Wellness Foods - June 2008 - (Page 7)

Cover Story overweight among children and the still-untapped opportunity for the food industry to develop and market healthy kid-specific products that deliver real benefits,” observed Research and Markets, a Dublin, Ireland, market research and data firm. In just the few years since that February 2006 report, dozens of companies, small and large, paid heed with new lines of foods for babies, toddlers and young children. Organic baby food sales alone have leaped by over 20 percent per year since 2006, according to the Nielsen Co. (www.nielsen.com). As the Research and Markets report noted, these trends hold true not only for the current market but will “continue to resonate for many years to come.” That the demand for such products is running against economics proves the viability of developing and producing healthful and organic foods formulated specifically for our little ones. Earth’s Best, which recently became the first baby food brand to be certified free of genetically engineered ingredients, uses vegetarian omega oils from Martek Biosciences Corp. (www.martek.com), Columbia, Md. Martek specializes in the production and refinement of DHA from algae. DHA is critical for development and function of brain, nerve and eye tissues in both developing fetuses and infants, and it remains an important nutrient through adulthood. “Both DHA and EPA [eicosapentaenoic acid] are important in brain function and development and are essential especially during the formative years as children rapidly grow,” explains Ian Lucas, executive vice president at Ocean Nutrition Canada (www.ocean-nutrition. com), Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, another producer of omega oils. “The western diet lacks these essential nutrients for the majority of children, so including them in infant and toddler foods enables children to get this important nutrition in their diets.” Ocean Nutrition developed a unique delivery technology that enables food manufacturers to include EPA and DHA in a wide variety of foods without altering product flavor or aroma. The trademarked technology, Powderloc micro-encapsulation, employs a double-shell protection so the oil isn’t exposed to the food chemistry and oxidation. “To date, we’ve successfully commercialized more than 30 food applications with this ingredient,” says Lucas. “North American examples of omega-3 food products for infants and toddlers include Stonyfield YoBaby Yogurt, Danino Yogurt, Dr. Sears chews for kids, Kemps milk, Wonder Bread and Tropicana Heart Health Orange Juice.” Another lipid product vital for fetal and infant brain growth and development, as well as all cell growth and function, is phosphatidyl serine (PS). This constituent of the brain phospholipids is found naturally in human breast milk. Lipogen Ltd. (www. lipogen.co.il), Haifa, Israel, provides a natural PS derived from soy lecithin for use in infant formulas and functional dairy products. Lipogen PS recently attained FDA generally recognized as safe status. Also, Lipogen PS is produced without the use of solvents. Solvents in the extraction process of some brands of omega oils caused Yogurt takes the lead Yogurt was one of the first food categories to see formulations developed specifically for babies and toddlers. It’s cold, sweet yet tangy, smooth and creamy and dairy – all things that appeal to kids starting on solids. YoBaby and YoKids, by Stonyfield Farm (www.stonyfield.com), Londonderry, N.H., is an example of how successful and well-entrenched yogurt for the young quickly became. The Stonyfield lines are made with whole milk from cows fed organic feed and without antibiotics or artificial growth hormones. They also are fortified with iron and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), one of the key omega oils, and made without gelatin or any artificial ingredients. The company also makes smoothies, dairy-free soy “yogurts” and cereals. The yogurt products contain six live active cultures, and all the fruits and grains in Stonyfield Farm products are grown without toxic/persistent chemical pesticides or fertilizers. Another sharp marketing move recently made by Stonyfield was to reduce the amount of sugar in all YoBaby yogurts. Yogurt may have blazed the trail, but other products soon followed. Although healthy/organic pioneer Hain Celestial Group Inc. (www.hain-celestial.com), Melville, N.Y., certainly wasn’t the first to “go organic” with baby formula and food, its Earth’s Best line, released a few years ago, marked a turning point for the category. Experienced at taking once-fringe health foods into the mainstream, Hain’s Earth‘s Best bridged the gap between the small and regional processors of healthful, organic baby foods and the big-brand processors who were still making traditional products. Dannon’s Danino yogurt, specially formulated for babies, includes omega-3 ingredients. Food Processing’s Wellness Foods™ www.wellnessfoodsonline.com June 2008 | 7 http://www.martek.com http://www.nielsen.com http://www.ocean-nutrition.com http://www.ocean-nutrition.com http://www.stonyfield.com http://www.hain-celestial.com http://www.wellnessfoodsonline.com

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Wellness Foods - June 2008 Feeding Baby B12 Pumps Up Energy Drinks Strong as Iron The Lure of Lignans

Wellness Foods - June 2008

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