched a “simple, fast, on-site solution” that helps dairy companies to identify A1 beta-casein in milk in 50 minutes. This is applicable for testing the purity of A2 milk.

Standing out from other formulas
In contrast to most formulas that use non-fat milk and industrial seed oils, Serenity’s formula uses a variety of quality fat sources to promote optimal cellular function. These are derived from whole milk, olive oil, sustainably sourced palm oil, coconut oil, algal oil and cocoa butter.

The formulas also contain DHA and ARA fats, organic lactose and five nucleotides, which are non-protein compounds that play a key role in promoting a healthy immune system, metabolism and blood flow.Serenity aims to have the formula infant-certified.

In terms of prebiotics, the formula contains human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), galactooligosaccharides (GOS) and fructooligosaccharides (FOS) from inulin.

It also touts vitamin sources that are easier for the body to absorb, such as the methylcobalamin form of vitamin B12 and L-methylfolate rather than synthetic folic acid.

Eyeing infant nutrition
Serenity Kids’ A2 Whole Milk Toddler Formula contains the required 29 US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) nutrients for infant formula. However, it has not yet gone through the FDA evaluation process that is required for infant formula.

“Until then we can only recommend our Grass Fed A2 Whole Milk Toddler Formula for children ages 12 months and up, or as directed by a health professional,” explains Carr.

“We are planning to have this formula infant-certified and are working on gathering the resources required to begin that process, but we have no specific timeline for that at this time.”

The formulas are currently available in the US online and at Whole Foods Market. Carr hopes to eventually expand internationally through online retailer partnerships.

By Katherine Durrel