Speakers Highlight Goodness Of Dairy At Global Ingredients Summit
During this year’s Global Ingredients Summit, held in Tampa, Florida, Feb. 10-12 and hosted by the American Dairy Products Institute (ADPI), panelists from ADPI, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Arizona State University touted “The Goodness of Dairy” and its role in health and wellness during a session Wednesday moderated by Kimberlee J. (KJ) Burrington, vice president of technical development at ADPI.
Stephanie Clark, ADPI manager of academic engagement, noted that self-reported obesity among U.S. adults continues to rise, and overweight and obesity are major risk factors for chronic diseases and mortality, such as degenerative joint disease, Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer and more.
Dairy’s Role In Supporting Health And Wellness
Looking at dietary guidance past and present, Clark noted that in the 1990s, USDA’s Food Guide Pyramid recommended three to five servings of dairy per day.
At that time, only 26% of the population met the recommended number of servings, and obesity increased from 12% to 23% between 1990 and 2005.
Meanwhile, the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends consumption of fat-free and lowfat milk, yogurt and cheese and/or lactose-free versions of fortified soy beverages and yogurt as alternatives. However, obesity rates are at their highest in history, affecting more than 40% of U.S. adults.
The Science Behind Dairy Fats And Nutrition
While current dietary guidance touts mostly fat-free and low-fat dairy consumption, Clark noted that low-fat or fat-free dairy products do not consistently improve health risk factors compared to whole fat dairy. She added that regardless of total fat and saturated fat content, total dairy consumption has been associated with lower incidence of non-communicable diseases.
Milk is a natural source of 13 essential nutrients, including protein, calcium and others, but USDA reports that people do not get enough of these nutrients of public health concern, Clark noted.
At the same time, while there is a general belief that saturated fat causes CVD — and main sources of saturated fat include animal products — many studies have shown that saturated fat is not significantly associated with CVD risk, and dairy fats especially are shown to contribute positively to human health, she added.
New Research Shows Benefits Of Whole Milk
Recent studies have shown an association between whole milk intake and lower obesity, Clark noted. Particularly when studying this in children, research shows that those who consumed whole versus reduced-fat milk had 16% lower odds of being overweight, 18% lower odds of obesity and a lower body mass index score for every 1% in milk fat consumed, she said.
Dairy Innovation And Nutrition At The Global Ingredients Summit
Delving deeper into dairy ingredients, Gulustan Ozturk, assistant professor in the Department of Food Science at UW-Madison, summarized results of a study on next-generation dairy foods such as milk bioactives as another avenue for addressing obesity rates, all toward a broader vision of personalized nutrition using components from milk.
Ozturk noted milk bioactives selectively eliminate pathogens, improve the growth of desirable gut bacteria and reduce inflammatory/metabolic diseases.
One such source of bioactives is whey protein phospholipid concentrate (WPPC), which is derived from whey protein concentrate, along with whey protein isolate (WPI), through microfiltration. As the amount of WPI increases, the amount of WPPC also will increase, providing the industry with an opportunity to utilize the product, Ozturk noted.
WPPC has unique lipid properties, as phospholipids accounted for 20% of the total lipid pool in WPPC in a recent case study, she said. While research is ongoing, initial results are promising for the potential of these products to address health and wellness, she added.
Milk As A Powerful Post-Exercise Rehydration Drink
Also during the session, Stavros A. Kavouras, assistant dean and professor at the College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University, discussed post-exercise rehydration and milk’s role as an effective post-exercise rehydration drink.
He noted research shows milk permeate seems to provide a greater hydrating capacity when compared with other commercially available drinks.
A Recap Of The 2025 Global Ingredients Summit
Concluding on Wednesday, February 12, ADPI’s newest event combined two of its signature technical conferences — the Global Cheese Technology Forum and the Dairy Ingredients Technical Symposium — into one premier event, providing attendees with the latest research and technology development information for cheese, milk and whey ingredients all in one conference.
For more information, click here.
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Source: Cheese Market News
