Swedish dairy firm Skanemejerier will next year launch a range of foods to help weight control, after reaching a deal with LTP Lipid Technologies Provider for use of its ingredient Reducal.
Reducal is made from a combination of palm and oat oil and is said to prolong the feeling of satiety, reducing food intake at subsequent meals. Tests have shown that replacing milk fat with the ingredient leads to a 20-30 per cent reduction in caloric intake at subsequent meals, according to LTP, which has published four studies on the effects of its product.
The lipid can be added to yoghurt, milk drinks, desserts and dressings, as well as ready meals or meal replacement products. Skane information director Lotta Tomer said the first product containing Reducal, expected to reach the Nordic market during the first half of 2004, will probably be a yoghurt or juice.
Skanemejerier, which has a turnover of around SK2.6 billion, currently markets probiotic drinks and yoghurts under its ProViva and ProViva Active brands. It also makes the yoghurt and muesli combo range PrimaLiv, the first food with an approved health claim on the Swedish market. The muesli contains soluble oat fibre, shown to lower insulin response after a meal and reduce cholesterol.
But with a new weight management range, the dairy firm will address one of the biggest health issues in the developed world.
"This co-operation is completely in line with our functional food strategy, " commented Skanemejerier CEO Rolf Bjerndell.
"We are currently carrying out studies on new products containing Reducal so that they will be able to carry a health claim in Sweden," Torner told NutraIngredients.com.
LTP, which also develops lipid-based ingredients for drug delivery systems and skin care products, is owned by an international investment group made up of DSM Venturing, CIMON Medical and the Swedish Industrial Development Fund (Industrifonden).
The company has developed a drug delivery technology to increase the bioavailability of nutrients such as vitamin B12, with well-known poor absorption, or increase the activity of ingredients such as plant sterols for cholesterol regulation.