FDBusiness.com

Products made with whey protein and minerals from milk have the power to turn back the clock on a person’s age – biologically speaking, that is – according to Arla Foods Ingredients.

Launching a new concept called ‘Change Your Body Age’, Arla Foods Ingredients says that consumers aged 50+ can’t do anything about their chronological age, but they can slow down their ‘body age’ through good nutrition that looks after their muscles and bones.

Change Your Body Age is the first of several concepts to be launched as part of Arla Foods Ingredients’ new campaign, Goodness of Dairy. The aim is to highlight how dairy ingredients are key to tapping into growing consumer demand for food that is natural, healthy and offers great taste and texture.

Change Your Body Age will play a central role in the Goodness of Dairy campaign. The United Nations reports that global life expectancy rose to an average of 70 years between 2010 and 2015, compared with 65 between 1990 and 1995. This demographic trend is set to have major implications for health and wellness. The composition of the human body changes as we age. In particular our skeletal muscle mass reduces – from about 48% when we are 20 to just 25% by the time we are 80 – while fat composition rises from 19% to 35% over the same time span.

These changes are associated with poor health, but can be addressed through the diet and physical activity. Nutrients such as protein and calcium, in particular, have been shown to be important for maintaining and increasing muscle mass and improving muscle function. Calcium is also essential for ensuring strong bones, which can reduce the risk of fractures.

In addition, with the world’s population ageing, the global over-50s economy will be worth an estimated US$15 trillion a year by 2020, according to Nielsen Global Ageing report (2014), which also warns that industries are largely unprepared to meet the needs of ageing consumers

Peter Schouw Andersen, Head of Science & Sales Development for Health & Performance Nutrition at Arla Foods Ingredients, says: “We mustn’t underestimate the importance of consumers aged 50+ and the opportunity that exists for companies who successfully meet their unique nutritional needs. They don’t just want to cope with life as an older person – they want to enjoy life to the full and that means staying fit and active. This is a very sensible approach, too, since adults who are physically active are healthier and less likely to develop many chronic diseases than adults who are inactive.”

To highlight the possibilities for food and beverage companies to create products for consumers aged 50+, Arla Foods Ingredients has developed a new Change Your Body Age product concept – an instant coffee enriched with 100% whey protein and natural minerals from milk, including calcium, magnesium and potassium.

It will be available to see and taste at this year’s IFT Expo, which takes place in Chicago from 17-19 July 2016. Arla Foods Ingredients will exhibit on booth 4045.

Peter Schouw Andersen adds: “The benefits of whey protein for muscle mass are well documented and it’s also been shown that whey protein is by far the highest quality dietary protein available. It is rich in amino acids and is absorbed quickly by the body, which makes it perfect for consumers looking to slow the process of time and reverse their body age. Change Your Body Age is a message that resonates with the increasing numbers of consumers aged 50+, and our natural milk protein and minerals solutions harness the Goodness of Dairy to enable food and beverage companies to tap into this significant opportunity now and for years to come.”